The Wookieepedia article on them says this:
Ysalamiri sank their claws into the Olbio trees on which they lived and drew nutrients. It was very difficult to remove a ysalamir from its tree without killing it, although Talon Karrde's smugglers found a way, enabling Grand Admiral Thrawn to do it as well.
I take a lot of Creative license when writing the character of Agro (Spanner's pet Ysalamir, based on my Bearded Dragon of the same name). Since I view any fan fiction (such as our character back stories and RP's) as parallel universes, like The Ultimate Marvel universe or the new Trek universe, I feel that it allows me to add some depth to subjects i feel are lacking. I have been keeping and breeding various reptiles for 20 years now, so I like to add a lot of touches from species I have observed into the character. And - I wont lie to you - I also modify it to suit the needs of the story.
There is so litte written about them, and what there is is fairly inconsistant. For instance, Thawn's didnt have any back legs, and the Wildlife of Star Wars: A field Guide clearly shows one around someones neck as a pet, but other sources show them with 4 legs, and say they cant leave the trees. So I kinda combined the two with my hypothosis, that they need the trees to survive, and getting them off the tree can kill them, but they can detach and move freely if they chose to.
Anyhow, I think that tank will make a very cool pack, Johan, and I can't wait to see what you do with it.
