Suction cup plants and other foolishness.

[Poly]

Well, you might think they're not but...

Best "decor" for a tree frog? I had a stick, like a legit stick from a tree( I'm forced to be a cheapskate right now.) in his tank and one of those wood log tunnel things. I also had some rocks from outside. Since he got sick, I chucked everything that could possibly have mold on it. He's left with a round rock, his water bowl and this goofy looking $3 plant I got at petco that sticks on the wall of his tank. With a suction cup! Can he actually CLIMB that? O.o

Did you treat the wood before adding it to his enclosure? The best "decor" for a tree frog would not just be sticks and fake plants, but live plants, bamboo, a fake background, etc.

You say your frog got sick, was it a bacterial or fungal infection? If the wood is treated correctly, and the vivarium is maintained, there should only be very limited amounts of mold that grow, and if the vivarium is properly seeded with springtails, they will eat the mold, they are a really helpful insect!

Also, best, and cheapest substrate for a frog? I've honestly had a frog for five years and tonight was the first time I even LOOKED at substrate. O.o Granted, he's a gray and they've got a high tolerance for dryness, like a toad. But I'm just looking at the glass floor of that tank going, "He's getting old, he deserves new squishy flooring!"

And, what kind of substrate are you keeping him on? In five years you have never maintained the substrate? This could be the cause of your frogs sickness. Do you remove it's feces if any gets on the substrate? All amphibians must be kept moist, they can only live with "dryness" for so long, do you mist it's enclosure?

[BeckyM]

I did not treat the wood because I didn't know to do so. I read books and websites and various articles and not a one told me to treat the wood before adding it to the tank. :| Yay, thanks articles and books. You failed me. >_>

I'm not sure about his sickness. It seems to be fading off with the use of an antibiotic...so...bacterial? I'm not sure.

He's got nothing on the floor of his tank, save for a water bowl and a rock. Based on your post, I'm assuming that's... bad. Though, I've been going this long without it and he hadn't had any issues before Christmas 2011. None. He quit chirping in 2008, but I figured it was because I'd moved to a cooler climate.

When I first got him and was looking up frog care, I assumed substrate was optional ( I recall nothing saying it was mandatory). I was also living in an apartment at the time and had no place to wash out substrate, but now I do! I clean out all poop when I see it, and I clean the tank thoroughly every two weeks.

I do keep him plenty moist by misting him and the tank itself.