New PDF P. Terribilis tadpoles. What have I gotten myself into!

[Carisab]

Hello,

My husband, son and I visited the Las Vegas Reptile Expo and had an amazing experience. My husband is (for lack of a better term) petrified of snakes and lizards. My 8 year old son and I love all creatures big and small. Somehow my son got my husband to agree to tadpoles. We know nothing about frogs, but since we got approval, I'm game! We bought them from the Dart Frog Connection booth and they were very helpful. We have a one page instruction sheet for the tadpoles and a trifold for the frogs. We bought 2 tadpoles but the guy gave me a wink and said, "I put in 4, just in case". We are one month in and all four are still alive! They told us to get the vivarium started and going for a few months before we put them in it. The vendors web site is very informative and I have read everything I can find about my type of frog. I bought the kit from them and I have compared products and I am happy with what I received.

My tadpoles (how quickly they went from my son's to mine), seem to be doing what they are supposed to. When purchased, they were all the same size. On has grown with leaps and bounds and now has back legs. Two are the same size and a bit smaller than the large one. One of the twins has back legs. The last tad is very small and barely looks like he has grown at all. He has gotten the innards and the side bumps that the others have gotten but is about 1/8 the size of the big one. No legs yet. Should I expect this one to live? He has so far but I check about 4 times a day to see if the others have eaten him. Thankfully, I have read that this type get along as tads. I have seen them eating the Java Moss but never see them eat the tadpole food.

Lastly, I have researched the vivarium. Many hours of reading and Utube videos later, I am almost complete with their home-to-be. Anyone who says this is easy, LIES. Finding all the recommended items is difficult. I faked my way thru it, but I feel it is lacking something. It doesn't POP for me. I used live plants, all purchased on line because they don't seem to sell tropical plants in Vegas. I also can't seem to find moss anywhere, moss doesn't grow here and all my fish/plant/pet stores don't sell live moss. I did purchase Spanish Moss, but that is an air plant and easy. I am worried about the Aechmea green chantinii bromeliad, the sides have little spikes up it. Will this not hurt the frogs? I bought it from a frog store. I tried to order an awesome branch or wood, but couldn't find anything great. Grape wood looks great, but I read it breaks down quickly in wet environments.

Can an anyone suggest anything to make it Awesome? I am adding a water dish in the front. First project, no water features. I read that these frogs are not great swimmers and just a water dish will work. I also read that they are ground dwellers, so I didn't go high or add vines. I have leaf litter to add. I got a deal on the 18x18x24 Exo-terra! but realize I should have gone wide not tall. I won't take criticism to heart, I don't know much about plants except that they all die under my care. Any ideas?

[DigitalPunk]

Carisab,

Congrats on the tads! Sound alike you are doing a great job with them! I do not have any experience with tads yet so I can not comment on the smaller one and what to do.

Check out New England Herpetoculture LLC - Herpetoculture Supply Menu .... They have a great selection of wood and other items for vivariums.

I think your tank looks great! The only thing I would suggest you add is some Leaf liter (about .5 - 1" of it over the top of the substrate) which you have already mentioned . Also I would suggest you adding a culture of Springtails to the substrate. Springtails are little tiny insects that thrive in vivariums. They eat all manner of decaying/decomposing items and turn them into nutrients the plants can use. They will eat any dead leaves, frog waste, dead feeder insects, and more. You frogs will also snack on them from time to time. You will want to add the Springtails to the tank roughly a month before the frogs move in to give them time to breed and establish themselves in the tank.

As for the plants they all look good and healthy. You will want to make sure you have the right kind of lighting to encourage photosynthesis so your plants will thrive and grow. You want to provide around a light with around 6500K color. The type of light you use can greatly effect the humidity of the tank as well. Using the standard incandescent bulbs will dry out the air in the tank quickly and result in you needing to mist the tank more often which can lead to the soil becoming waterlogged and nasty. LED lights or Florescent bulbs are best anymore. They can provide the right color temp while producing little to no heat.

I can't see one in the pictures, but you will want a digital Thermometer and Hydrometer. Analog ones are very unreliable.

[deranged chipmunk]

Looks good so far. Your brom will be fine in there. It won't hurt the frogs. I would agree with Paul on adding leaf litter and micro fauna (springtails and Isopods) to the enclosure and keep at least a culture of each because the darts will munch on them, depleting your population quickly, so you'll have to reseed it from time to time. Also, it wouldn't hurt to get started on getting used to making and keeping fruit fly cultures. One thing to note, is that springtails WILL be the staple of their diet once they morph and leave the water. You are going to need a LOT of springs for them to feed on for a couple months until they are large enough to eat fruit flies.

As far as moss goes, check out online shops that sell aquatic plants. Most sell aquatic mosses like java and Christmas moss. If you are still stuck at that point, pm me, I may be able to spare some Christmas moss .


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[Carisab]

Thank you! I ordered my springtails and isopods today. No local stores seem to have them in stock. I'm not afraid of bugs, but I never imagined I'd be breeding them for my frogs. I definitely want the most natural and self sustaining habitat possible.

Even though we pick our frogs by how cool they looked, I was very glad to read that they are the easiest to feed for PDF. Good to know they have a variety of things they can eat. I was also happy to read many posts that say that they do swim and won't drown as I was made to fear in some reading material.

I guess I just have to be patient and wait for them to morph into frogs! Thank you for the help!