Outdoor vivarium

Hi, I am new to this board and am just working my way through past posts.

I am hoping to set up an outdorr vivarium over the winter and put the occupants in to it in the spring.

I have quite a bit of space so am going to make it about 15' x 20'. there will be a large pond, wood pile, hibernaculum and rockery included.

I want a nice mix of amphibians and reptiles in it that will survive the winter and possibly breed in the spring. could anyone suggest such a mix?

I know some of you have outdoor vivaria and there maybe a post like this else where.

I would also be interested in seeing some pictures of established outdoor vivaria.

Thank you and when I get it finished I will post some pictures.

Killian

Should of mentioned I live in Ireland and beside the sea so we dont get hard frost.

Hello Killian,

It's nice to see another Irish person here (I'm Irish too).

Lizards: Common European lizard should do well if there is a basking area (nice wall or something). I can't speak for other lizards but most would like a warmer summer than we can offer here.

Newts: Most species of northern European Triturus should do quite well for you. You could mix them too. If it's an escape-proof vivarium I would recommend Alpine newts (Triturus alpestris) as well as the native newt, Triturus vulgaris. You might be able to come by some more exotic species of Triturus too, but seek advice if you're not sure how well it would do in our climate.

Fire salamanders, a pair or two, can do quite well in such enclosures, but be sure to acquire a northern race.

You could even try tiger salamanders in an escape-proof outdoor vivarium. I wouldn't mix US salamanders with European newts/salamanders though - there could be serious bacterial issues.

There are a few British enthusiasts here who keep outdoor vivaria. I'm sure they could offer very good advice.

Good luck!

-John

Thanks John,

I am also interested in frogs and toads, I have been told oriental fire bellied toads will over winter ok but others say they wont. has anyone tried them outdoors?

I also hope to try russian green lizards, I would like to get some common lizards and maybe some italian wall lizards too.

I know this is an amphibian forum but anyone any experience with the above species outdoors?

Thanks
Killian

Oriental fire-bellied toads, provided they aren't subject to too much of an extreme cold snap, should survive the winter no problem in a good outdoor vivarium.

I can tell you for a fact that you won't have a problem over wintering the species of lizards you've mentioned, except for the Italian Wall Lizard - I don't know enough about that one.
Your main problem will be that the summer here is often not warm enough for long enough for lizards to be very successful in breeding.

Green lizards hang on in the south of England, I believe, but the south of England is significantly warmer than most of Ireland in the summer (I know, I used to live there), making it easier to breed successfully.

I hope that's of some help.

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply to my post.

I was just wondering if you have ever heard of a guy called alister mac farland? I was in reptile haven in templebar on friday and they told me about him, apparently he specialises in amphibians that can be kept outdoors here in Ireland. He lives in Co. Donegal which is where I live so I would like to contact him particularly with my interest in setting up an outdoor vivarium.

Thanks
Killian

Hi Killian,

Yes, I've heard that name from Ben and others before. I don't have his contact details unfortunately. I do know a man in Donegal by the name of Griffiths, but he doesn't know Alistair either (I have asked before).

It's a bit of a tragedy really that the few people interested in amphibians in Ireland don't really know each other .

-John

Thats what makes this site great, maybe an Irish amphibian society should be set up? I was thinking about setting up an Irish exotic mammal society as this is where my main interest lies.

If I get in touch with him I will tell him about this site. I am waiting on Ben to ring me with his number will probably have to remind him this week.

Does that man griffith have an outdoor vivarium?

Thanks
Killian

Hi Killian,

I don't know if Alan Griffiths has an outdoor viv - I haven't spoken to him since earlier this year though.

As for an Irish Amphibian Society, I'm somewhat skeptical regarding its viability. There's nothing stopping Irish people from making contact through this site though - after all, it was created by an Irish man (me). Many nationalities use it as a way of making contact with each other - just take a look at the magazine we've just published for some photos of several get-togethers.

http://www.caudata.org/magazine.shtml

Hi John,

I think you are right about the viability of a society. Maybe you should put up a poster in some reptile shops round the country about this site and have this as a sort of online society?

do you think marbled salamanders would be suitable for an outdoor vivarium?

How are they bred in captivity taking in to account their unusual "nest" preference?

Thanks
Killian

This already is, in effect, an online society. I think people will tell you that, and as the magazine shows, there have been get-togethers connected with it. It has certainly enriched my personal hobby.

I take a very pragmatic view towards advertising the site in Ireland. It's not like I haven't told anyone here about it. I haven't been greeted with much enthusiasm about it and my attitude now is that it's their loss, not mine. If you do a search on google for anything newt or salamander related, pages from this forum or the sites on caudata.org will invariably pop up. It's hard to avoid it. We get over a thousand individual visitors to the site every day. For a non-commercial, advert-free site, that's pretty staggering. I think people are more impressed when they see this number: 184236 hits per day in the last month (totalling 5527092 hits for September).

I haven't been in Ben's shop in two years or more, but if I'm in there again I might ask him to put something up.

Marbled Salamanders: I'm assuming you mean Ambystoma opacum. Yes, they should do well in such a set up, but again, you might not see them very often. People do breed them in captivity - while not terribly frequent, they do succeed. I think you should ask in the appropriate topic though for more information (there probably is some already in there).

John could you recomend a good source for amphibians particularly newts in Ireland?

I have so far only been able to come across fire bellied newts, fire salamanders and oriental fire bellied toads.

Killian

Killian, I'll contact you by email later this afternoon.

Thanks John

killianmclaughlin "at" eircom.net

Killian