Ornate Horned Frog Setup

[CinnamonPearl]

Is this a good setup for an ornate horned frog? It's a 10 gallon aquarium. The drainage layer is Zoomed hydroballs and the top layer is eco earth. The temperature is in the low 80s to very high 70s in the land portion and high 70s around the water section. I got a huge water dish because I heard pacman frogs can get really big. Any suggestions? And should I get a smaller water dish?

[Namio]

Hi Cinnanon Pearl, the setup you have looks great for an adult horned frog. One suggestion I would make is go to a pet shop and choose an aquarium background of your choice and cover the three sides (back, left and right side) of the tank with it. This will ensure the frog feel nice and secure. Also, you would have gotten many more responses already if you posted this on the forum section specific to horned frogs. I would recommend you to get a digital thermo/hydrometer combo (I have one made by exoterra and it works very well) so you can better monitor the temperature and humidity.

[CinnamonPearl]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to get a background soon. I have a temperature checker to monitor temp, and I don't like using hydrometers since they're always inaccurate. I'm misting the tank a lot to get it humid for the frog.

I have a question, though. I added a plant in hope of making the frog feel more secure, but it takes up a huge chunk of the land portion. Should I remove it to give the frog more land room?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Namio]

Yeah no problem! I've noticed heavy misting once a day can maintain ~80% humidity, so as long as you mist everyday your humidity should be fine!

[CinnamonPearl]

Yeah, that's what I do for my FBTs and they're happy as clams.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gibson]

For my horned frogs I just used Eco Earth and a medium sized water bowl (heating source as well of course). Backgrounds are good too. But I don't think having a hide and fake plants are necessary, I think they like having more room to burrow.

[CinnamonPearl]

I'll take out the plant, then. I just wanted to help the frog feel secure. I'm also using Eco earth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Namio]

For my horned frogs I just used Eco Earth and a medium sized water bowl (heating source as well of course). Backgrounds are good too. But I don't think having a hide and fake plants are necessary, I think they like having more room to burrow.

Hides ensure a sense of security for the frog, so in my opinion that is quite essential. Plants do add aesthetics and that can be entirely optional to the owner.

[Gibson]

I've actually never heard of anyone using a hide and i've been in the hobby for a few years, i mean they just burrow anyway. but it defiantly won't hurt the frog. i guess its just up to the owner!

[Namio]

I've actually never heard of anyone using a hide and i've been in the hobby for a few years, i mean they just burrow anyway. but it defiantly won't hurt the frog. i guess its just up to the owner!

Providing a hide isn't actually uncommon for horned frogs. They will find shelter and hide, especially when they are young.

[CinnamonPearl]

If the frog doesn't use the hide, I'll just take it out. Simple as that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CinnamonPearl]

This is the final setup I'm going with. Sorry if the picture isn't good; I just misted. I added some moss to help with humidity and to make the tank a little more visually interesting.

By the way, the soil is pretty dry most of the time. Will that be problematic?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gibson]

There really doesn't look like the frog will have enough room to burrow as it gets bigger. I'm not sure about the moss either, with impaction and all. Personally I would ditch the hide and give the frog more room to burrow, because by the look of the enclosure he might have trouble getting comfortable as he gets bigger. It also may just be the angle of the picture, though!


And yes, you really need to have the soil moist for the frog. Would just dumping a bunch of water in the soil be good idea? Can someone back me up on that? I mean, he has the drainage layer and all. When I kept horned frogs I used a heat pad on the side and put a towel over the screen top to keep in the heat and humidity.


Mike? What do you think?

[Namio]

I think if the hide was sawed in halves it would fit perfectly in the tank. Having moss or not has always been debatable. Personally I have had no problem with moss being in the tank if care and attention are taken. Ideally the moss would be much safer if the frog is tong-trained which reduces unintentional ingestion. The substrate should be moist, but not overly wet that it's soggy. Gibson is right about having drainage layer helps maintaining substrate moisture. Dumping some water would be ok as long as the substrate isn't overly wet (it promotes unwanted bacterial growth) since you have a nice drainage layer.

[CinnamonPearl]

I've never had problems with moss, and I've been keeping frogs for a while now.

I'll dump some water into the soil. Hopefully, that helps.

I'm going to leave the hide as it is for now. If the frog gets bigger, doesn't use the hide, or doesn't have room to burrow, then I can always make edits. I don't have a background yet so I need the frog to feel secure. Or maybe I'll get a slightly bigger tank in the future to provide the frog with more room.

How big should I expect an ornate to get? I've been trying to find the information but I can't find a specific measurement. I've gotten a range of 3-8".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gibson]

You don't need a bigger tank. A 10 gallon is fine. And as for size, females will get a bit larger than males. I havent kept them in years but I think 5 inches for males and 6-7 for females would be a pretty good estimate.

[Namio]

I don't think a mature male will get to the 5-inch SVL, probably more like 4-inch. You'd be lucky if your female frog reach over 6 inches. Captive frogs typically do not grow as large as frogs you would see in the wild, for exact reasons unknown. I suspect it might has something to do with estivation. Perhaps diet plays a minor role as well, but I'm just going off on a limb here as there is no scientific proofs on what I suggested here.

[CinnamonPearl]

I got my frog! I went to the Long Island Reptile Expo today and picked one up. I don't know the gender, so I'm just gonna assume female for now. It's a 50/50 chance I'm right, anyways. I don't think she's a C. ornata, but the setup requirements for pacman frogs is pretty much the same, right?

The frog is really tiny. A lot tinier than I expected. I've read about baby pacman frogs getting uncomfortable in larger setups, so if she doesn't like it I'll let her stay in my large critter keeper until she's bigger. And I lowered the water level in the bowl so she won't drown.

Oh, she's so cuuuuuuuute! I didn't think it could get much cuter than my fire-bellies.

[Namio]

I got my frog! I went to the Long Island Reptile Expo today and picked one up. I don't know the gender, so I'm just gonna assume female for now. It's a 50/50 chance I'm right, anyways. I don't think she's a C. ornata, but the setup requirements for pacman frogs is pretty much the same, right?

The frog is really tiny. A lot tinier than I expected. I've read about baby pacman frogs getting uncomfortable in larger setups, so if she doesn't like it I'll let her stay in my large critter keeper until she's bigger. And I lowered the water level in the bowl so she won't drown.

Oh, she's so cuuuuuuuute! I didn't think it could get much cuter than my fire-bellies.

congratulations on your new froglet!!! I wanna see pictures!!! You can also keep your critter keeper inside of your 10 gallon tank or simply provide additional cover with fake plants. You are right about frogs dislike open space and will get stressed out if forced into one. Ornate and Cranwelli can have the same exact setup. I'm guessing you got a Cranwelli aka Chacoan Horned Frog. Pictures please!

[Gibson]

Yeah keep the hide if the frog you got is still a baby. Yes care is the same between pacman frogs. Also, here is a picture of an ornate:



Notice the coloring and the dots on the back of his eyes.

Also, make sure you post pics!