Hi everyone -

There's a forum for EVERYTHING....glad this one is here. I was hoping to get some feedback on my setup for my 6 year old's new Dumpy (the frog is about 1.75" long - a juvenile, I presume. (I should note that we also hae a corn snake and so are aware that there is special care needed in the viv with frogs as well.

We have the ZooMed 12x12x18" tank, with sphagnum moss substrate and cork on the back wall. There is a medium corner water dish (using bottled water) and the moss is damp but not dripping wet (rinsed in bottled water first). I have two hygrometers, one about an inch off the moss, and another near the top of the viv, there is also a thermostat at about 4" above the moss. We have one plant with fat leaves for it to climb on as well and it seems to like hanging on its leaves. The herp store recommended a 60 watt red bulb in the Zoomed Enclosure, to be on 24/7.

So -

The lighting seems excessive to me. 60 watts burning all day and night has got to get hot for the frog. The temp in the tank is currently about 80 degrees with humidity near the moss at about 70%, 55% near the top screen. The frog seems to always be under the leaves of the plant we have in there, leading me to believe that the red light may be too much. Thoughts?

I have a bunch of baby crickets in a plastic bag with spinach and romaine lettuce, dampened, along with some fish food. Sound good for a few days on the crickets? These are pretty small crickets....and I just have no idea how to work out the feeding thing. Are there resources on line that can outline a good feeding schedule? What about with maintaining a week ot two's supply of crickets at a time? I need to get something a little more manageable than a plastic bag from the store, and the cricket keepers I saw at Petco (the frog was NOT from Petco) seem cheaply made.

As far as feeding the frog....yesterday was the first feeding. We put about 10 crickets in and just let them roam. There to be fewer crickets today, but we didn't actually see the frog eat any. Should I put some lettuce int he tank for the crickets to eat before they're eaten themselves?

I don't mind spending a few bucks to get a viv in order that will provide the best environment, so I thought I'd post to the pros here.

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin