Theloderma questions.

[Raya]

Hi all!


I'm thinking about making myself a nice well-planted new viv this fall. The two wivs I have now are pretty basic and dull. The P.Edulis and Fantasy Pacman thrashes most plants and decoration I've tried to put in there
So I'm considering some kind of small toad, like bufo viridis or debilis, or one of the Thelodermas. I hope some of you experienced owners could answer a few questions for me about the mossies?


To my knowledge there's three "common" kinds of Thelodermas in the pet trade right now. The asperum, corticale and gordoni, right? They are all very different in colors and very pretty all three.
Is there any significal differens among them? I know that at least the asperums are smaller then the rest..


As I saw in Sarges thread they can eat "big" insects for their size. If an adult asperum can eat Blatta lateralis then I guess they all can eat Dubia nymphs?
I don't like crickets and personaly would not dare breeding lateralis for the fear of escaping roaches.


Have anyone fed them outside their viv in a feedingbin? I do this with my other frogs to avoid escaping roaches and make sure they get the right amount of food.


I know that they are semiaquatic and need an aquaterraria but do they swim around much or just hang at the wateredges? Should I have much open water or more plants, stones etc. ?




I think that was all the questions I have right now. Might come up with more but then I'll just throw them in here as well.


Cheers!
/ Raya

[ViperJr]

I'm no export in these kind of frogs, but at least Theloderma corticale are semi-aquatic/semi-arboreal. They're basically tree frogs (which means a lot of climbing space) that like to swim. I don't know if they other are as well, but they're not, they're probably have quite different tank-requirement.
One more thing to consider: It's almost impossible to get a female, at least here in Sweden. They didn't even have females at Hamm.

[Raya]

Yeah I know that they like to climb too. Got big plans for that area of the viv if I go with these

I'm not really interested in breeding them, not right away at least. Maby that's something to aim for as a long term goal. So I'm not that worried about not getting females. Just hope that they are available at all.
Must say that by appearance the gordoni is my favourite right now. Not sure if that one's available in Sweden though...

[Sarge]

Hi Here is vivs of my collegues:

If an adult asperum can eat Blatta lateralis then I guess they all can eat Dubia nymphs? I don't like crickets and personaly would not dare breeding lateralis for the fear of escaping roaches.

I'm afraid they may be too tough for these frogs (I'll ask my collegues), Blattas are cool roaches indeed :P

I know that they are semiaquatic and need an aquaterraria but do they swim around much or just hang at the wateredges? Should I have much open water or more plants, stones etc. ?

They spend almost all time in the water. Indeed, they needs an just few stones and/or cork barks above the water where their will hunt they prey.

[Raya]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Sarge. Good looking vivs!

I'm afraid they may be too tough for these frogs (I'll ask my collegues)

Hmm, too bad if they can't eat the dubias. The nymphs are pretty soft and small though. Looking forward to the answer.

How do you feed your frogs by the way? Do you set the insects loose in the viv?

[ViperJr]

I'm having a really hard time believing that dubias are too tough for them. They have crazy soft shell and comes in literally every size, from under a millimeter to 1 decimeter. Yes, the adults are probably to big, but not the smaller ones. I'm feeding small dubias to my red eyes with great success. They love them.

Please note that I have not tried to actually feed these frogs with dubias. I just find it hard to believe.

[Sarge]

Yeah, I know what Dubia is Good roach, one of my favorites. Why do you so dislike Blatta lateralis?

Good looking vivs!

One of the biggest mistakes is the clean water, water must be "dark" and rich by tannins. They even don't need filtration and cleaning.

How do you feed your frogs by the way? Do you set the insects loose in the viv?

Just put the insects on the rocks/cork barks and frogs will hunt them down. I use dusted crickets, Blattas, Nauphoeta, meal worms, woodlouses, spiders etc.

[Raya]

Why do you so dislike Blatta lateralis?

I've heard that they are good at escaping and that they can infest your home if you're unlucky.. Sounds pretty scary.

One of the biggest mistakes is the clean water, water must be "dark" and rich by tannins. They even don't need filtration and cleaning.

So you should not clean their water? Don't they get sick then?


Got two new questions:

Do you use any heating in their viv?

Should you "match" the colors of your viv to their camouflage to make them feel secure? Like having much green for corticale, brown/red for gordoni etc..

[EZweasel]

I have two of the corticale in a VIV that has a small area with a pool and and underground filtration system. I clean their water daily and once a month do a complete water change. They like to poop in their on water. They do spend a lot of time in the water at night, but during the day spend their time hanging on the wall like most tree frogs.

[Sarge]

Blattas are soft, they do not burrow or climb. One of the best roaсhes Be careful with them and you will appreciate this roach

So you should not clean their water? Don't they get sick then?

No, even dead feeder insects in water are not dangerous. Tannins is very important (we use leaves and bark of Quercus robur) for them. Clean water may cause health problems (begins with a cloudy mucous membranes).

Do you use any heating in their viv?

No, they stay on the floor with temps within 18-25 degrees Celsium, 16-17 still comfortable for them.

Should you "match" the colors of your viv to their camouflage to make them feel secure? Like having much green for corticale, brown/red for gordoni etc..

No and I don't know. Even never thought about it

[Sarge]

Yeah, and about "clean tanks" Their first tank after settlement. No comment