What's in your fridge????

[paris]

ok, i am curious to know if anyone else is doing this. here is a pic of my fridgerator.

i dont really keep much food in it, and the freezer currently has about 7 dead lizards in it, so even though this is my personal home frige it doesnt get much use for 'normal' stuff. in the set up you can see 2 containers of live blackworms(the blue ones) and the container that says cream puffs actually has aquatic maggots in it (woe be to the uninitiated person who opens that expecting a treat!)

what i keep in here are my ensatinas-i had found that at my shop when it got to 70, and then when the a/c went out twice last summer i lost about 5. my only solution to this was to put them in a more reliable and easily monitored set up. i rigged up a fluro light that remains on all the time (i know i should put it on a timer) and the set ups have live plants growing in them to help provide oxygen and to keep a more stable moisture gradient (by evapotranspiration).

i have kept newts before in my fridge to try to hibernate them, but never permanant setups. (btw, i do keep all food away from them for THEIR safety not my foods- i had a container of 7 granulosas a few years back that had air holes on top -they got soda spilled on them and i didnt notice until i was wondering what the bad smell was) all sals are kept on the top shelfs (yep, top shelf stock!)

does any one else keep anything non feeder in their fridges? i am thinking in summer to keep my larvae from my warm newts in there since it will slow down their metamorphosis and allow for bigger morphs.

 

[brian]

I've always wondered this, but do people have a problem getting oxygen in the fridge? Sorry to hijack your thread a little.

 

[paris]

people yeah, that is why old fridges in dumps or just sitting outside on the property are supposed to have their doors off(kids have died by climbing in them an shutting the door). being mammals we are pretty inefficent organisms. sals-especially fossoral ones-do fine in low oxygen(compared to a mammal of same size) this is why CO2 is a useless method of euthanasia for caudates.

 

[edward]

Hi Paris,
At home I have a small section for blackworms and brine shrimp and a small freezer for frozen foods and rodents.
To continue the aside, the large difference in metabolic rates is what makes the difference and prevents the lack of O2 being a problem.

Ed

 

[brian]

Oh, OK. So it doesn't need any special modification? Maybe I should get one of my own.

 

[alan]

While I defer to the experience of those who use fridges for caudates rather than beer, personally, I would be happier to cut out a SMALL section of the rubber doorseal (e.g. about an inch) top and bottom to allow a trickle of airflow without significantly affecting the temperature. Keep the sections you cut out and they can always be glued back in if you ever wanted to back to using the fridge to chill, err, beer, for example (or if your wife finds out!).