Excited new member with simple cleaning question....

[PaxAngel22]

Hey to all my fellow frog tenders!!

So, I've had gray tree frog that my boyfriend saved for almost 7 months now. His name is Tyger and he has been the most neatest pet I could ever ask for!! My children, boyfriend and I go hiking to obtain the sticks and rocks that I decorate his 5 gallon terrarium with. I buy the substrate at petsmart. There is a medium sized water dish in his habitat for his water needs as well as a hanging leaf dish I keep water in. He likes to soak in both. I usually clean out and change his substrate every month and a half to two months. I know to only wipe down the inside with plain water however when I cleaned out his substrate today I noticed a slight odor. I was wondering if I could wipe it down with a diluted windex and then take a clean cloth and some hot water and wipe it down again. I know chemicals are bad for my frog and have checked a couple other websites but nothing addresses a slight odor problem. This is the first time cleaning his tank since I bought this particular kind of substrate and have never noticed a smell before. I have taken everything out and the smell seems to be lingering inside the glass. I only want the best for my little tree frog and so if anyone has any quick, easy ideas I'd be ever so grateful. Tyger is hanging out in his critter keeper for the time being but I want to have him back in his nice big terrarium before the end of the day. Thank you to any and all who read this and I'll be sure to keep in touch with all the wonderful fellow frog people I encounter through this frog forum!! Have a great day.
Sincerely,
Tyger's keeper,
PaxAngel22

[Frogman1031]

Hello and welcome to the frog forum !

That tank is much too small for a grey tree frog. A 20 gallon high tank is much more suitable.

Are you dechlorinating your water? If not, you should be. Seachem prime is a reputable brand.

What substrate are you using? When there is too much water present and no drainage layer, coco fiber does develop an odor. I would not recommend windex for your enclosure. The best thing to do is buy a new and bigger tank (remembering height is important), preparing a drainage layer (this can be done using a number of things like hydroballs or gravel) that is separated from the substrate and completely buried and either buying new substrate or allowing your current substrate to dry out.

For the time being, I would take out the substrate and place it in a bin of some sort and use damp unprinted paper towels for a little bit until a new enclosure can be established.

Good luck !

[LilyPad]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

To really scrub it out, you could use vinegar and rinse the tank until there is no odor.

Other than that, everything Eli has said is spot on. In a 5 gallon, a grey tree frog will eventually get ill from the lack of space. A 20g high would be a very good upgrade. The drainage layer will also keep the coco fiber from getting swamped and smelling. If you added a "cleaner crew" like isopods or springtails, you could go up to a year without changing it out. However, the BEST way to do it would be to use a drainage layer and a substrate that will support live plants, you can go a considerable amount of time without changing it then. I have never had any sort of odor doing things that way.

I would highly suggest reading this - Frog Forum - Gray Tree Frog Care and Breeding It will give you a lot of info in caring for a captive grey tree frog