I bought a two sided peltier unit with a thermostat I installed

on it just yesterday. That peltier has a cool side and a warm side

with fans blowing through heated and cooled fins. The cool side is

the one you stick into the terrarium, the warm side on the outside.

I insulated the sides, bottom, and back of the tank with 1/2 inch

insulation foam which I imagine you can get at a hardware store,

plus placing plexi over most of the top can keep it from warming back up too fast, the fans should circulate the air enough so that

you get air flowing into the tank. The cooling unit plus the

thermostat ran me about 300.00 altogether. You can look the peltier up on http://www.supercool.se/index.html, (it's an air to air unit) but the thermostat is

something you'd have to look for at a refrigeration supply house.

It has a remote bulb for temp from inside the tank relaying to the

thermostat, and the thermostat just switches the unit on or off.

One thing to note. The salamanders you mentioned are land dwellers, and need to live on land preferrably in a vivarium.

They do not live underwater like newts. If you want to know more, see

http://www.cnah.org/

http://www.livingunderworld.org/netscape.htm

http://www.worldofpetsni.com/salamand.htm

http://www.caudata.org/cc/

for care on the salamanders

and

http://www.wildsky.net/vivarium/evivariu.htm

or

http://www.fantasticfrogs.com/

for some cool vivarium ideahs.

The set up I have is new though, so I'll keep you informed if you want. So far, the temp is staying between 65-68 degrees. In my ambient 72-77 room.

Another thing about the salamanders you mentioned, they tend

to hide and need a lot of hiding spaces in order to keep from

stressing the animal, therefore they probably won't be as entertaining as the newts are. The best salamander, most visible are the bright yellow tigers and fire. plus you may be able to find them through a bait house or captive breeders. The only hassle is cleaning the terrarium. But I think you can keep them

in temps up to 76 degrees, eliminating the need to cool.

Make sure if you get tigers to get one with the big bright yellow blotches. These are from the south, all the way to texas, and

therfore are more likely adapted to higher temp weather and

probably won't dissapoint you with dying.

I was also reading from one sight that the spotteds are of special concern and extinct in some areas of New York State. I didn't know this until after I ordered mine and now I have the guilt to deal with, no fun. So far, I have never heard of captive

breed spotteds or marbelled sals. They just need to much space

to breed them (we're talking acres) plus big ponds.

[ Hide Replies ]

• How can I keep newts cool in a warm room? - Zeb, Thu May 13 22:51:32 2004
• RE: How can I keep newts cool in a warm room? - paris, Fri May 14 01:09:24 2004
• RE: How can I keep newts cool in a warm room? - Zeb, Fri May 14 16:19:10 2004
• RE: How can I keep newts cool in a warm room? - thriveaddict, Thu May 27 13:16:37 2004