Cooling unit needed for chinese fire-bellied in the summer?

[Bill B]

It's winter here now - hence easy to keep the newt around 70 deg F. But it gets around 90 deg F in the summer.... will I need a cooling unit if the air conditioning is not turned on?

 

[Bill B]

70 deg F = 21 deg C
90 deg F = 32 deg C

 

[RobM]

Yes that is much to high, C.orientalis should be kept at temperatures lower than 72 (22/23 Celsius).

 

[Bill B]

Does anyone know whether the same is true for North American Eastern Newts? I had one for a while. Just curious.

Also, on a totally different topic, does anyone know whether newts and other salamanders live with thee algal genus Chara (or others of the Charophyta) in nature? I know that Jim Harding (of Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region) turtles do not eat it, and that it inhibits moquito larvae, hence I wondered whether there was a relationship to salamanders (or amphibians in general).

 

[RobM]

Eastern newts could handle slightly higher temperatures, but no more than 77 (25 c), I would recommend temperatures between 64-73/74(18-23) though.

Regarding the other question, no idea.

 

[Bill B]

Oh, my, I just asked my local pet store about chillers. The guy said they cost US $300-400. And I live in a mobile home (which gets very warm compared to other homes), with no basement to move them to. Any ideas where else to look?

 

[Bill B]

what about this?

CoolWorks Ice Probe with Power Supply

 

[dragonwalker]

It won't replace a cooler of you have a warm home, but for terrestrial salamanders that need a little cooling in the summer, or to increase air circulation I have used a CPU fan wrapped in a fine mesh box to prevent fingers and other things getting caught in it. I sit it flat right on top of the screen lid. The ones I had were already wired to be plugged in though so am not sure where they came from. They were at my job and I decided to use them for this purpose.

 

[Bill B]

Oh, I didn't realize that some coolers were meant for air, some for water. My newt I hope would head for the water if it knew it needed to stay cool.

I that the Eastern Newt lives here in Michigan (and even warmer places) and has the need to stay cool as well, and it gets hot here in Michigan in the summer, so I'm thinking that the adult aquatic newt wouild know to head for the water when it needs to.

Does anyone have a cooler just for the water?

Bill