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Wine refrigerators (salamandra salamandra)

firesalamander1

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Hey everyone, I was just wondering on your thoughts on keeping salamandra salamandra in a wine refrigerator. It gets hot in the warmer months where I live and it is not always easy to keep little guys cool. Mine have recently been put into a fridge that keeps their temps usually no warmer than about 61 or 62 degrees. Thanks!
 

otolith

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I used a wine cooler for my newts when I lived in Maryland. It worked very well and consistently kept everything at about 58F all summer long despite 100F+ degree heat spells.

Watch your humidity in terrestrial set ups though as they can dry out incredibly fast. This was less of an issue in my case since I had screen-topped aquatic set ups in it as well which buffered the humidity quite well.
 

firesalamander1

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Thanks man! However, I was more curious as to whether or not people have kept salamandra in wine coolers. And if about 61 degrees is not too cold for them. The wine cooler i have doesnt go over 65 and even when set at 65, the temp in their tub is about 61.4-62 degrees at most. I know that most care sheets say to keep them 60-68, but most people keep them on the upper end of that scale. Would constantly keeping them at 61degrees not allow them to eat, function and overall thrive in their enviornment? I noticed mine (salamandra salamandra) prefer to only eat crickets with an occasional superworm. They hardly ever touch earthworms or night crawlers. Has anyone else noticed unusual behavior like this? I mean, arent all caudates supposed to go crazy for earthworms?!
 

otolith

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Included in the "everything" I kept in the fridge was a group of Salamandra s. gallaica. They will eat regularly down to 50F, 61F is perfect. Just be wary of humidity and ventilation; use a screen lid and mist whenever necessary.

Try smaller worms rather than small pieces of large worms. I have found that picky eaters of many species will go after a tiny 2" worm viciously and ignore a 3/4" chunk of nightcrawler. My group was also very fond of garden slugs (just be sure to collect them from pesticide and herbicide free areas).
 
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