My New ExoTerra 12x12x18 Terrarium

[Beil89]

Found the kit on sale at Petsmart last night while shopping with my girlfriend and thought early birthday present.



I got it all set up. Velcro seems a lot happier in here then in the critter carrier he was in.

Ended up not using the suction cup vines that came with it because they didn't stick and obscured my vision.

[ViperJr]

It's a good start, but it's not yet a suitable place for a tree frog to live, if you ask me. Add more climbing space, more hiding space. Basically, just more plants, plants and plants (fake are ok if you really have something against live ones). A feeding bowl is something I recommend (but it's not necessary), since this reduces the risk for impaction and makes the monitoring of food-intake easier.

On a final note, Velcro is a kick-*** name.

[DonLisk]

Yeah, I really hate suction cups. i can get then to stick, only to find them on the substrate days or weeks later.

Nathanial, what lighting do you have for Velcro? If your using compact florescent you can buy a inexpensive bromeliad from a nursery or even Home Depot or Lowes and make one happy frog. If you do live plants they have to be rinsed off of all fertilizers and the fertilized soil that came with the plant,

If your planning on staying with fake plants get some branches, string in some vines from the top hanging in and give Velcro some high up perches, hiding places, and enough to help him travel from the top to water dish and food without having to be on the substrate. Tree Frogs are usually not found on the substrate unless looking for something to eat or because the humidity isn't around 60 percent near the top where he should be.

If you looking for ideas, look at some of the members photo albums since there are some pretty awesome builds to get inspiration from.


I agree that Velcro is an awesome name too.

[Beil89]

Thanks for all the ideas.

I was planning on getting more plants. (fake, not sure if I trust myself to care for real ones.) I just have everything that came with the kit and what I had in his critter carrier. I have moss on top of the substrate so he doesn't seem to mind. I'm using the compact top light light. I just bought a cheap 15w aquarium bulb. It gives enough heat. i do need to get a new blue night bulb though. The one I had was a 75w and the light says no bigger than 25w.

It's just a start but I'm definitely going to take your guys advice and make it better.

[UncleChester]

If you can manage to keep your frog alive, you can manage to keep a plant alive. Two easy to care for types:

Pothos (aka devils ivy, aka Epipremnum aureum) is a super easy plant for even the most novice of plant novices, the misting you have to do anyway to keep humidity up for your frog generally does the trick and it will grow to fill up a good amount of space (can also be trimmed liberally).

Snake plants (aka mother in laws tongue, aka sword plants, aka sansevieria) are also pretty much invincible (but grow fairly slow). So even if you try your best to kill it, it will hang in there for many weeks as you try to finish it off.

[Bolisnide]

I keep snake plants and pothos in my vivarium with very good luck. Very low maintenance and they seem to be thriving quite nicely. It's not as hard as you may think.