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Feelin' Froggy

Coconut Fiber - My Enemy

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It really is!


Well, after almost a week of settling in with our new toads, I've come to the conclusion that I hate coconut fiber with a passion. After only a few days, the toads' water area was FULL of it. It was floating in it, sinking in it, covering them and their dock - an unholy mess of it. Looked like the swamp thing had taken over. So, I did a little research and came up with what I think is a better solution. Hubby bought me a moss mat Monday to put down over the coconut fiber and since then, we've had NO fiber in the water. I never feed them on the moss mat, as 1. it's not healthy to do if they ingest it and 2. they like sitting on the dock waiting for me to drop the food in. They either eat it right there or chase it into the water. I've also noticed they venture more into the dry area now and actually utilize their basking light!

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I also decided over the weekend to see if I could find something better to put the tank on. The shelf my husband made is wonderful; I LOVE the lighting around it but it's a bit too high for me. I have trouble reaching in to feed them, etc. After their water got soiled, I realized I had no way to clean it without taking it down which was impossible with all the water in it. I saw that regular metal framed stands at Petco go for $40+ and that's with no storage built-in. So I went to the thrift store, looked around and found this beauty - yes, it's a mini-entertainment center. It was $40 so I think I got a pretty good deal. I had to fix two latches, take out the VHS holders, clean it up and remove a child lock and it was good to go! We have it in our dining room so everyone can see them now; my kids LOVE watching them at their height. Thankfully the cat hasn't discovered them yet....

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(The tank is empty in the picture as this was during the time I was cleaning everything in it to get rid of that dreaded coconut fiber saturated water!)
The toads themselves are doing well. We've established Azazel is the "boss" in the tank. He eats like a little piggy and is by far the largest. He likes to try and provoke Minnie but she pays him no mind. She's the adventurous one, I find her all over the place in there. As for Matrix, he can't quite make up his mind on what color he's gonna be. One day he's bright green, the next, brown. All have healthy appetites and regular bowel movements so I think they're doing pretty well overall

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I think all I have left that I'd like to get for them is a bigger mister - that squirt bottle just doesn't do it for me. And an overhead regular light since we lost the one we had when we took them off the shelf on our big entertainment center. And possibly a few more rocks to stack. Ok, ok, I'm done now.

xoxo
Faith

Updated August 23rd, 2012 at 01:49 PM by Faith

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Categories
Vivarium , Toads

Comments

  1. Rae's Avatar
    Be careful I looked into getting a moss mat before finding sheet moss and was told its gret for reptiles but can be a little rough for amphibians... Also I read on the Forum someone claimed there frogs died because of it.... Don't know the details. I think it was an exo terra or zoo med product.
  2. Faith's Avatar
    Yup, that's what mine was. I did some research and saw it could cause issues. Mine are on it maybe an hour out of the day (they are obsessed with the water and dock where I feed them.) I've checked them daily on the underside for any irritation/rashes and so far so good!

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