Moving Frogs between Vivariums

Originally Posted by MikeM670

I have a question on moving frogs from one Vivarium to another.

Assuming we have both healthy frogs and the vivarium they are in. I know you can move them to another new never been occupied vivarium with no problem. My question is once you removed frogs from the old vivarium.

1. Do you have to tear the old one down and clean it out for new frogs? That seems like a real waste
2. If you can move frogs into a older established one occupied vivarium is there a waiting period.
3. Would we have to do anything to the old established vivarium before moving in the frogs?

I don't think I have ever seen this question posted and was just looking for a answer to fill in my missing knowledge on this issue.

Great question Mike.

My thoughts on the subject are that since the frogs have different toxins at skin level, things they touch, rub off, or sleep on will have some trace amount of that toxin left over for some time.
How long that would stick around and how to reach these areas when rinsing would be my question. Rinsing down the viv and hitting those areas should remove the remaining product, but how many rinses?

Don

Don, for some reason I missed your reply!

I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone else can add anything to this.

You're supposed to tear it down, clean it out and start over. Does everyone do that....No. But you are now gathering a rather large collection. It is more important than ever that you follow very strict quarantine procedures... and that means taking fewer risks. There is no way to truly "clean" a biological environment like a viv. Will it kill the new inhabitants...probably not....but who know. Would you put your newly acquired Glass Frogs in there, that you've waited two years for? Probably not, because you wouldn't want to take the risk. Doing something like that is a risk....only you can decide if its worth it.

The general consensus is to tear it down and clean it with 1cup bleach per gallon of water.

If it was you, would you want to sleep in a hotel room that had't been cleaned since the last guests? Probably not. I wouldn't even want to board my cats or dogs in a kennel that hadn't been cleaned and disinfected after the last pet's stay, and I definitely wouldn't want to risk my expensive frogs in a previously occupied vivarium.

Hopefully, it's not a huge tank and it won't take you long to clean the plants in a 5 to 10% bleach solution. After that, rebuild and it's YOUR work to be proud of.