Salamandra Temps outdoors

Hooky87 · Aug 24, 2009

After moving my salamanders into the garage a month or so ago,made me think whats the lowest temp salamandra will survive,i know people do keep salamandra outdoors, so how do the salamanders survive our freezing winters

Matt

Mark · Aug 24, 2009

If you give them frost free burrows/hides they'll be able to survive pretty much anything the UK climate throws at them. Some European Salamandra habitats have far harsher winters than the mild ones we get here. If you can't provide adequate frost protection you should be cautious of temps approaching freezing.

Hooky87 · Aug 25, 2009

another reason for asking this question is my garage is unheated and i am guessing that in the winter its going to be a few degrees warmer than the outside temp if that so would like to know what would be needed for my salamanders to survive the winter as i would rather not heat the garage unless i have to

cheers

Matt

caudatadude28 · Aug 25, 2009

The most recent post here is kinda hard to understand.

Nathan050793 · Aug 25, 2009

I believe what the poster is asking is how he can have his salamanders survive the winter in the garage, which stays slightly higher than the outdoor temp.

My answer to that is, as long as the temperature doesn't drop below freezing in the garage, and ample hides etc. are provided, the salamanders should be OK.

If the temp is going to drop past or dangerously close to freezing, I'd move the salamanders inside if possible or find a way to keep the garage slightly warmer.

Hooky87 · Aug 25, 2009

Sorry that was the point i was trying to make

marco · Aug 27, 2009

Perhaps a small heat mat placed near by the tank (depending on the size of the tank it could possibly be placed within a closer proximity) should help to keep the temperature immediately above freezing I'd expect?

Oppinions?

Hooky87 · Aug 27, 2009

marco said:
Perhaps a small heat mat placed near by the tank (depending on the size of the tank it could possibly be placed within a closer proximity) should help to keep the temperature immediately above freezing I'd expect?

Oppinions?

Hi marco thanks for the reply, i did think about using a heat mat conected to a stat, but was unsure how effective it would be as i would like to keep the winter temp as cool as i can so my salamanders go through all the four seasons, if that makes sense. any more help on this would be great

Matt

benw · Aug 27, 2009

mine are in a garage, and all i do is have a tubular greenhouse heater on a frost stat which comes on when the temp drops towards freezing, it provides just enough heat to keep the sals on the safe side,
hope that helps

Ben

findi · Aug 27, 2009

Hello Matt,
One point to keep in mind is that fire salamanders have an exceedingly large range, and so temperature tolerances may vary greatly (for example, green anoles living in southern Florida, USA cannot tolerate north Florida winters, yet green anoles resident in North Florida do fine). Knowing your animal’s origins is always helpful, but not always possible I realize. That being said, 3-5 C (38 – 42 F) will be fine for most specimens. Animals of unknown origin that were under my years ago actively foraged at 5 C, but that was probably unusual; I believe most would remain rather inactive at that temperature.

Be sure to keep them well-hydrated; I over-winter mine in wet sphagnum moss.

Re surviving the winter in general, it seems that some amphibians produce a type of natural “anti-freeze” that surrounds each cell and prevents damage during freezing weathers. So they tolerate rather than escape temperature extremes. In NY, I have found gray treefrogs below a thin layer of dead leaves in winter – frozen solid, it seemed. Yet they emerged unscathed in the spring; I have reports of tiger salamanders being found in a similar condition.

This anti-freeze is being studied with a view toward human organ storage.

For more information on fire salamander care and natural history, please see my article “Introducing the Fire Salamander” at http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2009/03/16/introducing-the-fire-salamander-salamandra-salamandra-the-most-%e2%80%9cpersonable%e2%80%9d-of-all-amphibians/.

Good luck and enjoy!

Hooky87 · Aug 28, 2009

Thanks for all your replys,i think i will have to either get a heater or move my salamanders back in the house. Will having my animals in the cool garage over the summer and then moving them back into the house over winter have any ill effect on my animals.

Matt

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