I thought I would share a tank I threw together today with mostly things I had laying around. I found (yes found) a 2.5" green phase something cranwelli that was living in my drain pipe. I quarantined for awhile now and thought he has earned a tank so here we are. I dug up a 10gal I had stashed and went after it.
Items used:
10gal = $10 ($1 per gal sell awhile back)
Screen top = $13
Fluckers 8.5" drinkable light = $14 on sale
60w night bulb = $8
Aluminum foil
bat grip tape
Black poster board =$ 1
Safety first cool mist humidifier = $29
Coconut Fiber = $6
Used bio media fish tank
filter floss
Bottom of plastic tub with holes poked in it
plastic plants = $12 michaels
hygrotherm =$60
1" flexible tubing = off of old fluval canister filter
A plastic tub is by far the most cost effective means of keeping a frog like this. However for an almost self contained enclosure that looks pretty aesthetically pleasing its not bad at all.
I started by cutting and taping the black poster board to the sides of the 10gal with the bat tape (free & easy to get off). Once done I then placed fish tank bio media in the bottom of the tank (after a thorough cleaning) and then place the filter floss on top followed my cut to fit plastic with a bunch of holes for drainage (the plastic is cut so I can grab the sides and lift the entire top portion out). I then proceeded to put my damp coco fiber on top. I used a clay flower pot drainage piece for a water bowl. Then I placed my plastic craft store plants around the tank. Then it was time to get the heat resistant screen top going. I grabbed the alum foil cut to fit the top and taped it to the top with the blk bat grip tape. Tank itself is done and took about an hour no biggie.
Heat:
I grabbed the flukers lamp and traced out a pattern 1/4" bigger than the lamp on one side of the top. Using my pocket knife I cut the hole out.
Humidity:
I grabbed the humidifier and removed the white top which exposed a roughly 1-1/2" dia hole. I was wondering how to make my 1" hose work without any addition fittings. So I grabbed a plastic grocery sack and wrapped it around the 1" hose a few times. The discharge end has a u shape fitting with flat discharge end for fish tank use. I slit a horizontal cut in the alum foil (non lamp side) and slide the discharge end underneath then taped it with black bat grip tape. Homemade reptifogger done.
No fuss heat/humidity control:
Grabbed the hygrotherm set the day heat to 80F night heat 5F drop. Humidity set at 78. Plugged light and homemade fogger up.
Tossed in frog and came back around an hour later. Settings are perfect and frog has dug in under a fake potho vine. I should of went infrared so I can see him better but I had that bulb handy so I put it to use. I will give it a few days to settle in before adding some daytime light and switch to infrared. I'll take some daytime pics tomorrow sometime.
Its pretty cheap for a setup that dang near runs itself. Those are about the cheapest prices I could find and this 'will work for a 20gal long as well. I just thought I would share for anyone looking for something a step up from manual misting and undertank heaters mounted on the side without breaking the bank too much.
Geez, you found pacman frog in a drain pipe? Wow! Lucky frog! Good for you!
Save one animal and it doesn't change the world, but it surely changes the world for that one animal!
Yeah it was crazy. I noticed an odd shape by my truck and when I bent down to get a closer look it tried to bite me. It was pretty skinny, but looked good. It just now started eating pretty good about 2 weeks ago. I was just going to fatten it up to give it to someone, but now its growing on me.
I need to upload some pics of the set up if I can ever remember. It keeps the temp and humidity so well the hygrotherm rarely kicks anything on.
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