Getting some fire salamanders

K

killian

Guest
Getting a pair of fire salamanders next thursday, will keep them in over the winter then put them in my outdoor vivarium in the spring.
have researched them very well but has anybody any last minuite tips?
 
i don't have any tips but how are the plans coming on for the vivarium, have you chosen any other species yet?
 
Hi William,

I have chosen some fire salamanders, alpine newts, fire bellied toads, green toads and possibly some marbled newts and red spotted newts. has anybody any idea if these newts would be ok together? I know mixing them in a tank is not a good idea due to toxins etc. but in a large outdoor pond with all the space?

I am going to set up a few more outdoor enclosures in the spring as well as I have been promised some midwife toad and bufo bufo tadpoles.

It will be very interesting to see how things unfold, ill keep you posted.
 
I'ld say if you mix species in a large environment they should be animals that have over lapping ranges because of infections, certain amphibians carry and are unaffected by deseases that are deadly to others.
 
yeah if i were you i wouldn't put fire bellied toads with the others, i'm also not sure about the green toads, could they eat the salamanders?
salamandra and triturus should be okay. have you decided to give the reptiles a miss?
 
Well I may try some italian wall lizards and green lizards in the summer but will move them to a green house maybe for the winter. maybe russian green lizards would do well outdoor year round.

I do know people that mix salamanders green toads and oriental fire bellies and over winter them outdoors http://www.crislis2.f9.co.uk/herpcapbreed/mainvivariumpond.htm have a look at this website.
 
i cant access that website, the school system wont let me, what does it say?
 
mixing these species outdoors is a bad idea. 1.) they're not all from the same place, they carry diseases and toxins. 2.) they're not all from the same place, they have never interacted together. 3.) there's a risk of escape, and from non-native species, this could be absolutely disasterous to the ecosystem (think Australia and rabbits/cane toads).
 
That website just has some pictures of the species co habiting and also has a very good picture of a fire bellied toad and a green toad sitting at the edge of the pond surounded by tadpoles of both species.

I know several people that have these set ups that do extremely well, the only people that are telling me it is a bad idea are people that have not tried it?

I have yet to hear a disaster story.
 
Killian, webpages, just like pet shops, are not to be trusted. Dont believe everything the unexperienced tell you. These people just want to move their product, they dont care if your animals live or die.

You want disaster stories? Here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

also, you should read http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/catastrophes.shtml and http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/inform.shtml and http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/toxin.shtml

Outdoor enclosures with non-native species is a BAD IDEA. Dont do it. If they escape and mate, you've possibly wrecked a whole ecosystem, not to mention the legal implications of it.
 
Killian - Ask those people for how many years they've been doing it. Ask them how many animals have died in that time and for what reasons. I hope they answer truthfully.

If you must keep fire-bellied toads with European amphibians, why not use European fire-bellied toads, Bombina bombina or Bombina variegata? Don't use Bombina orientalis.
 
Killian,

Keeping three species of Bombina in one enclosure as demontrated in the website you mentioned is absolutely unbelievable to me....
They will procduce hybrids! Nothing really desirable!?!
Can you trust people mixing all together, not caring about consequences?

My proposal from own observations in the natural habitat is only to mix:
Bombina variegata and Triturus alpestris
or in a second enclosure Salamandra salamandra and Bufo bufo.
Bufo viridis needs more dryness.
And never forget the differences in size!
Just have in mind, that an adult Salamandra has a mouth, T. alpestis fits in perfectly......

My experience is, that people always try to have a species mix in an enclosure, disabling them to care perfect for one, but semiperfect for all!

Why not limit to just one or max. two species that are perfect for keeping together?

Just my two cents.....
Michael

P.S. Concerning your try to keep Lacerta strigata in an outdoor enclosure in Ireland: Have you ever compared the climate in their natural habitat with those in Ireland?
They need long extremely cold winters and hot, dry summers! This seems to me a little bit conflicting with the conditions in Ireland - does it?
 
Thanks for all your input, I should clarify I have not even started building this enclosure never mind mix species, that is why I posted here to get some advice.

I would like to start breeding some amphibians so will probably build some small enclosures just for one species.

I used to keep amphibians in the house, various species of newts, frogs and salamanders but after a long break from keeping them I decided I would try them outside.

I would have liked to have a mixed selection like on that website but this does not look likely.

as for the lizards we do get cold winters here but I had planned on putting a pop hole into the greenhouse for them to warm up on a cool day in summer.

A guy lives quite close to me specialises in outdoor vivariums, he does very well with all his amphibians and he rarely looses any. for example he bought 10 midwife toads three years ago and all 10 are still alive and well and he is hoping they will breed this year.

Thanks
Killian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top