How do you keep your animals cool?

[LyeLovesHerps]

As a California newt and salamander enthusiast, I have to devote a great amount of time to keeping my animals cool. The species that I keep are primarily from the the Ohio/Kentucky area of the states, and require temperates much cooler than the ambient in my house. In order to cool their enclosures, I switch out icepacks from underneath and above their cages at least 4 times a day. It works, but it is very time consuming. I don't have a lot of extra money but I'm considering saving for a couple used refrigerators. Is there an easier/less expensive way to keep temperatures down?
Thank you for your time!

 

[Mark]

Here's a link to some of the innovative methods keepers use to cool their animals.

Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

The easiest and most cost effective way to cool animals is to simply locate them somewhere which is naturally cooler than indoors. This could be a room in the house that has a window cracked during the winter, a basement, an out-house or garage etc.

 

[Sith the turtle]

When we had our old shed built for housing reptiles and amphibians, we bought an air conditioning unit to cool the entire thing, and we would have the caudates in the coolest area, and reptiles that needed warmth in the warmest area of the shed. It is impractical to buy a whole air conditioning unit though, the article provided has some great ways to keep them cool :happy:

 

[otolith]

Fellow Californian here. When I lived in a smaller place I used a wine cooler and chilled everything down during the summer. These are great because they are designed to hold a temp of 40-55 rather than hover around freezing. I also fussed with the frozen bottle method for a summer and found it incredibly stressful. I live in a house with a basement now which stays at 55-68F and I can't imagine going back.