Hey! My adorable FBT's name is Sticky. I got him (?) from my school's environmental program and have been watching him over the summer. The teacher hasn't asked for him back yet and I'm certainly a much better home for him than the school. xP

Anyhow, I am about to upgrade Sticky's tank. He's in a 5 gal with a lame basking dock, but I divided a 10 gal so I can put him in there and he can actually have a bigger land area. I want to get him a friend or two, but I'm not sure if they'd get along. The only ones they have at my local pet store are orientalis and I'm pretty sure Sticky is a bombina, but I don't know how to tell. He is smaller than them and dark colored, usually black but the brightest he's ever gotten is brown, never any green on him. He has an orange tummy, medium colored, not yellow, but not as red as orientalis. Also, I don't know if it's actually a boy or not. I've never heard him sing and he's already black all over so it's hard to see if he's developed nuptial pads. But anyway, I'm sure he's not orientalis, but I haven't found anyone else around me who has European ones or any others besides Oriental. If I get him Oriental friends do you think they will get along, or should I not risk mixing species, even if they're only different FBT species, not entirely different frogs? Also, does anyone have any sexing tips for European (or others?) for a definitive way to tell when it's not breeding season? And one more thing: What's the best substrate? What's good to use to make sure he can't accidentally eat it with food?

Thank for reading!