Terrarium advice needed

[Julia]

Hey there,

I have decided to completely redo my Whites Tree Frog enclosure...but I have several questions before I get started.


1. What sort of live plants are suitable for my heavy little frogs?
2. I would like to make the foam background into some sort of water fall...any ideas on how to do this?
3. I cant seem to get a hold of leaf litter to cover the coco husk. Is there a good alternative or website where I can order it from. (In Canada.)


Thanks!!!

[1beataway]

1. I have a bromeliad in my White's tank that they aren't destroying. I think anything "viney" is a bad idea; when I tried that, mine destroyed it pretty much immediately. And they weren't even that big yet! One site I saw mentioned pothos and bromeliads. But other than that, I'm not as sure. I did put in some white ribbons in mine; I got them from the pet store. They're sold as aquarium plants, but the ribbons seem to grow well in dirt when misted quite often. At least so far!

2. Someone on here knows a lot about how to set up the waterfall, but I forget whom. Have you tried having a filtered water area for the White's yet? I tried twice, gave up, and opted for the large water dish. White's are so messy!

3. Saurian.net has leaves for sale. This is where I got mine, and I liked them. But I'm not sure if they ship to Canada. Try moving to the US instead.

[Julia]

Thanks for the tips...very helpful!

[UncleChester]

Hi Julia,

1. Pothos is a pretty tough vine, I don't know if a Whites can smash it or not. It's very easy to propagate though, just put a leaf and stem in a jar of water and leave in a sunny spot so you could always have replacement vines ready.

2. Is it an existing background you want to modify, or build a new one? This link has a few waterfall setups:

Amphibian Care >> Waterfalls and Drip Walls in the Terrarium

I've never made one, but I'm planning a build like 2) in the above link (though 1) seems simpler), but with the waterfall made out of styrofoam covered in Quikrete. I've nearly finished a 13 gal. vivarium with a foam+Quikrete background (no waterfall) and I think it turned out well so I'm a Quikrete convert (pics to come in a week or so).

Here's a post by ViciousAlice that makes a dripwall/waterfall out of an existing foam backgound:

http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...at-i-made.html


3. I just saw your post about the shipping of leaves from Josh's frogs to Canada. Wow! They may need a phytosanitary certificate to cross the border which would add to the cost and paperwork. Grrr, it seems so many things I find on the internet that I want just aren't readily available in Canada so I feel your pain. Anyways, I get my leaf litter from the bushes here, if you have an area you know is chemical free you could go collecting. Sphagnum moss seems like a popular option as well, but I've never used it.

[Julia]

Thanks UncleChester,

The water fall "ViciousAlice" made is exactly what i had in mind...I plan to convert my 24 x 18x24 exo terra tank into the living terrarium...I had hoped to use the background that it came with. I guess that is a possibility! And for the leaf litter I could just go out to a forest (im surrounded by them) and collect it...its a lot cheaper! Lol! How would I go about killing bugs and things living in it? Or is that not a concern?

[John]

You can get leaf litter and various plants from at least one of our sponsors (joshsfrogs). I use pothos in my Gray Tree Frog enclosure - it may well work with White's.

[Kurt]

Can Josh actually ship leaves to Canada?

[UncleChester]

...And for the leaf litter I could just go out to a forest (im surrounded by them) and collect it...its a lot cheaper! Lol! How would I go about killing bugs and things living in it? Or is that not a concern?

I don't worry about anything tiny, but I make sure there's no slugs or snails or anything I can readily see. They probably aren't harmful, but I don't like snail tracks all over the glass. Just like topsoil from a chemical free yard, this will bring in beneficial bacteria that help break down waste. I've seen the recommendation to use tougher leaves as they will take longer to break down. I usually stick with oak because I have an easy place to collect the leaves from.

[UncleChester]

Can Josh actually ship leaves to Canada?

It is possible to ship plant material cross border, but it's expensive. She said in another post $60 to ship $10 worth of leaves:

http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...er-canada.html

[Julia]

It is possible to ship plant material cross border, but it's expensive. She said in another post $60 to ship $10 worth of leaves:

http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...er-canada.html

Hardly seems worth paying $70 for dead leaves when I can literally seen forests from my bedroom window. I read about boiling the oak leaves, letting them cool, and then adding them to enclosure. Do they have to be dead leaves or can I use freshly picked ones?

[Kurt]

Hardly seems worth paying $70 for dead leaves

Thats not so bad. What is the like $5 American?

I read about boiling the oak leaves, letting them cool, and then adding them to enclosure. Do they have to be dead leaves or can I use freshly picked ones?

Dead.

[Julia]

Okay so I spent all afternoon going from store to store trying to get everything i need to get going on my new terrarium project.

The flower nursery was extremely unhelpful. I made a list of recommended plants for frog terrariums that I found online from various sources. Unfortunately I made my list too large, and when it came time to recognize the plants from their names I was lost. I ended up choosing plants that looked sturdy and their description/care seemed to fit into my terrarium conditions. I ended up with:
Dieffenbachia
Philodendron
Fern
and two Tillandsia air plants.

Does anyone foresee any problems with these plant choices?

Second problem of the day was find LECA. I went to a Hydroponic store, two pet stores and a nursery and NONE of them had it. I remember reading online that I can use pea gravel instead of LECA...as long as the water can pass through I dont think it should make a huge difference? Please correct me if im wrong...

Third question, I bought a T5 fluorescent light to help the plants grow. Is this safe for my tree frogs?

I apologize about all the questions, I just want to make sure I do it all the right way. TY in advance!

[Julia]

Thats not so bad. What is the like $5 American?

Lol! Close...maybe $10 American?

[Kurt]

I am glad you apprieciated my sense of humor.

[JimO]

I'm not sure whether you want to buy a packaged waterfall set or make your own. I've made several by creating a false bottom to accommodate a pump and allow for some water storage capacity. Then I run tubing from the pump and up through the substrate and through a piece of cork bark (after cutting an appropriate hole). I secure the tubing with silicon glue and then build up around the cork bark with rocks, substrate, sphagnum moss, etc. I usually have a pebble lined pool at the bottom of the waterfall. The circulation keeps the water oxygenated so it doesn't get stagnate.

Actually, I sell a lot of leaves in bulk quantities, but shipping to Canada is a problem. If you look for leaves in your area, look for thick leaves that won't break down too fast. If you want to sterilize them, put them in boiling water for a few minutes and then dry them out. If they can't stand up to that treatment, they probably won't last long in the vivarium.

[UncleChester]

Second problem of the day was find LECA. I went to a Hydroponic store, two pet stores and a nursery and NONE of them had it. I remember reading online that I can use pea gravel instead of LECA...as long as the water can pass through I dont think it should make a huge difference? Please correct me if im wrong...

LECA is lighter than gravel and inert. I have also read that pea gravel can be used as an alternate. I'm new to this and haven't tried either.

As for where to get LECA, you could try Home Depot, the one near me said they had a big display of it last year, but none this year. I'm not sure if it's a nationwide thing to not carry it. ebay as you pointed out in another thread (of course you know this, just wanted to say thanks! ). There's this place:

hydroponic supplies and equipment for hydroponic grow systems : Canadian Wholesale Hydroponics. 1 (877) 226-4769

has 50L bags for $66 including shipping. In your searching, try "Hydroton", I've seen it under this label at a few other greenhouse supply places in Canada (none near me of course!).

[Julia]

Finally finished....10 min after putting my frogs in their new tank they all started croaking! I think thats a good sign, now I just hope they dont destroy it. Here is a link to a video of the tank,
YouTube - Whites Tree Frog Terrarium

[Ebony]

Very cool Julia, Definitely a good sign if they are croaking. Well done.

[Tropicok]

Very, very nice....love the pic of frog sitting and enjoying the decor of his new home.