Question: Heated Rock Cave for my chilly Salamander?

[FragileCorpse]

Hey everyone, just want a little advice. Its 55 - 60 Fahrenheit in my Yellow Spotted Salamanders tank. Hes curled up and trying to bury himself, Im assuming hes too cold. I was wondering if he would benefit from a heated rock cave (since he LOVES his cave) that I could set on low? I NEVER see him curled up and trying to bury himself unless his tank sits at 63 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. So I am assuming hes a little uncomfortable.He also seems a little sluggish, again, assuming hes cold. Having heating trouble with the new house right now. What do we think? Was thinking of grabbing this for him since its got very low, medium, and higher medium heat settings that exude heat downward inside the rock cave but ALSO exudes it UPWARDS outside of the rock cave, effectively keeping the tank itself a little warm. Seems like it miiiight be a little small for him though, my guy is about 7 inches from tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. What do we think? Here is the link to what I am specifically looking at: https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Simulation-Adjustable-Temperature-Tortoise/dp/B0CH1DPGBCI notice in the "wide application" product description it does NOT list that this is for use with Salamanders. It lists essentially every other reptile/amphibian that may need heat though. So again, just wondering if this is safe for my little dude, or if we think its even needed. Inserted pic of the product description im talking about. (Edited this to add in breed of Salamander and corrected celcius to Fahrenheit)

 

[michael]

Hey everyone, just want a little advice. Its 55 - 60 celcius in my Salamanders tank. Hes curled up and trying to bury himself, Im assuming hes too cold. I was wondering if he would benefit from a heated rock cave (since he LOVES his cave) that I could set on low? I NEVER see him curled up and trying to bury himself unless his tank sits at 63 degrees celcius or lower.

No. What kind of salamander is it? Generally it is bad to use any extra heat in a salamander set up. To cold they slow down. To hot they die.

 

[FragileCorpse]

No. What kind of salamander is it? Generally it is bad to use any extra heat in a salamander set up. To cold they slow down. To hot they die.

Yellow Spotted Salamander, Basically only looking to get his cage temp upto 65 or higher. 70 absolute max. It fluctuates between 55 - 63 right now, and i feel hes finding that a little chilly since hes all curled up, trying to bury himself etc. He is a little sluggish, so I feel hes a little too cold.

 

[Herpin Man]

I’m assuming that you mean 55-60 Fahrenheit, as 55 Celsius equals 131 Fahrenheit, which would be instantly fatal.
55-60 is perfect for a spotted salamander. There is no need to provide supplemental heat.

 

[FragileCorpse]

I’m assuming that you mean 55-60 Fahrenheit, as 55 Celsius equals 131 Fahrenheit, which would be instantly fatal.
55-60 is perfect for a spotted salamander. There is no need to provide supplemental heat.

LOL right. Yes sorry im a moron, I do indeed mean Fahrenheit. Alright so 55-60 isnt what hes used to though, hes used to sitting around 67-68, but Im assuming everything is okay then? He'll just wanna bury himself and be a little sluggish and slow? Made the question because this behaviour is abnormal for him. But if this is just normal and the temp is totally fine then thats good news.

 

[Herpin Man]

Spotted salamanders are in the mole salamander family, so named due to their propensity to burrow.
Your salamander is behaving normally.

 

[FragileCorpse]

Spotted salamanders are in the mole salamander family, so named due to their propensity to burrow.
Your salamander is behaving normally.

Yeah for sure I totally feel you on that, he just typically doesnt do that. If that is simply normal behaviour and perhaps I just havent SEEN him do it then thats fine and I thank you for the reassurance

He stayed buried for 3 days, I typically feed him on every 4th day (otherwise he gets quite fat I find hahahaha) so I had to unbury him a little bit so he'd wake up and come out in order to eat. Should I have like...NOT done that? I dont feel he has like....gorged enough to hibernate or stay buried? Should I let HIM decide when its time to unbury himself and come up for food? Do Yellow Spotted Salamanders even NEED to "gorge" first before hibernation or burying itself similar to how a bear would fatten up first before hibernation? (Obviously two completely different creatures, I had just sort of assumed the salamander would need a fair bit of nutrients stocked up in order to stay down and miss feedings essentially.) I've never seen him ultra curled with a full spiralled curled tail like that, normally the little dude plops right out straight as an arrow with feeties out like a star hahahha. Its cute. Usually only has his head peeking out from his hidey rock when he sleeps.

I know it kinda sounds like I know absolutely nothing but I was kinda thrown into this. I saved this guy from death back in 2022 and rehabbed him back to health so now that hes doing some different stuff I just want to be sure I have the correct knowledge about it. So hes been my little buddy ever since. Wanna make sure he's good and happy. I did try to release him back into the wild once he was strong but id let him go near where I found him, i'd back off a lot, he'd wander around and would make his way back towards me in the end every single time after about 10 minutes. So I just assumed that he was like "screw this shit you've been feeding me and things have been good bud pick me back up" hahahah. He was essentially skeletal. I fed him and housed him for a couple weeks and he fattened up good and became energetic and thats when I tried a few separate times to let him get back to the wild cuz the internet says hes endangered where I live. Love him way too much to let him go again now though, and I really think he'd still just crawl back my way for the 4th time anyway. So I guess the decision has been made that he's gonna be my little bud for life Lol. Wanna make sure Im doing things correctly.

Sorry if all that is simply just way too much unnecessary info. Just trying to get properly educated and reassured.

 

[Herpin Man]

The salamander isn’t going to hibernate at 55-60f. There is no need to dig it up to feed it. Just toss in some earthworms, and let the salamander find them on its own. You are overthinking this.