# What commonly kept amphibians dont require heat or lighting?



## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

Any help? Been told no more vivs because of heating and lighting costs


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## plasma234 (Feb 27, 2013)

Think out side of the box... There are a few amphibs that don't require supplemental heat if they are kept at a reasonable room temp (golden mantella spring to mind) but they really require lighting for plant growth. 

So why not go led lighting... the initial outlay is expensive, but the running costs are very low.


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## Terrarium Supplies (May 12, 2012)

creg said:


> Any help? Been told no more vivs because of heating and lighting costs


There are quite a few to choose from Creg. Many amphibians can thrive under cooler conditions but lights add so much dimension especially when considering live planted setups. You can really go to town nowadays as there is so much variety. 

Some to think about are:

Caudata (Newts and Salamanders), Horned Frogs, Fire Bellied Toads (both oriental and European), Hyla arborea (European Tree Frog).

When I lived at home, many moons ago now, I had the same problem. Luckily nowadays and although energy prices are at an all time high, technology offers us choices that back then, did simply not exist. 

Have you thought about swapping your current lighting to LEDs? Technology has moved on so much in the last decade. Maybe cut back on your heat mats to one strip instead of a series of smaller ones? Drop the thermostats if you have any and rely on your own personal judgement (without compromising on the animals health of course). Take the timers out and go back to manually switching off the plugs at night?


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## plasma234 (Feb 27, 2013)

Pffft what a copy cat :lol2::lol2:


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## Terrarium Supplies (May 12, 2012)

Think we posted at the same time... I'll let you have that one Callum :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Draconis (Dec 19, 2011)

I know they're aquatic and you may not be keen on the idea, but axolotls fit the bill. I have lighting but only for my live plants. You don't have to have live plants though. They're really special little creatures and who doesn't love an axie face? :lol2:

Quite simple to keep too.


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the tips guys :notworthy:

I would like to use LED as i know they cost barely anything to run but unfortunately i'm clueless about which are powerful enough for plant growth. I don't want to spend a fortune on say a TMC tile so will need a much cheaper option.

Thanks for the species tips too will be doing some reseach on all of them, i like golden mantella's and fire salamanders but don't know much about them.


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## plasma234 (Feb 27, 2013)

E27 20W 102x5050 SMD 1300LM 6000K Natural White Light LED Corn Bulb (220V):Amazon:Lighting

I have seen Americans have success with similar bulbs, although theirs are made be a company called jungledawn. What we need is either JD to start to trade here, or arcadia to make them...

The good thing about those bulbs is that they work in exo terra hoods and produce no heat.


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

plasma234 said:


> E27 20W 102x5050 SMD 1300LM 6000K Natural White Light LED Corn Bulb (220V):Amazon:Lighting
> 
> I have seen Americans have success with similar bulbs, although theirs are made be a company called jungledawn. What we need is either JD to start to trade here, or arcadia to make them...
> 
> The good thing about those bulbs is that they work in exo terra hoods and produce no heat.


Cheers mate, i could use one of those in just a standard bulb holder too. If i can grow plants with those i would be interested in darts too but only problem is my house gets pretty cold in winter, around 60 farenhiet i think.


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## ChrisJ83 (Apr 15, 2013)

creg said:


> Thanks for the tips guys :notworthy:
> 
> I would like to use LED as i know they cost barely anything to run but unfortunately i'm clueless about which are powerful enough for plant growth. I don't want to spend a fortune on say a TMC tile so will need a much cheaper option.
> 
> Thanks for the species tips too will be doing some reseach on all of them, i like golden mantella's and fire salamanders but don't know much about them.


Creg TMC tiles need not be expensive look for the ones on ebay. I got myself a 1000 tile for £29 posted that had 1 LED out on it. I swear by tmc myself as I grow everything with them both aquatic and terrestrial.

My two vertical vivs are around 90cm high and the light at the bottom (even through all the plants) is still enough to support shade loving orchids and plants.


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

ChrisJ83 said:


> Creg TMC tiles need not be expensive look for the ones on ebay. *I got myself a 1000 tile for £29 posted* that had 1 LED out on it. I swear by tmc myself as I grow everything with them both aquatic and terrestrial.
> 
> My two vertical vivs are around 90cm high and the light at the bottom (even through all the plants) is still enough to support shade loving orchids and plants.


:gasp:

i bought a 1000hd marine tile for my fish tank about 2 months ago and it cost me 80 quid. I will have a look though.


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## ChrisJ83 (Apr 15, 2013)

tmc aquaray ocean white | eBay 

worth keeping an eye on the seller as he seems to do alot of one led out lights


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

ChrisJ83 said:


> tmc aquaray ocean white | eBay
> 
> worth keeping an eye on the seller as he seems to do alot of one led out lights


Yeah just seen i'll keep an eye out :2thumb:

By the way if you wish to increase the amount of light and spread of these tiles you can remove the plastic cover and lenses too, my local marine shop advised me to do this and it really does increase the brightness a lot.


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

Great advice.. Think I'll check this out myself..  

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## RubyTiger (Dec 12, 2012)

Pretty much repeating here (sorry) but I'd look more into salamanders if I were you. You won't _need_ any heating or lighting for salamanders particularly as species available in the pet trade are nocturnal so wouldn't be exposed to direct light in the wild anyway. So long as there is enough natural light so they are aware of a day night cycle it would be fine. Obviously no lighting means plants won't thrive but salamanders tend to dig them up unless you pot them but most will probably be happy with a pile of cork bark and plenty of hiding places and ambystomids tend to burrow as well. So long as you supplement their food there doesn't need to be any electricity costs.


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

ive decided on either fire salamanders or dart frogs :2thumb: i will use the led bulb suggested earlier so i can have plants. I'm leaning towards darts because ive read fire salamanders are very shy and rarely will be seen.


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## Jono2411 (Feb 10, 2009)

Like a cave amphibian of some kind?

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## Zerox Z21 (Oct 10, 2012)

creg said:


> ive decided on either fire salamanders or dart frogs :2thumb: i will use the led bulb suggested earlier so i can have plants. I'm leaning towards darts because ive read fire salamanders are very shy and rarely will be seen.


As far as I'm aware, darts are not the easiest thing to keep, and would require heating and lighting, surely? But I'm no expert.
If fire salamanders aren't for you, how about tiger salamanders? Similar keeping requirements, but bigger and _maybe_ less shy? Not certain on that.

Anything aquatic will also require filter running costs, so something like a terrestrial salamander seems more appropriate.


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

Zerox Z21 said:


> As far as I'm aware, darts are not the easiest thing to keep, and would require heating and lighting, surely? But I'm no expert.
> If fire salamanders aren't for you, how about tiger salamanders? Similar keeping requirements, but bigger and _maybe_ less shy? Not certain on that.
> 
> Anything aquatic will also require filter running costs, so something like a terrestrial salamander seems more appropriate.


I have kept darts once before they are pretty easy as long as you can keep humidty high enough, no heating required unless your house gets really cold in winter, i will use led lighting for plants. Ive bred fruit flies before too so that's not a worry.

Ive spoke my mate David who did my other vivs and hes gonna build me two 40x40x40cm vivs, i will keep darts in one and a fire salamander in the other.


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## Draconis (Dec 19, 2011)

Zerox Z21 said:


> Anything aquatic will also require filter running costs, so something like a terrestrial salamander seems more appropriate.


Not _strictly _true. It's much more practical to use a filter and saves you a lot of time, but providing you do daily water changes you don't _need _a filter. Salamanders are a cracking option, mind!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Darts are only difficult if you don't put in enough research and preparation. They're just less forgiving of messing up.

Ade


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## RubyTiger (Dec 12, 2012)

creg said:


> ive decided on either fire salamanders or dart frogs :2thumb: i will use the led bulb suggested earlier so i can have plants. I'm leaning towards darts because ive read fire salamanders are very shy and rarely will be seen.


I have a fire salamander and she isn't shy. Is up and about often and will come to the front of the terrarium when I'm in the room asking for food. It's more the ambystoma species you will find are shy with the exception of tigers but they may burrow so you still may not see them often. There is always the option of a mostly terrestrial newts e.g. marbled newts or mandarin newts (_T. shanjing_)


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

RubyTiger said:


> I have a fire salamander and she isn't shy. Is up and about often and will come to the front of the terrarium when I'm in the room asking for food. It's more the ambystoma species you will find are shy with the exception of tigers but they may burrow so you still may not see them often. There is always the option of a mostly terrestrial newts e.g. marbled newts or mandarin newts (_T. shanjing_)


Thanks for sharing. I love the look of mandarin newts, i wanted to research these but couldn't remember what they were called just how they looked. David who is making my vivs for me says they will both have small pools so it should be ok for semi-aquatic species i think.


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## RubyTiger (Dec 12, 2012)

Be careful you don't get Tylototriton verrucosus and Tylototriton shanjing mixed up. Shanjing is terrestrial and only need a small amount of shallow water although they probably won't bother with it outside of breeding season where as verrucosus are kept in a semi or entirely aquatic set up


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## creg (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the advice, i live not far from dartfrog.co.uk's shop so will probably buy my salamander or newt from there, i'm sure he will have some good advice for me too.


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