Does this sound like a good terrarium?

[LazyEyedFroggie]

I'm in the process of building a terrarium for my toads, I'd just like to find out what you think about it.
There will be a one inch layer of Styrofoam on the bottom, and then an enclosed area (6" x 6") filled with peat moss or Eco-earth about two inches deep in the corner. A plastic plant will cover another corner, and two small hollow logs will be beside it for hides. An easily accessible water dish of varying depths from 1/2 inch to 2 1/2 inches will be in the center front.
Does this sound good or should I make changes? Also, is spray paint safe for amphibians (once dry)?

[frogluver]

It might be a good idea to post pictures of the materials you're going to use, to give us a general idea of what the set-up you described should look like. And no, spray paint is not safe for amphibians when dry.

[Rukufox]

Wouldn't Styrofoam be a trap for bacteria? I don't know like the rest of everyone on here would, just a thought.

[DonLisk]

You would be much better off using Hyroballs or stone for a drainage layer instead of the Styrofoam.

[LazyEyedFroggie]

Thanks, I will post pics, but I'm probably going to change the setup all together

[Poly]

So hows everything been comming along!?

Honestly, with toads, you don't need a really "fancy" set-up for a tank.

All I did for mine, is use roughly 4" of soil on one end, then made a small sand mound for them to borrow in on the other end, added a half log, tons of leaf litter, and some plants.

Also, not so sure anymore that moss is such a great idea, you'll see that your toads will burry in it, and when it starts to die (from them burring in it) it will start to "fray" apart and stick to them and the sides of the tank, this risking impaction... I know, I took my moss out because my toad swallowed some! I kept one small piece of christmas tree moss, but it's mainly for show, they still burrow in it, but when it dies, it dosen't fray apart like most moss. If you use moss, make sure to use christmas tree moss, it works the best.

You can get a good idea of the layout from the top view:


And from the front:


I took the Moss out, loosened up the soil, and this is the space I had to work with:


Looked better, but was missing something...


Oh, yeah, right! Leaf litter!


Hope this helps, update us on how your toads are doing!!

~Royce