Recommendation of Heat Source for vertical terrarium.

[Pablo 3859]

Hi everybody, I have a terrarium for Ranitomeya ventrimaculata and they are arboreal species, so I think a Heat Mad or Heating Cable would not be a good idea because they stay on the top of the terrarium because they are arboreal, so I thought using an infrared lamp but it makes the enviroment dry, so I don't know what to use for heating the terrarium, any advices?

[Frogman1031]

What temperatures are currently maintained? These frogs prefer it in the low to mid 70s during the day and anything much higher than that will kill them.

You also might want to add some lead litter and more plants because the frogs will be very stressed in such a bare enclosure.

[DigitalPunk]

Best way to heat a dart tank is through ambient room temp of the room you have the tank in. If the room will be maintained in the mid to low 70's than the inside of the tank will naturally get a little warmer than this (due to it not having any ventilation).

Vents will be found all over the tank not just at the top. My vents are found in the leaf liter most often hunting for food or up in the top playing hide and seek.

Your tank:

couple tips based solely off the single pic of your tank. Please take this as advice and not me bashing your design.


1. The Brom in the soil will rot within a few weeks. It needs to be up and out of the soil

2. Leaf liter - Get some Live Oak leaf liter and make it about 1/2" to 1" deep.

3. With the Brom off the floor you will want to add some plant life for the viv floor. They will make the tank look super and help your frogs feel more secure with more places to sneak around. Vents are skittish little buggers, but the more places you give them to hide the more visible they will be.

4. Drainage layer - It doesnt look like you have one based of this picture. I would pull the soil out and setup a basic drainage layer. There is a sticky in the Viv section with a link to a post about how to set one up. This is a crucial part of any vivarium. Skilling it will result in swamped out soil and having to rip the tank apart and throw the soil away.

5. Micro Fauna - You want to seed the soil with Springtails at the very least. If you want to over achieve then add some Isopods to the soil as well. They will provide your frogs with snacks throughout the day and eat any frog poop on the soil. They break down any decaying organic matter and turn it into nutrients the plants will use to get nice and green for you.

6. More Plants up high - Even if it is a couple more smaller Broms. They love those things and will sleep down in the cups and will also use them when they start to breed.

That is all for now.

Thank you Paul

[Pablo 3859]

Thanks very much for the advices! I will put more plants and it have Drenage layer with Bio Drain of Exo Terra, really gracefull.