Kevin's first frog

[kwandrsn]

hello everyone my name is Kevin, I am a Deckhand on a tugboat in the Tennessee River.

I am a reefer, spend lots of money and time on my 36 gallon mixed reef with a 10 gallon sump. I have several species of saltwater and freshwater fish and over 50 types of coral. I am very diligent in my aquarium maintenance and like to do things right. but as I can tell you just about anything you would like to know about a reef I have no knowledge about keeping frogs

Thursday afternoon I found a green tree frog on a hot metal barge, no shade, 95 degrees outside. I touched him to see if he was alive, he was very dark green looking. when I touched him he jumped up and latched on to my glove and I finished tying the barge off he stayed on my glove. I went back to the boat and put him in a bucket with a little bit of water in a bowl. after a while he changed to a lighter green color.

I took him home and he stayed in the bucket with a rag tied to the top with holes poked in.it.

the next day I went to aquatic critter and told the boy I needed a home for him. They had starter kits for around $140 and he said I didn't need that. he proceeded to build me a terrarium and set it up for me and it cost $65
it's a 10 gallon with a screen lid that he taped 75 percent of it up. a large chunk of bark, fake plant suction cupped to the glass and a water bowl and forest floor substrate.

I also purchased a mister, a cricket keeper with the two tubes in it. flukers cricket quencher, flukers high calcium cricket diet, and crickets

I was told to feed a few crickets a day, change water bowl and mist the tank really well. also to change substrate once every month and a half.

I was told I didn't need a heater but they didn't say anything about a light. do I need one? It's in our bedroom which stays a little dark during they day unless we are home and the windows are open or lights on

I was told to use either water treatment or use ro water (I have plenty of ro water)

also how much should I mist everything. one thing I didn't like was that the glass gets mist on it and he was all over the glass and had the mulch all over it and in his bowl.

any other tips or advice is welcome as well.

[Gnag the nameless]

Welcome to the Frog Forum!

Good work so far! I'm glad that you rescued that poor little guy! But, here's a few tips and suggestions for you in terms of his setup:

First off, I would buy an aquarium wallpaper from a petstore big enough for the back wall and sides, and either tape it or use warm water to attach it to the sides and back. Preferably, one that matches his natural environment (Ex: a forest wallpaper). These help reduce stress, and make your frog feel more secure. Another thing I strongly suggest is that you switch the substrate you have right now for Coconut Fiber, also known as Plantation soil. It's a safe, clean substrate to use. Bark, or similar substrates aren't safe to use with frogs because if they accidentally ingest some of it it can cause internal injury and/or impaction, which is the blocking of the intestines.

I also strongly recommend picking up a small container of Reptile Calcium + Vitamin D3 powder and Multi-Vitamin Powder. These give your frog the Calcium and Vitamins it needs. You can lightly dust the crickets once a week with each (though on separate days for each of them.) To dust the crickets, simply place a pinch of the powder in a bag, drop the crickets in, seal the bag, shake it around, and then place the crickets in the tank. Your frog should do the rest of the work. Oh, and make sure the crickets are only about the size of the space between your frogs eyes. Any bigger and it may be too much for him/her and she/he may choke on it.

Another thing I recommend you pick up is a humidity gauge, or a hygrometer. These can also be found in petstores, and they will tell you the current humidity of the tank, which is important as Green Tree frogs typically need a certain humidity level.

The Reverse Osmosis water should work, but I personally think picking up a Water Conditioner such as Exo Terra's Aquatize is the best option. It can last you months, and every bottle can condition about 400-500 liters of tap water. Simply follow the instructions on the bottle/package and you'll be good to go.

I don't know much about misting and humidity, but there are lots of people on here who do, and I'm sure they'll comment on this thread and fill you in.

Good work so far! Keep us posted

[The Fluffy Injun]

Hiya! The reason you want to use conditioned water is because though the chlorine will be gone the electrolytes that your frog will need will still be there. If I remember correctly, RO water will not have any of that (I could be wrong though I remember my friend telling me something about it being pure water with 0 ppm or something crazy like that).

Thought you would like an explanation as to why condition water is preferred.


Hope this made sense.

[The Fluffy Injun]

Oh and here is the care sheet. Should tell you all the temp and humidity parameters as well as all the other tidbits needed.

http://www.frogforum.net/showthread.php?t=22803

[kwandrsn]

Ok ill get a background, humidity guage, coconut substrate

about dusting the crickets I just dust what I feed him. I am giving him about 3 a day. and I just dust once a week?
the stuff I'm using to gutload has calcium and stuff that won't give him too much will it?

also what about the lighting

[Gnag the nameless]

Alright, good work!

Dust the crickets once a week, but the Calcium + Vitamin D3 on one day and Multi-Vitamin on the other. Lightly dust, don't overcoat the crickets in the powder.

As for the gutload question, I don't think it'll be a problem. You don't have to buy the gutload from a petstore, either. Simply place some spinach, lettuce, apple, squash, baked potatos, as well as bread or oats in the cricket container. The crickets will eat this, and then your frog will eat the crickets, giving it the nutrients of both the cricket and the food the cricket had previously eaten. You'll have to refresh the food as soon as it goes off, however, or it'll get pretty stinky.

As for lighting, a day/night cycle is an absolute must. Preferably 14 hours dark 12 hours bright. As long as you've got Vitamin D3 in the Calcium powder you should be fine without a UVB bulb. Make sure there are dim spots for your frogs to hide in so its not always in direct sunlight. Adding plants and decor/furniture can help with this.

[kwandrsn]

Ok so what type of light fixture do I need and bulbs. You said 14 dark and 12 light. did you mean 12 and 12?

[The Fluffy Injun]

I have plants in my tank, so for day time, I use a Compact fluorescent Full Spectrum 5500 K bulb and at night I used one of the red night bulbs you can get from the LPS. I believe you can use just a low watt bulb, not sure though guess it would depend on your temp. Someone will answer this properly but this is what I use for my Green tree frog.

For the fixtures I use 6" dome clamp lights from lowes.

[kwandrsn]

so do I just buy two dome light fixtures and set them on the screen top?

[The Fluffy Injun]

That's what I do.

[kwandrsn]

Ok but will the heat from the lights melt clear packing tape? the guy at the reptile place taped up 3/4 of the screen top to help keep the humidity in there

and what uvb reading bulb do I need to buy?
I am planning on using live plants in the future

[The Fluffy Injun]

You don't want a UVB you want a full spectrum for the plants, people on here suggested (5500 -6700k).

Don't put the light on the tape put it on the open area of the screen. It will melt, one of my lights melted the plastic rim of my tank when I wasn't paying attention and cleaning. Just err on the side of caution.

I will send you a picture of my tank as soon as I get inside so you can see what I mean.

[kwandrsn]

question about misting also. I can't go get a humidity guage until I have a day off. how wet should everything be. the substrate is damp right now. as soon as I get a day off I'm also buying the coconut stuff for the substrate

[The Fluffy Injun]

If its damp but not soaked you will be ok.

[kwandrsn]

it won't mold?

[The Fluffy Injun]

I have a false bottom for excess water. I am not sure how long or if it will.

Here is my setup, sry about quality best I could do.

[kwandrsn]

wow that looks awesome. I have several questions about your tank. What did you use for the false bottom? I see eggcrate. and I really like the waterfall. is it a handmade setup? if so how did you make it. I like . the looks of your tank a lot better than mine

[The Fluffy Injun]

It is homemade here is my build post:

http://www.frogforum.net/showthread.php?t=23415

I did use egg crate panel for the false bottom.

That post has links to other builds that really help.

If you have any other questions feel free. Hope this helped.

[kwandrsn]

What size is that tank? and yes you have helped quite a bit thank you

[The Fluffy Injun]

It's a 10 gallon