
Originally Posted by
J Teezy
well let me say this. I'm new to the hobby and have only really been involved for a few months. My first thing i wanted to house was a Red Eye Tree Frog in a 10 gallon vertical. So i built the tank, planted it, etc. and then found out it was going to be a little more work to keep the humidity and temperatures where they should for an RETF. How did i know this? I ran my tank for a couple weeks with no animal in it trying to make adjustments to misting cycles, using a heat pad etc. I wasn't happy with the results I was getting so i decided on some dart frogs. Another thing with the RETFs that was turning me off was the fact that they aren't the best for watching for entertainment plus they sleep all day being nocturnal. So since my tank was holding humidity and temps perfect for darts. So i bought a couple 4 month old Leucs, and they are pretty awesome little frogs. Kind of skittish at first but after a couple of days they have warmed up nicely to their new home.
As far as leaf litter for a RETF i don't think its really necessary since they won't really walk around on the ground. You may want to cover your soil layer with some sphagnum or leaf litter though to keep substrate from sticking to your frog should it wander onto the ground level. Again i have no experiecne with them personally just relaying information i learned from my own research. You'll want plenty of climbing for an RETF and remember you'll need a water bowl and probably a glass dish to put crickets in and with that you'll want to provide a way for the frog to get to both of those without having to walk on the ground. Remember these frogs live in the canopy's of the trees and never really see the forest floor in the wild.
With springtails an RETF wouldn't really eat them. If you are adding them for cleanup duty, i don't really think they are necessary for a RETF. Springtails are more common in dart frog setups to feed on the decaying leaf litter, frog poo, and what not.
All in all i would make sure you can maintain the proper temp and humidity for at least a week that a RETF requires before you commit to buying one.
Oh and Fruit Flies aren't that bad really. I leave in an apartment size condo and raise and feed out FF's. If you are worried about some getting loose in your apartment here's what i do. I go outside on my porch when i'm transferring flies from a culture into a new culture or putting flies into a cup to feed from, that way if some do get loose they are outside anyway.