So I was browsing Josh's frogs and looking at the substrate section and saw the leaf litters available which i think was only 4 (correct me if I'm wrong) and suddenly i got the idea of possible using Mango leaves as a leaf litter does anybody know if that'll be okay? I also have other tree's that maybe could work? like small Banana leaves, Papaya tree leaves, Mulberry leaves, and just normal wine grape leaves. So what do you guys think? I was considering using this for my dart frog setup![]()
I'm no expert on this but if a plant can be housed in a vivaria then it would be safe to assume that the litter could be used as ground cover. Normally, Oak is the choice due to the tree having a high Tannin content. Tannin is the organic compound that occurs naturally in Oak. One of the main reasons Oak leaves are a popular choice is down to the longevity of the litter. Baring that in mind, take into account that many PDF vivs need relatively high humidity which would rot most Tropical foliage that has already gone through photosynthesis. My advice would be to completely clean, dry and wait for at least 30days. Then introduce the litter to see how it fairs under the conditions.
I've personally used all you've mentioned except mulberry and grape leaves.
First up, mango leaves are okay. A lot of asian tree frogs spend time on mango trees.
Papaya leaves, crumble easily once they get very dry and gets soggy once it becomes moist. They have a weird smell too.
Banana leaves are okay for toads. They tend to attract molds and even mushrooms once they get moist for a long time. Nice odor though.
As for grapes, as a precaution, every part should be considered toxic to animals.
I personally use terminalla cattapa leaves on all of my leaf loving pets as these are common here and their tannin content is safe even for fishes.
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