Live plants with RETF

[tinkgirl77]

Hello and welcome to ff! First off, congrats for doing research first! It's so much safer for your future kiddos to research ave prepare their homes ahead of time. I have a community retf tank that's been up & running for 2.5 years. I will say first off that live plants make a huge difference for maintaining the humidity levels. Tips I've learned : go tough & smooth. What I Mean is seek plants that are tough bc those retfs can get heavy & are quite clumsy. Mine really love the "african mask" aroid and the pothos I have. I also think in my next build I will include draecena or snake plant.
As for smooth, look for plants with smooth, not sharp/pointy sides or ends. Retfs are so clumsy & goofy. Their skin is also super soft and easily damaged. So adjusting sharp edges will hopefully save them from injury.

Bill & heather also have GREAT plant suggestions for retfs as who. Hopefully they will chime in soon. But hopefully that will help you for now. Best if luck to ya!

[LilyPad]

My male reds love the philodendron, they sleep hanging on the underside of the leaves. The girls prefer the bigger and hardier alocasia that I have. Both are very easy to grow! As for drainage layers, there is a good sticky to explain them in the vivarium section. - http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...questions.html

I agree with Lisa regarding the sharp edges, a bromeliad in my tank scratched a couple of my frogs and had to be removed.

[DigitalPunk]

Yay for doing research ahead of time!!

alocasia is always a great choice for Reds. They LOVE the big broad leaves on them. Pothos is also a very good (near impossible to kill) plant for any Tree frog. Snake Plants are great too, they are nearly bullet proof and can support multiple Red Eyes on a single leaf. My Reds loved sleeping on Snake Plants and Pothos.

As for backgrounds. I have tried several attempts at background for Reds and from my experience they really prefer all glass. My reds hated climbing on cork or spray foam covered in a fiber. If you are wanting to plant high with something like a Pothos you can look into some of the Magnetic ledges with a flower pot built into it. I have used them for RETF in the past and they hold up very very well. If you do decide to go this route I recommend drilling several holes in the bottom of them for drainage to prevent the soil from swamping out.

Here is my last Red Eye tank I did and they loved it in there. (It is a 40b Aquarium I converted to a vertical tank 18x17x36) It has 2 of the Magnetic ledges in there. I put a moss vine in, but the reds never really used it.

[wingnut2711]

Thank you for your replies and time Paul, Lisa and Amy, they are much appreciated.
I have noted the suggested plants in my pad of research,bromeliad was on my list as a potential so thanks for the info regarding this, I can now cross it off as a no no. You just cannot beat info coming first hand from people.
Really nice looking set up Paul, the moss vine looks great, just a shame they don't use it. Thank you also for your comment on the background, I will definitely take that on board. I am hoping to get my setup running for a couple of months before I get the frogs as practice for humidity and temperature levels whilst giving the plants a chance to mature.
One thing else I am wondering, it has been recommended to spot clean daily,not a problem, but also to completely clean the bottom every 3 months or so. How does this disturbance affect the frogs and the plants that are planted direct in the substrate? I understand cleanliness is important but would hate to disturb the balance of the tank.

[flybyferns]

Good morning,
Wow..... you have a bus load of experienced help here !

The bottoms of red eyed tree frog enclosures are kept in VERY, very different ways.
YES! cleanliness is an important aspect of keeping these frogs.
Sadly, many times they become ill from poorly maintained enclosures.

I'm not sure how Lisa and Amy keep their enclosure bottoms.
I use plain white paper towel and I bowl feed.
This way the paper is changed every two or three days and dampened w/ de-chlor water.
Their large glass feeding bowl, and soaking dishes are rinsed in HOT tap water and replaced.
Using this 'paper towel' method has the added benefit of helping maintain the humidity as well.

My tree frog's favorite plan is most definitely Dracaena. And so easy to clean !
Dracaena fragratissima 'Massangeana' - Dragon Tree Corn Plant

Some important links:

http://www.frogforum.net/general-dis...uarantine.html

http://www.frogforum.net/general-dis...eder-bowl.html

Have fun

[jarteta97]

Also, if you really still want a background, but also want to take in Paul's consideration on the fact that RETFs tend to dislike cork and foam, you could go with a cling on the outside. I know neherpetoculture.com has some nice ones. Ah, here it is:

http://www.neherpetoculture.com/decorbackgroundsledges

Just scroll down and you'll find it