10 gallon GABF Enclosure Issues

[SwimminSteve]

Hi all!

Last weekend I brought home a baby Giant African Bullfrog. The little guy/gal is doing really well as far as I can tell. I feed him in a separate container daily and he is a total pig! He's about the size of a ping pong ball right now and I will move him into a larger tank once he's bigger.

I seem to be having issues with temperature and humidity. I have about 3-4 inches of ecoearth coconut substrate and a large water dish. I started out with a heat pad on one side of the tank, but the thermometer read only 72 degrees F so I added another heat pad a couple days ago. The darn thing is still reading at 72 degrees! I think the frog is cold, because he has been hanging out next to the heater. A lamp is not an option for me due to space and two obnoxious cats who knock everything over...

I've been misting the tank about twice a day, but the humidity reading is usually around 60%. The substrate is moist and the water dish is right next to the heat mat. Is there anything else I can do? The tank has a standard metal screen lid, do you recommend buying a glass one? How much ventilation does the frog need?

I would really appreciate any advice! FYI the thermometer/humidity gauge is located in the middle of the tank.

Thanks!

[plasticfaye]

To help with humidity, you could use plastic wrap over 1/2 or 2/3 of the tank, then have the metal screen over top that. You're not using lamps, so you don't have to worry about melting it. You're substrate is really wet though, so humidity is not as big of a problem as you think. He'll dig deeper or sit in his water if he gets too dry.

Where is your thermometer located? It's okay for ambient temperature to be lower so long as he's got a warm spot to go to. Those readings aren't always correct either. If you can swing it, pick up a digital one somewhere. Then you can stick the sensor in the dirt where the frog is and see what the temp REALLY is where he hangs out.

My coworker has a GABF that's about twice this guy's size. They are really neat frogs. And I know what you mean about obnoxious cats....

[SwimminSteve]

That's great advice. Thank you! I will try plastic wrap and look into a digital thermometer.
This is my first semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial frog. I've own African clawed frogs for about 8 years, but they are fully aquatic and very hardy. I just don't want to mess anything up with this new kid! I have my fingers crossed that it's a male, because I'm hoping it will get very large. Of course a female would get large too! So far I haven't come up with a good name.