Fire-bellied toad setup

[UltraMagnus]

I'm preparing to setup my first FBT enclosure, I've scored a 40 gallon tank with a screen lid for cheap off of craigslist. I pretty sure this will make a nice toad mansion. I have questions on the setup. I've seen so many different setups with varying amounts of land space. A common theme I've seen is mostly water with some floating platforms, is this viable? Do I really need something like eco-earth for a dry space?

Thanks.

[ToadsNfrogs4me]

A lot is personal preference. I started with a setup like that - mine didn't like it. Here is my current setup for the adults
Right now I have 2, 3 month old babies I rescued, they have a more typical setup like you are describing until they get bigger


I have coconut fiber bedding on the bottom and moss bedding on the top, I keep it all moist by misting, plus the pool for soaking I change daily. Mine love having places to climb. I highly recommend a VERY secure lid, or an Exoterra tank. My adults are in a Medium Wide (6 of them), and the 2 babies in a mini short.

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk

[Mentat]

It depends in if you are happy with a functional decor or want to build something nicer and more natural looking to include set-ups with live plants in the dry and wet areas. This care article has some nice information and provides various decor ideas in the housing area: Frog Forum - Fire-Bellied Toad Care and Breeding - Bombina orientalis and relatives.

To go functional can use turtle docks or pieces of cork bark to provide the frogs with dry areas and you are pretty much done. You can also add a "dam" with a glass pane and silicone glue to separate dry and wet areas in the tank. Going up in complexity you can build a false bottom set-up with plastic egg crate and have dry substrate areas above the highest water level. The ultimate set-up would include live plants in the wet and dry areas with suitable substrate for both. Lot's of information is available in the Vivarium Section.

If your water area is going to be permanent (not a daily changed water dish); strongly recommend use a filter to increase the water quality and reduce the need for daily water changes. Filter can be something as simple as a foam unit powered by an air pump or an internal powered unit. If going for later; myself use the Supreme Ovation filters made by Danner. Good luck !

[UltraMagnus]

Thanks for the replies. I breed fish and understand how to maintain water quality. I've got a linear piston air pump powering multiple sponge filters. The frog tank will be in my fish room so filtration will not be an issue. The turtle dock rout seems to be the easiest to maintain, at least for me. I just wanted to hear from people that own FBT before I made any decisions.

I've already read the care sheet multiple times. I've read conflicting reports about the requirments of UVB. Some say you don't need it but I've also read that amphibians require some UVB in order to metabolize calcium. Anybody have any thoughts on that?

[CinnamonPearl]

Having a lightbulb will help, but fire-bellies don't require UVB. For a setup, fire belly toads seem to like the half-land, half-water setup best. To achieve that, you can just buy a lot of gravel (big enough so they can't swallow it), make a slope so half of the gravel is higher than your chosen water level, and put moss on top of the dry area. That way, you don't have to use silicone to divide the tank and you can still have an ideal setup. Also, the slope will help your frogs climb out of the water.

[Mentat]

...I've already read the care sheet multiple times. I've read conflicting reports about the requirments of UVB. Some say you don't need it but I've also read that amphibians require some UVB in order to metabolize calcium. Anybody have any thoughts on that?

Frogs do not metabolize Ca from exposure to UVB. When in captivity, they require CA/D3 supplements added to their food .

[UltraMagnus]

Frogs do not metabolize Ca from exposure to UVB. When in captivity, they require CA/D3 supplements added to their food .

Thank you. There are so many conflicting articles out on the net, I like to get advice from people that actually own the animal I'm researching. I don't like to dive in based on care articles alone. I've got my tank semi setup, 40 gallons is so huge! I think I'll have happy frogs. I'm currently seeding the filter for the frogs water in a fish tank, should be done in a month. I'll be back with pictures when I've finally got my froggies