Ideas for a beginner viv?

[BadKat]

Hello everyone.
I am brand new to frog keeping and am in the process of setting up a 12x12x18 zoo Med terrarium. We have yet to decide on the frog that we are going to adopt, but my girls fell in love with the baby WTFs. My question is, how long would one be comfortable in this setup?

Kurt was nice enough to suggest that we might like to try a Tiger Legged Monkey Frog, but I'm afraid that species(I like them a lot) might me a bit advanced for my noob status.

We are doing this (in part) as a tropical forest biome project for my 5th grade daughter, so we need a beginner frog that would be comfortable in the warm moist environment. I would also like a frog that I wouldn't be scared of crushing inadvertantly to start the hobby. (yes I am a worrywart)

Any more suggestions on selecting a species or Vivarium set up ideas would be helpful.

We are planning on doing a leca sub and a waterfall with at least one ledge that the frog can drink/bathe at.

Thanks in advance and happy frogging.

Katy

[S13]

Sounds good. White's are a fairly good frog to begin with, there shouldn't be any arguments there. I have the same ZooMed 12/12/18 for my RETF and its as basic as it gets. I have LECA drainage layer, coco fiber on top of that, and I literally have a whole golden pothos plant planted in the coco fiber substrate. A bit of moss for humidity retention, and a stick/vine type decoration going from the floor to the top of the enclosure going through pothos leaves, with some stones scattered around. Also have a little tiki guy statue that he loves sitting on from time to time. I also have one of those fake mushroom ledges up top, and his water dishes. Here are a few photos:

[BadKat]

Nice!

I'm just worried that a wtf might get too big for the setup, and my big girl panties and I aren't ready for an intermediate frog like an retf.

I am lucky that my mom has a bunch of clean houseplant cuttings that are appropriate for a viv. Such a time and money saver.

[BadKat]

P.S. I really like your little tiki head/totem.

[S13]

P.S. I really like your little tiki head/totem.

Thanks

Yeah, I think an adult white's requires at least 20 gallons, and that one we have is just a bit over 10 gallons IIRC. Hmmm maybe a regular green tree frog? American green tree frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BadKat]

I'm hoping that someone will be able to tell me how long it will take a baby (a little smaller than a quarter) to reach adult size. If it's a long enough period of time I may be ready to move the wtf into a larger cage and repurpose the current one for something a bit more advanced.

BTW, where did you find that wicked leaf dish? Something like that is exactly what I'd like the waferfall to run into before falling to the bottom.

[S13]

I'm pretty sure it takes a good while for them to grow big from that size. If you are willing to upgrade to a bigger tank when it starts getting larger, I'd say go for it! Then you could probably house a diff species in the 12x12x18 after the move and a bit of experience under your belt

That dish was given to me by a friend, I looked it up on google though and saw that petsmart carries them PetSmart - All Living Things(r) Leaf Water Dish customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

[KingCam]

Grey tree frogs stay pretty small, especially the males. One would be comfortable in a vertical 10 gallon tank. They tolerate a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions and accept food readily after they're settled in. In my opinion, greys are the absolute easiest "newb" tree frog there is.

Plus, they are AWESOME frogs! I absolutely love all 5 of mine XD

[BadKat]

Omar,
Just my luck, it's discontinued. I may try the whites, I've got some time to decide since we haven't even received the waterfall kit and other equipment we ordered.

Cam,
It is supposed to be "tropical rainforeset" but I doubt that her teacher would know the difference in species. If nothing else, I'll just set up the terrarium and stick in some plastic PDF's and then I can pick whichever frog my avaricious little heart desires.

I really like your setup, is the water at the bottom filtered? Your frogs look really happy.

I'm sure I'll be bugging this forum quite a bit in the weeks to come, but hopefully I'll be able to contribute something too.

Thanks guys.

[KingCam]

Omar,
Just my luck, it's discontinued. I may try the whites, I've got some time to decide since we haven't even received the waterfall kit and other equipment we ordered.

Cam,
It is supposed to be "tropical rainforeset" but I doubt that her teacher would know the difference in species. If nothing else, I'll just set up the terrarium and stick in some plastic PDF's and then I can pick whichever frog my avaricious little heart desires.

I really like your setup, is the water at the bottom filtered? Your frogs look really happy.

I'm sure I'll be bugging this forum quite a bit in the weeks to come, but hopefully I'll be able to contribute something too.

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the kind words Yeah, grey tree frogs aren't exactly tropical, lol.

The water in the bottom has been filtered at times with small submersible filters, but currently I just have an air stone in it. I siphon and refill it every week. I recently added a bunch of english ivy and java moss to the reservoir, I'll upload pics soonish.

[helm96]

Check a Petsmart storefront, I picked up that water dish last week at a Petsmart near my house and they had 3 left when I bought mine!

[BadKat]

Check a Petsmart storefront, I picked up that water dish last week at a Petsmart near my house and they had 3 left when I bought mine!

Exactly where do you live? Soleley for curiosity. I would never come and jack you up for your wicked cool leaf dish. *looks shifty*

. Thanks for the heads up, I'll try that tomorrow.

[BadKat]

Will,

I called and found the dish at a local Petsmart. Headed out to pick it up now.

Thanks again.

Katy

[helm96]

Phew, now I can cancel the order for the bars for my windows! :-) Glad you found it! Its a cool little piece that lights up the tank!

[BadKat]

Here is the structure of our viv, plants and branches will follow.

Our species dilemma was solved by Craigslist. I will be picking up our free Red-Eyed Leaf Frog when this is done. The catch is that we're now making a habitat for two FBTs that the guy is re-homing too. He's kept the frog and toads in the same tank for a year so I'm a little apprehensive, but he says they're all healthy. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the frog hasn't sustained any long term injuries from the toad toxins.



The waterfall took a lot more space than anticipated so if anyone has ideas on how to suspend planters from the sides I would LOVE it.

Really any advice or comment besides "boo you suck" (I have a fragile ego ) would be great.

[Kristen]

Good luck!
red eyed leaf frogs are gorgeous frogs, so are fire bellied toads, but keeping them together is not a wise choice, I hope the red eyes haven't (as you said) gotten any injuries from the toxins. Good on you for taking the frogs though, and providing them with the correct care needed
I'm sure your tank will turn out lovely, don't stress. It's looking good so far, Can't wait to see it finished

[deranged chipmunk]

The waterfall took a lot more space than anticipated so if anyone has ideas on how to suspend planters from the sides I would LOVE it.

first off, let me say, the viv looks great so far as far as hanging planters from the sides. Devin at ripariumsupply.com has them for ripariums, however, he is very well versed in terrariums, paludariums, ripariums as well as vivs. look him up, i think he'll have what you need :-)

-Bill

[BadKat]

Thanks Kristen, I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the health of the RETF and my ability to care for it.

Bill,
I checked that site out, it's got some great ideas. I may try to jury rig something similar. Why buy when you can make?

BTW, do deranged chipmunks really try to eat peoples' faces off or is that blatant propaganda spread by those evil squirrels?

[deranged chipmunk]

Hey, i am big fan of do-it-yourself. I have been diy'ing stuff together for fish tanks for years. Like you said, why buy if you can diy?
As far as deranged chipmunks, only when we are cornered do we try to eat faces. It's those darned propogandist squirrels trying to ruin our good name! Personally i think they are still ticked that disney chose chimpmunks over squirrels for the chip and dale roles!!

[BadKat]

Almost done. Getting pretty excited about adding our new pets to the family.