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?
That enclosure is unsuitable for treefrogs. They could possibly drown.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
Every picture I have ever posted of the starrys are all from my stock. Every single one. Dont know where you got that information...Also where did you receive that knowledge, I would like to know because I would not post pictures of animals that are not mine for clients to compare to make a purchase. Thank you : ).
Here is one picture I have never posted
here is their enclosure which they are kept in year round and doing superb.
a quarter of their tank has land, 3/4 of it is 4" of water.
Then planted:
I have had nothing but success with them. They call every night. Eat daily even with all that water the still manage the catch the crickets immediately as I feed them. That is one excellent thing about this species. The moment food is in the cage, whether it is day or night, they are up destroying them. Rarely do crickets live more than 5 minutes in that enclosure. That picture is old. That viv is so overgrowth with vines and such that you cant even see the back...They love it!!
The babies enclosure is a tub the size of a ten gallon. With paper towels, pathos plant, and a waterdish that is about 3" deep that takes up half the cage. I see them in there constantly just swimming around or soaking the caudal ends of their bodies in the water. I myself did almost 2 years of research on this species before I acquired them because I could not find them ANYWHERE. But as I said before, with my experience. Carson your tank is perfect for that particular spec
As long as you have surface area inside and above the water they do prefectly fine. These are not frogs that ever go on the ground unless it is to catch prey. If you have enough surface/climbing areas within the enclosure itself the frogs do perfectly fine. When I think about it, their first enclosure had a small water dish with a humidity of 60-70% (quarantine). The moment i changed their tank to exactly what you see above, i started noticing them alot more.
-As far as a dry period. I have had these frogs for over a year and half, and have never had any issues keeping the humidity @ 50-60% constantly. I mist them 3 times a week to bump the humidity up to about 80% and they love it. Every single frog is active and out during this time.
Earth Tiger--If you give me your email I can email you the article in which I found some of my information on this species. It is about the reed frogs of Madagascar found in reptiles magazine.
Hey no derail at all, I'm enjoying seeing the pictures of your frogs/setup.
The cricket bowl fits on the rock mass, I'm not sure if the pictures show how large that rock is, but it's a decent size. The fruit flies that do escape the feeding bowl have been walking around the vines. I've personally seen a few of the frogs eat fruit flies now, so they are eating and doing well. They're extremely fast when they want to be, so it's been hard for me to catch them doing this, but I've seen a few jump in the water already, and none of them had any problems getting out. One actually climbed up the glass wall without using any vines or perch. I'm feeling a lot more confident about this setup.
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