Coping with the Summer Heat

[Gnag the nameless]

As all of us know, the hot summer months are approaching, and I'm sure many of us are making preparations, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips as how to help keep their amphibians cool. If you do, feel free to post away!

Also, a few quick questions.

My bigger Ranids tanks are 90% water, so if I keep the tanks in the 20s (Celsius) and their water nice and very cool, if not cold, will this be sufficient?

Will keeping my the room my Chorus frogs tank is in in the 20s, misting their tank constantly with cool water and keeping their water bowl with nice, cold water be sufficient?

How can I tell if my frog is overheating?

Thanks,
Caspian

[UncleChester]

If your tanks are in the mid to low 20's most of the time or below, you'll be fine. Your frogs are native and capable of handling weather far more extreme than you're likely to get in Vancouver. Provided their cages aren't set up to gather and retain heat well above the natural levels there should be no problem.

Having a temperature gradient for them to choose from is always a good idea if possible, no matter the season.

Use CFL's in the summer and of course keep your tank out of direct sunlight.

[The Fluffy Injun]

I'll be honest, the beginning of the month was torture and my big tank was getting super hot with my water reaching 86F and my temp around 84. I simply took a fan from a busted power unit out of a comp, spliced the wires with a old power charger and bingo small little fan that sits on the screen. Dropped my temp and water to about 78-80F.

[Gnag the nameless]

Thanks for the replies, guys !

The bigger frogs tanks have actually proven to work well at staying cool. The water stayed a very nice, cool temperature all throughout yesterday and the air in the big tanks was a lot less warm than I thought it would be. Having the window open but curtains across and 2 large fans on full blast towards the tanks is working well. I've been misting and spraying the salamanders and Chorus frogs tanks a lot with cold, conditioned water, but I'm curious as to whether that'll actually have any effect. Could someone confirm that for me?

I'm planning on picking up a few more smaller fans to place on top of the bigger tanks and a de-humidifier for my room, as well as limiting my time in it during the daytime and keeping my computer shut down for most of the time. Right now, it's cooled down but yesterday it must have been over 30 Degrees (Celsius) outside. Everyone's acting normally, Gnag's eating, croaking and behaving normally. The Chorus frogs have been active, although they've been taken to sleeping a bit more than usual, probably due to the heat.

[Mentat]

Although there are affordable solutions to heat an enclosure, cooling one is costly and involves usually running an AC in the enclosure room. Cooling fans, as you have used, do help to bring temps down a few degrees. In enclosures with water can also do water changes with colder water, or even use ice packs in emergencies too. This is a subject that will be affecting many of us as the Earth heats up in the next couple decades .

In regards to your question on frog overheating signs, don't know of any that might work as a warning. Being cold-blooded animals, think by the time we see any acute physiological signs, serious damage would be done already. My idea would be to prevent temps going above the recommended maximun and if they do; to do any emergency type cooling available regardless of overheating symptoms in frogs .