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.

[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.