Red eyed tree frogs. First time keeper. Opinions / Advice required :-)

[ben7ani]

I posted this on the introduction post also... but thought I'd stick it in here to see if I get anymore replies. Thanks :-) ...

Hi everyone, I'm glad I have found what appears to be a decent community for advice and to share my own experiences. I am completely new to frogs having never kept any before; I have kept reptiles (crested geckos, giant day geckos, a panther chameleon and a royal python) but have never kept amphibians.

I bought a couple of red eyed tree frogs from a fantastic store with some experienced keepers of exotic animals that I know quite well now.

However, it can never hurt for some more advice. I pretty much went on my own experience and research with regards these animals and set up but want some opinions and suggestions on what I have done so far if at all possible?

I have bought two captive bred juvenile red eyed tree frogs, both seem healthy and free from infection from what I can see and come from a reliable breeder; both seem alert (when they weren’t sleeping in the vivarium), bright eyed and free moving when briefly handled (both can jump and crawl no problems).

I have the following:

• 1x exo-terra 30cm(W) x 30cm(D) x 45cm(H) (prepared to expand with age but have heard this is adequate, but obviously the more space the better as with any animal)
• 1x branch that covers the majority of the height and all of the width of the vivarium branching off at various angles.
• 1x artificial plant that covers ¼ of the tank dangling from the background.
• 1x medium sized water dish at the bottom to soak in when required (changed daily).
• 1x 60W moonlight bulb attached to a thermostat currently set to 27°C (this also allows it to come on at night not affecting the day/night cycle and to keep up the ambient air temperature). With it being a moonlight bulb, it will not produce as much heat as a standard 60 watt daylight bulb and appears to be working well (so I am led to believe).
• 1x standard lamp with no UV for daylight hours as I have heard these frogs do not need UV lighting (I will be dusting there crickets with calcium and D3 1x weekly) and standard calcium / minerals every 2-3 feeds whilst babys.
• The bottom of the tank currently consists of orchid bark chips. I am thinking about removing these and putting in paper towel (mainly to help monitor live food intake and faeces while settling in to there new home). However, as I have only just got the frogs I don’t really want to unsettle and stress them out and would rather them settle, so will it be an issue if I keep the orchid bark chips in the vivarium.

I have had my red eyes for 2 days now, and they are amazing animals. I have yet had the opportunity to watch them at night to make sure they are active because I have been working night shifts for the past couple of days. I did shake a tub of very small crickets in the viv on the first night and had a fair few drop off before I left for work around 2030. I then fed them again tonight before leaving for work with calicium/minirals (nutrabol) and D3 as I normally do this on Sundays with my other reptiles that require it. What I have found due to the crickets being very small and my style of set up, is it’s going to be very difficult to monitor what they are actually eating due to the food being able to hide during the day. Does anyone have any tips how to monitor this until I know they are eating then I can just leave them alone.

All this put into account does it seem ok so far?

Humidity seems fine it drops to around 50-60% during the day and I spray at night before bed and it monitors around 80-85% in the morning.

[DonLisk]

Sounds fine to me. You can use the cricket bowl method to feed and monitor what they are eating. Basicily you use a glass bowl and place the crickets in it. You can sink the bowl into the substrate and the escaped crickets will eventually make their way back into the bowl and get stuck there due to not getting traction to jump out. Note that the bowl needs to be clean since once dirty, the crickets can get traction to jump out.

If you don't need the night light for heat purposes, you may want to remove it if your noticing the frogs are not active at night. They really like the darkness.

Welcome and congrats on the new RTFs.

[ben7ani]

Thanks for the reply - i will set up that glass bowl tonight, brilliant idea.

With regards to the orchid bark this shouldnt be a problem now if I use the bowl feeding technique?? The touble will be finding a decent steep sided bowl :-) - I was kind of worried about impaction as well with the bark (again the bowl should help this issue) thanks a lot :-)

[DonLisk]

I'm not a fan of the bark but RTFs are not aggressive like some other frogs and with the bowl, they'll just sit at the bowls edge and pick the crickets off with ease.

I use a cereal bowl and have found the stoneware type bowls work good too. I even used a cup once but with the flat bottom you would get a few crickets to escape.

[ben7ani]

I’ll be definitely incorporating the bowl technique… that’s a really good way of being able to monitor food intake, so thanks for that idea. I’ll just have to hope none jump out because that will ruin the objective... they are only small crickets at the moment anyway so shouldn’t pose a problem in terms of escaping. My substrate isn’t that deep so guess I will have to deepen it so crickets can fall back in the bowl. Will a 3-4 inches high bowl be ok (and obviously curved)?

What would you recommend for juvenile frogs in terms of substrate - soil or moss? Or perhaps something else?

[Dog Shrink]

For neat odd shaped glass bowls you could also look at the candle section at wal mart or similar stores. I found some great square candle holders about 4 inches tall that could work great for this application.

[ben7ani]

im going to be popping out today to see what bowl i can find that fits this purpose.. might be a bowl, might not be

[bshmerlie]

My bowl is only couple of inches deep and it works.

[ben7ani]

awesome. and my current set up is ok from what i have described?? is it worth maybe chucking a real plant in there to help keep humidity constant (and also provide more hides and walking surfaces)? I was thinking a snake plant or what have you.

[DonLisk]

Real plants are always a plus since they provide a more natural enviorement and actually utilize the frogs waste. Snake plant, pothos, and bromeliads all make great additions as do branches and vines since your frogs are not usually found on the substrate or ground and travel from leaf to branch to leaf and so on to move about their surroundings.

As for substrate, I like to use plantation soil, coco fiber, or Zilla's jungle mix covered in either leaf liter or some moss.
Both help with humidity.

[ben7ani]

Ok cool, shall I sort it out asap? Or do it once they are settled. Came home tonight to find one of them sleeping on the glass at the top but not hiding is this ok? (he has moved drastically from where he was originally in his hiding place).. And my other frog is sat in the water dish. Signs good so far? I just want them to settle in asap and make sure they're ok.

[ViperJr]

I can see that you got some great advice already, but I just want to add with a few things:
1. It can't be stressed enough how much they need it to be dark at night. Like, pitch dark, at least when they're settling in. After a month or two (or more correctly, when they're settled in to their new home), you can add night lights to view them at night.
2. If you want even more feedback on the terrarium, post a picture of it. It's hard to actually comprehend how it looks with just words.
3. If you ask me, personally, I really think you should have a lot of real plants. There's no reason not to have it, unless it's a quarantine tank or something like that.


Congratulation on the new frogs! I hope to see a lot of pictures.

[DonLisk]

I'd let them settle in some before doing anything drastic. You can set a plant in there and then do a major change later.
Any plants going in need to be rinsed well and the soil (which is probably fertilized) removed and then plants right into the substrate. You can set potted plants in if out rinse them well and ensure the soil in the pot is not fertilized.


As Martin stated, the more plants the better and total darkness is the way to go.
Check out some of the other members photo galleries for examples and to get ideas.

Oh, and if they are moving around thats a good sign. Just monitor their physical condition for color and weight when you can get a good look at them. I use a dim flashlight at night and try not to shine it right on them to look mine over.

[ben7ani]

I have removed the 60w moonlight bulb and replaced it with a 25w day bulb. I've also added a lucky reptile heat mat to the side the viv attached to a on off thermostat. There is currently no night time viewing bulb. I have added the bowl... But no joy last night. Should I remove the uneaten crickets or just leave them at the bottom of the bowl and chuck some food in for the them so the crickets don't die.