Wipeout

[rhett]

If anyone has been paying attention locally, Or has seen the forecast, it was 113f in Sacramento, California today. To top it all off, there was a power outage all day long. It was unbearable.

When I got back 2 algerian fire salamanders dead, and 2 of my 3 striped fire salamanders dead.

What could I have done to avoid this? I could have installed a refrigeration unit with the terrarium, but It would have just sat there along with the chiller for my salt tank (which was 98f but thats a whole nother post).

If anyone in the sacramento area would like to adopt my last striped fire salamander Please do but he might be dead by morning.

 

[wes]

Rhett;
I too offer my condolences ... I lost a salamandra and a tylototriton years ago in a similar, albeit lesser heat wave.
A 'first aid' treatment that works well for me when I cannot cool an entire room is to freeze the blue 'gel-packs' that you get for picnics. Wrap one of those in a plastic bag and stick it into the aquarium/terrarium, half buried in the substrate or 'floating' on the water. The newts/sal then either perch on the plastic ... which keeps them from freezing to the gel back, or they burrow into the substrate beside it. If you have the gel-pack floating, make sure that the newts can't climb on it and then climb out!
If you have a basement, put your kids in smaller containers with some substrate and carry them into the coolest room of the house. Remember, you're trying to cool the critter, not the critters' room.
I hope this is of some modest use or gives you some other ideas.
Wes

 

[karen]

Oh my gosh, I'm very sorry about your loss!

 

[karen]

Actually, if there's one thing I've learned this summer regarding caudate care, it could be summed up in two words.....PLAN AHEAD.

Recently I received a pamphlet in my mail regarding what to do in case of a hurricane...how to have everything planned out JUST IN CASE. I think we should all take a few minutes (at least) to reflect on what we'd do for our newt/salamender friends in the case of an emergency- whether the emergency be a hurricane, heat wave, power outage etc. Some things to consider (feel free to comment and add on!!):

1. Housing. Will the animals need to be moved from their current home? If so, where will they go? Have a small tank/critter keeper/plastic tub ready in a place where you won't have to search around last minute.

2. Cooling. Do you have means to keep the animals cool in an emergency? Is it possible to place your animals in your fridge for short term to keep them cool; do you have a picnic cooler that can be used or another device? In my freezer right now, I have 3 frozen bottles of water and a frozen gel pack. I plan on increasing the number of bottles and packs "just in case".

3. Emergency "shelter". In the case of a localized problem, such as a power outage that may only affect a small area, is it possible to transport your animals to a friend's/relative's house? Have all emergency contact numbers and addresses (including directions) ready and on hand; this includes vet or animal hospital numbers as well.

4. Miscellaneous. Make an emergency kit, including things that you will need to take or find in a pinch. Whether it be paper towels for a moist environment, spritzer filled with water, siphons, medicines...anything you may want or need in your tank/tub/temporary housing. You may want to consider an emergency supply of food such as frozen bloodworms, pellets etc- keep these where you know they're at.

Hopefully none of us will ever need to act in case of an emergency, but we should all be ready at all times.

Since there are so many caring and knowledgeable people here, let's share ideas on what we should do (what works or what doesn't work)...can anyone add to these thoughts?

 

[mark]

Over here in the Netherlands it's also very hot, temperatures of above 32 degrees Celsius. At the moment I'm keeping my species that are sensitive to these temperatures in isolation boxes (the white ones in which they transport tropical fish) with soil and a water dish. I wrap a frozen bottle of water in a towel and place it in the box and replace it twice a day with a cold one from the freezer. This way the temperature stays nicely around 15-20 degrees Celsius. It works perfectly; the animals are eating again and are putting on a lot of weight!

 

[mark]

In the UK we are having similar weather. Last week we had record beating heat for July topping 36+ celsius and this week no let up. I too am using frozen water bottles twice daily to keep the temps down when I can.

I'd be interested to know which species people find sensitive to the heat? I have seen no change in the behaviour of any of my caudates (tylos, triturus, lissotriton, desmogs, ambystomids). I've always assumed that the desmogs and ambystomids would suffer the most but they have remained active and feeding at temps of 27 celsius. Clearly Salamandra, as the original post implies, does not fair well but what constitutes a lethal temperature? And can sensitive species acclimatize to warmer temperatures over time?

 

[alberto]

Hello Mark
Good question! I have ask my self the same question many times! I have made the same observation at 27 celsius when I come home from work with Spanish ribbed newts, Red spotted newts and Chinese fire belly newts! Like you I then use frozen bottles to drop the temp down. But they act normal even at 27 celsius!

 

[al]

You all have made some great suggestions that has me wondering if I would be prepared with a power outage.
My tank room has stayed below 22C during the blistering summer months, but that is because it is vented with a/c and is partially below ground.
The tanks lowest to the ground are by far the coolest (20-21C).
Basements and cellars can be by far the best "summer homes" for caudates.

 

[paris]

when i have had emergencies i went to the local store and bought bags and bags of ice -putting some in each tank. usually my power outages didnt last more than a few hours and it cools down at night.

 

[jennifer]

Rhett, sorry about your loss. This is certainly not the first or largest example of heat-wave salamander deaths. I'm glad you posted, because it will bring this to the attention of others. Every newt/salamander that is living its life dependent on air conditioning is at risk for this kind of thing.

Karen, great post. Everyone with newts in a hot climate should have an emergency plan.

 

[sergé]

Still...the literature and some experiments (see Ed Kowalski's article on caudata culture and mine S. BOGAERTS (with members of the Dutch Salamander Society), 2004. Temperature tolerance of captive salamanders during a heat wave. POD@RCIS 5 (1): 15-22; can be obtained through me..) show that salamanders and newts can survive high temperatures (up to 35°C).

High temperatures in combination with animals that are already in an unstable condition or in a tank which is not suitable for them can cause sickness and then death. High humidity in combination with high temperatures must be avoided for terrestrial species. My Triturus pygmaeus are curled up on each other in a almost completely dry tank. They just leave their hiding place to enter the small water bowl to catch up water.

Just to give an other example, some just metamorphosed Salamandra algira I am keeping right now are constantly between 25 - 30 °C for over three weeks now. As long as I feed them enough and make sure their tank get's often cleaned (moulds and bacteria grow very quick) they don't show any problems and still haven't lost any of them. Of course I would recommend to keep them colder, but I have found out that it doesn't have to be a problem as long as the temperature changes slowly and the animals can adapt. Putting them from warm room temperatures into a fridge can therefor be very bad for the animals.
My larvae of Neurergus strauchii even live in temperatures of 30°C...and they are mountain stream dwellers...

I would like to hear more actual measurements of temperatures in the terrarium on the spot where the animals stay during this heatwave. You will be surprised.

 

[daniel]

Surprisingly my fire salamanders from Pyrinees stand better the high summer temperatures than the algira ones...
In my experience temperatures over 20ºC are not fine for these delicate creatures. I use a water chiller to keep them under 22ºC.
Thanks sergé for your accurate suggestions!!

 

[jennifer]

One possible factor is how quickly the temperature rises. The animals in the 2004 article were probably kept without air conditioning. So, although the temperature was high, the increase in temperature was less sudden. Animals kept at the "recommended" temperature by air conditioning are perhaps more vulnerable - if the A/C breaks, the temperature rises by many degrees in a shorter time.

 

[joseph]

30 celcius for strauchii?! That is pretty incredible. I'm willing to bet they may get exposed to that in the wild if the water flow to their stream became infrequent.

Of my newts I think Cynops orientalis morphs are the least heat tolerant, as I lost two last year most likely due to heat. The adults seem pretty oblivious to warmth though. Karelinii also seem not to mind for me.

 

[mark]

I dug out my copy of “Biology of Amphibians” (Duellman and Trueb) which has a section covering thermal acclimation and discusses various experiments carried out to find the “critical thermal temperature”, being the temperature that 50% of the animals die. Preferred body temperatures were found to be at the higher end of the temperature range and that critical thermal temperatures were always much higher than temperatures the animals would experience in the wild. I’m not sure if more recent experiments have been carried out but the highest critical thermal maximum found in salamanders was 38 Celsius for Ambystoma mabeei (Hutchinson, 1961). I wonder which other species he tested?

With regards to acclimatisation, caudates are able to respond to prolonged change in temperature and can adjust their tolerance as a result. The critical thermal temperature raises as the animal becomes acclimatised. The ability to acclimatise differs between species. It was found that species that have small gene pools (no morphological /physiological variety) who live in climates with little temperature fluctuation have the lowest range of thermal tolerances.

I may be misreading this but it could be theorised that an air conditioned house may provide the kind of temperature stability that lessens the salamanders ability to tolerate temperature changes i.e the air con breaks. So animals kept in unstable temperatures have a better chance of acclimatising and surviving a heat wave. It may also follow that inbred animals (of which many captive bred animal are) are less likely to survive temperature fluctuations.

 

[sergé]

I agree with Jennifer; the problem is the quick rise in temperature that salamanders can not tolerate. They can tolerate a lot, if the temperature change goes slowly.

In nature my Neurergus strauchii would by long have fled from their streams and hide somewhere on land deep in the ground where temperatures stay more stable. But I make them suffer