Keeping Pleurodeles waltl in near freezing water

michael

michael

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Michael Shrom
I'm kicking around the idea of keeping my biggest breeder Pleurodeles waltl outside all winter this year. They would be in a large tub of water with a cattle trough heater to keep the water from freezing. Their are about 8 7" long breeders in the tub. What do you think?
 

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Michael - I overwintered waltii outside. Just need to assure that the water doesn't freeze at bottom of the trough. When overwintering, the surface froze solid ( which i broke through several times). If the temperatures go very low, your trough set up may start freezing from the bottom and sides inward ( this happened to me, I didn't notice as I was paying attention to the surface ) If the heater prevents this, it should be no problem.
 
The addition of a bubbler or pond fountain pump will keep the surface from freezing over also. This is how I overwinter my feeder goldfish breeding colony here in Nebraska. Be wary of raccoons! They love a man made buffet if given the chance.
 
So waltl can take these temps? I know they are not a high elevation species in most parts of their range. Or at least if they can take cold temps certainly not for a long period.
 
P.waltl is native to my area and i assure you that winters here are not to laugh at.....
 
Azhael - it means that in Spain you have cold winters too?

My friend tried to overwinter his waltl offsprings here in Poland (winter temps around -20'C or warmer, in normal pond (one without fish) and larvae/morphs haven't survived but from other hand i've heard about keeping and breeding waltls all the year in pave well ring pond without problems. I don't know how cold are winters in your state, Michael, but i guess that tank that is not dig in ground has bigger chance to be freezed entirely.
 
Some winters it doesn't get below freezing for more than 1 day at a time. Other winters it gets below freezing for a week or two. I'm going to use a floating pond or cattle trough heater and maybe an air stone or small pump. I might use a few straw bales for insulation on the outside.
 
I think it's a great idea. I might suggest keeping only half of the group outside. This would serve both as an experiment - are there differences in breeding - and also hedges your bets in case something goes wrong.
 
Yahilles said:
Azhael - it means that in Spain you have cold winters too?
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Indeed. For some reason we are sometimes seen as somewhat of a tropical country xDDD but winters here are long and cold. Specially from the middle up(but not in the north) winters can be quite harsh...after all i remember going to school at -15ºC.
 
michael said:
Some winters it doesn't get below freezing for more than 1 day at a time. Other winters it gets below freezing for a week or two. I'm going to use a floating pond or cattle trough heater and maybe an air stone or small pump. I might use a few straw bales for insulation on the outside.
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Definitely sounds like solid a plan to me.

I well remember Pennsylvania winters. It is one of the main reasons I do not live there anymore! Be glad you are not in the "Lake Effect" snow regions!

I am sure you are aware of this, but I have read that a water depth of 32 inches minimum for ponds that have critters overwintering in them works best. However, with a heater running, that should not be an issue.

I wonder if they need some sort of soft aquatic substrate to bury themselves in for the really cold days.
 
apologies for my ignorance, but why would you overwinter this species and not just keep it inside all year? I'm curious as I keep these and have never read anything about having to do this! :blush:
 
Thats an interesting idea, We might try that here in Ohio :rolleyes:
Amy
 
donia said:
apologies for my ignorance, but why would you overwinter this species and not just keep it inside all year? I'm curious as I keep these and have never read anything about having to do this! :blush:
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They are huge breeders that are part of my breeding project for NASA. They would be cramped in a 55 gallon tank so I decided on the big tub in the back yard.
 
My indoor P.waltl tanks have frozen over in the winter, but not for over a day. I think they'll be fine if it doesn't freeze solid. I've heard it's bad to try raising the larvae in the cold, though I've never tried so can't say for sure.
 
Here in the Netherlands it will freeze for about 10 degrees during the winter. The newts which I keep outside during the winter are isolated with a thick blanked outside the tank. Inside the waterpart I use mostly waterheaters with a thermoregulator(if the heater is heavy 50 watt) or without a regulator if the heater is less heavy(6-10 watt). This year I will use a heating cable (100 watt) to try out.
 
Very interesting read this one .

And there was I worried about keeping mine in my garage outbuilding over winter in UK :eek:

They are about 6" long at moment so not fully grown so what minmum temp will they stand? Water temp is down to 14c at moment.

I was going to put a small heater in but having read this i may not bother.

However, can i ask what feeding requirements are at lower temperature? I would guess at minimum.

Cheers
 
The deeper the pond, the better. A depth of at least 4ft is recommended to prevent from freezing solid during the winter. Where I live, winter temperatures reach -40C on cold nights, and it is still possible to keep certain salamanders outside. The highest rate of overwintering success is simply to use species whose habitat ranges overlap with where you live. It's a sure-fire way to successfully keep salamanders outdoors, even in extremely anoxic conditions over winter. If you're really worried that it's too cold where you live, you could also try wood frogs.They're found as high as the Arctic circle!
 
Hello.

In my province (Tarragona) there are Wild population of Pleurodeles, at this days, this region it's covert for the snow, and stay in -ºC. Other populations in spain (for example in Palencia and Leon, are in a coldest areas!!!! )

Bye!
​
 
So far they have been doing fine and seem to continue to eat. It's been below freezing for the last couple days. I'll trounce out there in a couple days and see if they are interested in some chopped earthworms. I think their feeding will slow down quite a bit in the cold. The heater I have with them floats on the top and kicks in at 40F.
 
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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