Starry Night Reed Frog!

[carsona246]

So I decided to get some starry night reed frogs to go with my paludarium because I wanted something that would be well suited to water. I got 5 little starry night reed frogs from Genesis Exotics(DemFluids). They shipped well and have been in my tank for a few hours now, and I thought I'd share and ask a few questions.

Here's the tank:


Here's a very blurry shot of one of my new guys on a leaf. They are so tiny.


I have a few questions about feeding wingless fruit flies that I didn't expect. I have them in the same bowl I used for crickets, but they seem to be able to climb out. A few of the flies have drowned themselves, but a lot of them seem to be able to do just fine walking around the vines. How do you guys with water features keep your flies out of the water? Also I used to dust crickets in a bag, but I was afraid I'd lose the flies if I used this method. Is it ok to dust when they're in the bowl? I found dusting with calcium while in the bowl prevented a good number from climbing out.
Here's a shot of them in the bowl:

Is it ok to have that much calcium in the bowl?

[Pactolus]

That enclosure is unsuitable for treefrogs. They could possibly drown.

[carsona246]

These are reed frogs whose natural habitat are living in reeds above water. I'm perfectly fine with constructive criticism, but I did research these frogs beforehand and asked a number of knowledgeable people whether this setup would work for these frogs. I'm just gonna have to outright disagree with you on that one.

[Pactolus]

How do you intend for the frogs to access the crickets without the crickets drowning? It just seems like alot of unneeded hassle and pressure on the frogs.

[DemFluids]

This is a perfect enclosure for starrys. Looks great! Being from Madagascar they live in the swampy areas. The crickets will be able to get out via the pathos. i have my adults in an enclosure very similar and they are thriving and breeding.

[earthtiger]

"...Being from Madagascar they live in the swampy areas. ..."

any source for the info, that they live in swampy areas?

I would keep them not the whole year in a Paludarium. Most of the year in a very well ventilated tank on the dry side and only during the breeding season in a "swampy like" tank like the above one.

Citation from "A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagasgar" by F. Glaw & M. Vences:
"...Habitat: Females were found during the day on the sun-exposed leaves of Pandanus and other plants. At Ranomafana the species was only observed in August...."

A couple of years ago I have been in Madagascar and found Heterixalus cf. betsileo sitting on leafs in the full sun. => very dry during the day.

just my two cents...

[carsona246]

I use a cricket bowl. But they're eating fruit flies right now. I don't really understand how having 4" of water adds "hassle and pressure". They have a ton of vines to climb around, and they would be over much more than 4" of water in the wild.
If you personally do not like the idea of using water as a substrate that is perfectly fine, but that does not make this enclosure "unsuitable" for these frogs.

[DemFluids]

This enclosure looks great! Good job man. The starrys will flourish in that. Being from Madagascar they are used to the deep swampy marshes where they prolifically breed. I have my adults in a very similar enclosure and they are thriving and breeding often.

[CJ PELCHER]

Im not to savy on the this species, however there should be some sort of land in my opinion. However I would trust your breeder on the decision of proper husbandry of the species if he's successful at it. As far as crickets getting out of water...a cricket can drown in water thats not even 1/8 inch deep even with plants in the enclosure. It will happen no matter what if they are running loose. Bowl feeding crickets is a very good alternative to this problem. Keep us posted on the bowl feeding aspect since it will be rather difficult to bowl feed in a water substrate enclosure. I do see some sort of rock perch in the back not sure if that is sufficient for a bowl feeding spot but worth a shot.

Dem do you have photos of YOUR adults specifically? The picture of the adult you posted in another thread isn't yours to my knowledge. It would be good to see yours.