italian pixie owner ;)

[arci90]

hi guys, im italian, so im sorry for my bad english
i write to u cause in italy these frogs are not so common pet

ok, i start to show you my pixie, my pixie's house etc etc

- Pixie's house: 65x45x45 = 131 lt = 33 gallon
i use coco husk and a box with water ( i change water everyday)

- Heating: i use a heating pad of 40w, but i read on this forum its a wrong choice...right? (in italy all says lamp are wrong cause they dry frog's skin)
do u advise me to change the pad with a lamp? if yes, how many watts? i usually have 68' in winter in my home...

- fodd: my frog eats everything...pinkies, circkets,croakrocheas...i use calcium and vitamin D3...i dont use a UVB lamp.

[mafoo]

welcome to the forum! from what i know the coco husk is bad as it causes impaction and you should switch that out for coconut fiber thats eco earth or plantation soil as thats the way to go with these kind of frogs. i dont know if the heating pad is bad but id change it out with a 50w light red light and keep that on all day. for the lamps drying out your frogs skin just make sure the humidity is up there at about 80% and itll be fine as long as u dont go over 50w. if u havent already id first buy a thermometer for your frogs tank and if the tempeture is anyware from 77-90 u can keep the heat pad on. what your feeding him is great just dont feed to many pinkies and id only feed 1 or 2 a month. crickets and the roaches are great and if u wanna add more variety u can also feed nightcrawlers/earthworms since they work as a staple to. hopefully all this stuff will be easy to get and do for you since i dont know if they have diffrent stuff there in italy. if u need anymore help just ask on here and im sure u will get a good answer to your question!

[arci90]

ty for the answer! i was wrong, i dont have coco husk, i have the one u said (coconut fiber)!

so u advise me to buy a 50w light...why red light? i have to link the lamp with a thermostat? or not need?

i have another question...why in this picture http://www.frogforum.net/members/jim...-dsc-0157.html there are no coconut fiber, no earth but only bricks and water? its good for pixies?

[mafoo]

the reason i think a red light is best is just to save hastle of heating the tank at night as u can leave the red light on all the time. it makes things alot easier when your gone for a day or two and wont be able to turn the lights out. i wouldnt bother linking the lamp to the thermostat as long as the tempeture is good in the tank. just buy a digital thermometer with a probe from a pet store and make sure the tempeture is anywhere from 77-90.

for the bricks in that picture i got no clue about it. i dont think its too good as pyxies like to burrow and they wouldnt be able to then but im not sure since alot of people use an all water setup with just things to climb up on to get out of the water like that. hopefully somebody who knows more will come in and help you out there since itd be really easy to setup and change out.

[arci90]

the reason i think a red light is best is just to save hastle of heating the tank at night as u can leave the red light on all the time. it makes things alot easier when your gone for a day or two and wont be able to turn the lights out. i wouldnt bother linking the lamp to the thermostat as long as the tempeture is good in the tank. just buy a digital thermometer with a probe from a pet store and make sure the tempeture is anywhere from 77-90.

for the bricks in that picture i got no clue about it. i dont think its too good as pyxies like to burrow and they wouldnt be able to then but im not sure since alot of people use an all water setup with just things to climb up on to get out of the water like that. hopefully somebody who knows more will come in and help you out there since itd be really easy to setup and change out.

ok...so my setup is better

But about lamp...i really dont like red light, i think is not realistic...

can i use a ceramic lamp? it should make warm but no light...right? and if yes, how many watts? or u think ceramic lamp do less warm then light lamp?

ps: its a few nights, i hear my frog croaking...it means hes a male? or also female pixie frog croaks in the evening?

[mafoo]

well the frogs dont mind the red light but if you dont like it im sure a ceramic lamp will work to, id go 50w to for that. just to be sure though since it could be diffrent when u go buy it at the pet store ask what watts the light should be to get it to 77-90. pet stores usualy dont know much about there animals but most of the time they got a decent idea of the wattage, just make sure its not to much higher/lower then 50w.

croaking is a definate sign of a male! congratz!

[arci90]

well the frogs dont mind the red light but if you dont like it im sure a ceramic lamp will work to, id go 50w to for that. just to be sure though since it could be diffrent when u go buy it at the pet store ask what watts the light should be to get it to 77-90. pet stores usualy dont know much about there animals but most of the time they got a decent idea of the wattage, just make sure its not to much higher/lower then 50w.

croaking is a definate sign of a male! congratz!

ok...50w for a ceramic lamp is minimum? 75 is better? 60? ceramic lamps do more or less warm that infrared lamps? or its the same?

and about gender...are u sure female dont croak at all?

[mafoo]

50w is just a basic guideline to go by since for most lights over 50w will hurt the frogs eyes, but since your using a ceramic light that isnt an issue but just go around 50w. 75w seems a bit to much, but i dont know a whole lot about lights to be honest. i think they give the same warmth. only males will croak, i know that for sure. u definately got a male, hope you wanted/didnt mind one!

[arci90]

50w is just a basic guideline to go by since for most lights over 50w will hurt the frogs eyes, but since your using a ceramic light that isnt an issue but just go around 50w. 75w seems a bit to much, but i dont know a whole lot about lights to be honest. i think they give the same warmth. only males will croak, i know that for sure. u definately got a male, hope you wanted/didnt mind one!

and for u is better a infrared lamp or a ceramic one?

yep, i hope he's a male

[mafoo]

and for u is better a infrared lamp or a ceramic one?

yep, i hope he's a male

it doesnt really matter what light you go for as long as u keep lights on during the day so it stimulates a day and night cycle. and i geuss its no longer hope hes a male!

[arci90]

it doesnt really matter what light you go for as long as u keep lights on during the day so it stimulates a day and night cycle. and i geuss its no longer hope hes a male!

ok..i bought a ceramic lamp 60w...i removed my heating pad and now im waiting to stabilize my temps...

i have another question...how many mice has to eat in a month?

[mafoo]

the maximum amount you can feed mice safely is about 1 appropriately sized mouse every 2 weeks. you dont have to feed it mice if you dont like though, there just to create some variety and possibily a bit of fun for the owner. if your feeding mice past the fuzzy stage make sure there frozen and thawed since live mice can injure the frog

[GRABibus]

Ciao ragazzo !

I use this 50W spot :

Exo Terra : Daylight Basking Spot

For the day, it creates hot spot at 31°C and an average temperature of 27C° in my tank (Cold spot at 24°C).

Of course it decreases humidity in the tank, but the most important thing is to have a permanently humid substrate (Coco fiber is prefect).

[arci90]

Ciao ragazzo !

I use this 50W spot :

Exo Terra : Daylight Basking Spot

For the day, it creates hot spot at 31°C and an average temperature of 27C° in my tank (Cold spot at 24°C).

Of course it decreases humidity in the tank, but the most important thing is to have a permanently humid substrate (Coco fiber is prefect).

si tu parle italien je peux parler un petit peu francais aussi je rigole

i bought a ceramic lamp cause it has no light...i want to let my frog with natural light coming from my windows room...i read that white light can annoy frog's eyes...so i bought the Repta Cera Heat of 60w...it seems work good...

ps: about feeding...my frog now can eat mice...if he eat twice a month (i mean mice), i have to put calcium on insects during the month? or 2 mice a month give to my frog all calcium needed?

[GRABibus]

Ceramic lamp is really not advised.
It will decrease a lot humidity rate and you will have to be very careful to maintain, at least, your substrate wet.

I think that the ideal solution is a heating cable (With sufficient power to get the right temps) fixed on the sides of the tank.
Then it will decrease less the humidity than a spot and the other advantage is that you can manage temps by plugging the cable on a thermostat.
Then you can give natural light or "Non heating light".

I do this with my pacman frog (50W heating cable in a 30x30x30) and the light is provided through a Reptiglo 2.0 UVB 13W from Exo Terra.

[arci90]

Ceramic lamp is really not advised.
It will decrease a lot humidity rate and you will have to be very careful to maintain, at least, your substrate wet.

I think that the ideal solution is a heating cable (With sufficient power to get the right temps) fixed on the sides of the tank.
Then it will decrease less the humidity than a spot and the other advantage is that you can manage temps by plugging the cable on a thermostat.
Then you can give natural light or "Non heating light".

I do this with my pacman frog (50W heating cable in a 30x30x30) and the light is provided through a Reptiglo 2.0 UVB 13W from Exo Terra.

mmm...its late..i bought a ceramic lamp, and now my temps is stable at 25,5 C° during the day....during the night i turn off my lamp, and i have 21 C°...

btw my terrarium isnt much dry...if i nebulize twice a day is good...

another question i made a mistake i bouhgt 3 mice and i gave her in 3 near day...(thursday,friday and saturday)...is this a big problem?

[arci90]

i looked another thing...i dont know if it can be usefull to say the gender....yesterday, while my frog was eating a mouse, i saw 2 small tooth in his/her mandible...

[arci90]

i looked another thing...i dont know if it can be usefull to say the gender....yesterday, while my frog was eating a mouse, i saw 2 small tooth in his/her mandible...

someone can answer me ?

[GRABibus]

What were the sizes of the mices ?
What is the size and age of your frog ?

If it is a young frog, it's better to feed with crickets, locusts, roaches, nightcrawlers.
Add some calcium dust sometimes and some calcium dust + vit D3 (More rarely for the vit D3, which can be dangerous for the frog if given in too hig quantity).
You can give some little baby mouses also. But insects and nightcrawlers are the best food according to me.

When your frog is adult, you can give adulty mouses.

[arci90]

What were the sizes of the mices ?
What is the size and age of your frog ?

If it is a young frog, it's better to feed with crickets, locusts, roaches, nightcrawlers.
Add some calcium dust sometimes and some calcium dust + vit D3 (More rarely for the vit D3, which can be dangerous for the frog if given in too hig quantity).
You can give some little baby mouses also. But insects and nightcrawlers are the best food according to me.

When your frog is adult, you can give adulty mouses.

mice were about 4-5cm (without tale)
i bought my frog 2 months ago...now my frog is about 8cm...

why d3 can be dangerous? what are its negative effects?