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Inside or outside

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greg

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How many folks keep their caudates in outdoor enclosures? I'd be interested to know what kinds of critters people do this with.

greg
 

mike

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I keep Fire Salamanders in outdoor enclosures.
See my post in Fire Salamanders.....Size.
 

morg

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Triturus marmoratus are kept in my enclosure, but these last few evenings I have noticed both juvenile T cristatus, and and adult male T vulgaris who have moved in.
They have most probably climbed in while looking for a safe place to spend the winter, but have been unable to climb back out due to the perspex ledge that I have around the inside of the wall.
 
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jesper

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That is very interesting Morg! You must have succeeded indeed if new newts start moving in!
Do you have any pics of this enclosure?
 
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greg

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And clearly Morg lives somewhere with cool newts. I think if I had open-top enclosures outside I'd find raccoons and/or neighborhood children stuck in mine... not Triturus for sure.

greg
 
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jesper

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Arent raccoons cool?
biggrin.gif
 
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chris

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I have my alpines outside. There is a topic (possibly in the Archives) in general descussion and news called outdoors enclosure or something like that with pics of my enclosure in.
Chris
 

mike

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I've seen the future! This Saturday, hordes of rapid Caudata.org denizens descend on thier local Homebase/Home Depot and completely clear out all the exterior grade plywood and paint roller trays.
A confused manager said, "We didn't know what hit us. They just went crazy and kept muttering about salamanders and hibernacula".
 

morg

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Jesper
Sorry but Im still living in the stone ages and do not yet own a digital camera.
I am working on getting somebody to take some pics for me though.

Greg
If my enclosure were open top I reckon it would be dug up daily by the neighbourhood cats, so I have a weldmesh lid on top which lets in the insects[and wandering newts] but keeps out the cats.
The newts that have moved into the enclosure are ones that I have brought up from eggs through the years, released into my garden ponds, and now return to breed.
 
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jennifer

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Greg - one thing I've noticed is that folks in the UK use outdoor enclosures, but I don't know of anyone in the US that has used them (except as a temporary place for larvae, or for sirens). I think this is partly due to climate (more places in the US are too hot or too cold). I wonder if there are other reasons, or are Americans just less pond-oriented.
 

mike

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Morg,
When you say weldmesh, aproximately what mesh size? Chickenwire any good? I would like to let in as many insects as possible while keeping out the undesireables (I sound like a Home Secretary).

Jenn,
I think it's both, but possibly mostly climate. Most of the UK is pretty mild in comparison to the US - it just wouldn't be worth doing this in Wisconsin, and in Florida, you can just walk out of the door and have all the species you want anyway!
 

morg

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Mike
Chickenwire would be fine.
The weldmesh I mention is the very strong stuff used by fencing companies,and has 2inch square holes.
I suppose Im just lazy and didnt want to make a lid, and with weldmesh its just cut to size and lays on top of the enclosure.
 

morg

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I have recieved an email from somebody asking for a description of weldmesh as she is unsure of what it is.
If you go to
www.multimesh.net/
The type on the picture standing up at the back is the type I mean, generaly used for fencing.
The type I used was bought from a local fencing construction company and is plastic coated.

(Message edited by morg on November 07, 2003)
 
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greg

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hmm... so what temperature ranges would work? I'm looking at my yard in Connecticut and right now seems wonderful...but a few months ago it was 95F and in a few months it will be hovering around 0F. that's a big temperature change. I supposed that if there is enough shade and water pans that the summer can be survived... but what about the winter. Maybe I'll try an outdoor enclosure for something local... something that I know survives these temps in the wild. the trick will be getting the right microclimate in a cage so that the "tricks" the critter normally does to survive these temps can work. Wow...that could end up being a very deep cage if we are talking about Ambystoma maculatum.

greg
 
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