Photo Periods (Salamandra Salamandra)

[firesalamander1]

Hey everyone, another quick question, how important do you feel photo periods are for Salamandra Salamandra, or any Salamandra species,(or even Salamanders in general!!)? I keep mine in a wine cooler for the warm summer here in California (its pitch black in there). So far other than picky eating, they are doing ok. Should I expect anything unusual once I remove them from the wine cooler and put them in a terrarium for the cooler months here?

 

[Chinadog]

I would say a stable photo period is very important for the well-being of most salamanders. Along with changing ambient temperature, day length is probably one of the seasonal triggers that initiates courting behaviour in males and egg production in females. The newts that I keep are considered as easy to breed and only seem to need a basic summer and winter day length with a gradual change period in between, but mimicking the exact time of year seems like a no brainer for more challenging species. Could you rig up an LED light in the wine cooler?