Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up a Fire Sal at a herp expo today. It wasnt an impulse buy, I've read up on them a while ago when I was thinking about getting one before. Anyway, it's set up right now is a 10gal tank with ReptiBark a long shallow water dish and a cave. I plan on losing the reptibark soon. i'll either use BedABeast or unfertilized top soil with shagnum or bedabeast over it. Sound good?
My big question: He circled his tank a good bit and keeps trying to climb the glass. I read that this is symptoms of heat stress. But when I looked up temperatures, one site said 70-75ºF is fine. Another site said to not let it go much over 70º. My room is heated to 75º but it never actually gets that hot. Also, the tank is on the ground level of the shelf, so itll be cooler. The thermometor says its about 68. Do you think its fine and is just getting used to its home? I got worried so I put a couple ice cubes in a ziploc bag and placed it in the tank for it to curl up to if needed. What do you guys think?
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1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.1.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

sounds like you are on the right track with your choice of substrates, though i would go with the bed a beast, just because you know it is for animals, topsoil runs the risk of carrying insect larva, espically if it has not been steralized. i would go with the bed a beast and the moss. as for the salamander cruising around the tank, it doesn't sound as though heat is the issue, i keep my room at about 68-72 in the winter and have four tiger sallys and a yellow spot that seem to be quite happy and as long as you don't have a heat light directly on the tank, which you should never need with salamanders, then the tank will be cooler. i would bet you that the salamander is just getting a feel for its surroundings. everytime i change my sallys tanks around, they spend a good part of that day and sometimes the next wandering around the tank, but are back to thier usual behavior within 36 hrs. of the change.
hope this helps

Very big help. Thanks alot. I'm glad I don't have to worry. Whats the max temp you think is alright for these guys? I dont want to make it to hot, but if I would like to make it maybe 5 degrees warmer in the room if you think itll be fine.
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1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.1.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

as long as you keep your room temp below 80 degrees, the salamanders should be fine. just kep their soil moist and provide plenty of hiding places, like logs or sturdy rock caves for them to hide. you may want to get a small in tank thermometer, like one that sticks to the glass, just to insure that the temps in the cage don't go above 75 degrees at the highest, then your fire sallys should be fine.

check out http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Salamandra/Salamandra_sp.shtml

Ed