Keeping Pleurodeles waltl in near freezing water

I have been following this closely Michael. I am considering a similar project for next year.
 
BillYannone said:
Since it went down to 18 last night it might me a little late for this. I would have circled chicken wire around it and filled it with leaves about 3 feet up to insulate it.
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I think the heater will suffice. I had planned to put hay bales around the tub. My husbandry chores are going well but I can't lug any hay bales. The tub is in a sheltered location.
 
I have overwintered frogs for the last several years in my garage (but in soil). the garage helps to protect from severe cold (not to mention animals), but still is enough to hibernate them throughout the cold months.
 
This winter we have had more below freezing temperatures than we have had any winter in at least the last 10 years. I checked out the P. waltl today and they are fat and sassy. I gave them a good feeding of blackworms and salmon pellets. Most of my earthworms are in tubs in my back yard and the tubs are partially frozen. When a warm spell comes up I'll have to do some digging to check on the worms.
 
What temp is the heater keeping your water in this cold?
 
The thermostat on the heater kicks in at 40F. I didn't put a thermometer in the tub to check. I do know it is very cold. This heater has so far kept any ice from forming in the tub. We've had more than a normal amount of days that have been below freezing this winter. Our winter temperatures have not dipped to single digits F.
 
I concur. I did something similar(or w/o a heater) here in Central CA we had several days get below freezing(29 degrees at one point). A bucket of water on the patio froze over, but the tub the Pleurodeles were in did not. I brought them all to get a head start on the seasons and actually the main issue is that they had lost weight(I had instructed that minimal feedings be given). They are now inside and beefing up on bidaily feedings on salmon pellets.
 
You could build a mini greenhouse out of plastic, some pvc pipes and fittings. This should warm it up enough on sunny days that the water would act as a heat sink through the night. You could still have the heater on as a back up but you wouldn't need it as much. Those heaters suck a lot of energy. I was going to build a small unheated hoophouse in my back yard and in the summer trade the plastic for shadecloth. Chad
 
Hey Michael!

I was wondering how the "experiment" went? Did you end up splitting up the group or did you keep them all together? Did you see any increase in breeding activity because of it?

I have been considering doing this myself this winter and was wondering your take on it. I have some concerns as I live in WI and we are subjected to lower temps for long periods of time. I would be keeping my tank in the garage to help protect from the elements.

Thanks,

Mitch
 
The winter was below normal as far as cold days. Spring and summer have been above normal temperature. The ribbed newts are still outside. I have lots of water hyacinth in the tub to cool them down. Breeding has been slow this summer but I'm blaming it on not enough cool days. They did pick up egg laying a little when a major storm went through. I'm behind schedule on raising next years ribbed newts for NASA but not by much. I'd say the outside in a tub method hasn't been a problem so far.
 

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