pacific tree frogs

[lesley]

Hi Guys,

I just acquired two pacific tree froglets from a friend. I have a ten gallon screened tank that I am going to use to house them, but I don't know how to go about setting it up. I want to have some live (CA native) plants in there, and a watering pool of some kind, but don't know how to best accomodate the froggies and make sure it is easy to clean their terrarium and water source.

Any ideas?

Lesley

[OrionGirl]

Oooo, I'm jealous! I love frogs--don't have any place to setup for more, so just have my ACF for now.

Here's a good website: http://www.anapsid.org/mainherpetology.html It has lots more than just amphibians, as well. Tom's Place (http://www.tomgriffin.com/) has a forum for herps, and there are several members that have many frog setups and could offer advice.

[Leopardess]

Here is a great forum that seems really knowledgeable:

http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?

I poked my head around a long time ago and bookmarked it for no apparent reason

[lesley]

Thanks for the suggestions OG and Leopardess. I ended up setting up my terrarium yesterday and used a very fine sandy soil called yolo fine sandy loam. I think it will work well for my froggies as well as for the mosses and ferns that I am planting with. I guess now the big part will be keeping up the fly supply. I couldn't believe how expensive the vials of fruit flies were at the pet store (about 5 bucks.) I need to start culturing them myself.

The froglets are hiding right now, but I will try to post a picture of them later.

I got a picture, but he's a little muddy. This little guy is about the size of the tip of my pinky finger. He just metamorphosed about a month ago.

[Leopardess]

Aww he's so cute and...slimy!

Just be careful, you may want to take an indepth look around the site I gave. I remember reading a lot of people saying that some substrates can be very harmful because the frogs can/will swallow pieces. I'm not sure that yours is a problem but it can't hurt to double check

[OrionGirl]

Yep, totally jealous. What a cutie! You might also want to look into crickets--they are pretty cheap, and the small size might work for you. Of course, there's a variety of easily cultured flies if you can setup the space for them.

[lesley]

Here's another picture.

I think my substrate will be okay. It's basically a fast draining mud. I think the problem comes in with substrates that the frogs can swallow in chunks and they get lodged in their digestive tracts. The stuff I used is probably closest to what they encounter in the wild, since it is basically a native soil.

Also, I do plan on looking into crickets as soon as these guys are bigger. I just haven't found any crickets yet that aren't bigger than the frogs. I have read about pinhead crickets, but haven't seen any in pet stores nearby.

[Indigo]

So cute! Congratulations on the new additions!!

[Dangerdoll]

I love that little guy!! good luck with them lesley!

[greeneyedlady]

they are sooooo cute lesley, I would have a hard time convincing hubby that I "needed" frogs for pets since I have 4 fish tanks set up right now and he is a tad overwhelmed by my "hobby"