I'm not showing the enclosure yet but here is King hunting a wax worm
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The Mistking came today so excited for this to set this up.
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From what I've seen so far, looks pretty good! I do think skinks would do nicely in that kind of set-up, just have to plan for their skittishness at first
I have shown Xavier the setup because he is the most experienced keeper with Five Lined Skinks so this way I can give them the best care possible. You should attach your care sheet for the Skinks on this thread because that's what I'm going off of mainly and so it can help others out with finding info.
Quick question:
Do you guys think I should make a new thread since I will have a different species with the Toads? This can be useful for Leopard Frogs and American Toad owners and I can basically make a new one and title it American Toad and Five Lined Skink Vivarium or something. Let me know what you guys think?
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So with this setup being changed with no Frogs I feel that it is only necessary to end this thread and start a new one with the Five Lined Skinks in the Leopard Frogs place. So this way people can refer to this thread and see the success and hard work to maintain both a frog and toad enclosure combined and this can be used for informational purposes since so many members posted in this and a lot of questions get answered. I will have a conclusion with all of the finances it took and the success and failure and etc so this gets ended in the proper way because this has been the reason I am so active on this forum. I'll share a playlist with all the videos over the 3 years and I'll leave a link to the new thread when up and the new playlist when I make videos of the enclosure. Looking forward to starting a new chapter on here with another well documented and successful experience with some of my favorite animals. I hope everyone will follow the next thread just like they did this one.
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Nice I'm sure I and everyone else will! If only Deranged Chipmunk were still around enough to see this
I miss him. He helped out a great deal with this build.
So here is the conclusion to this build.
Total spent without feeders $4,200
Overview:
For a mixed species Vivarium there was a lot to report on, but the main goal was to successfully House both species in a 75 Gallon Enclosure with all native plants and some native insects. The species kept were Bufo and Ranid species local to PA. The American Toad and Northern Leopard Frog. The insects and etc kept were Woodlice(pillbugs) Earthworms Red Wrigglers Crickets at times wild wood Crickets native to PA. The Crickets got to a point of 3 generations hiding from the amphibians mastering survival. I had to add new feeder Crickets because the ones who learned how to survive never got caught.
The invasive species were Slugs Millipedes Centipedes Pond Fish a Dragon Fly and some house spiders. I never saw anything negative having these in my tank and I couldn't believe the invasive insects could make it through winter in an enclosure I thought for sure they would hibernate or go dormant.
What I learned from the Amphibians:
A 75 Gallon setup is good for a sexed pair of toads and one Leopard Frog. The setup to my surprise was more of a shock with how the toad was dominant with another male in the enclosure and how the frog becomes more aggressive over time. The Leopard Frog never bothered the adult toads and seemed to enjoy their company. The male toad and frog lived together for around 2 years and they seemed to have actually enjoyed one another and learned how to hunt and let the other animal help them. My toad would let the frog chase the Crickets and cause them to panic and would patiently wait and nab many crickets this way. So he adapted to hunt letting the other inhabitants do the work for him. The frog knew it had speed and would attempt to eat more then the toad but it never ate a tremendous difference. When I had a female toad with the frog and male toad she was the dominant creature. The Leopard Frog actually had to compete with the female toad because she was fast for a toad, big, and accurate when catching food. The female toad was actually bigger then the male frog and would over power him in some cases when they were hunting. I believe placing the frog with the female toad first showed the frog that it could not bully anything because it wasn't the biggest and that's why when I added the male toad they got along because the male was peaceful and the Leopard Frog could hunt without having to compete. This is because my female passed away. I attempted to add a female frog but one died in quarantine and another had a brain injury and was unsafe to place in the setup so only one frog was kept. I added two young Toads a male and female for a short period in 2016 with the male frog and toad. The male bonded with the female and they were inseparable. I mean look in this thread and you'll see him always with her. He dominated the other male and so did the Leopard Frog. It became unsafe for him after 4 days and so I had to remove him for his safety. The young female didn't settle in captivity and made the Leopard Frog act out of character because it for the first time in years attempted to escape with this toad in here. The frog did not like the female toad and would show dominant behavior and aggression towards the young toad, but the toad never showed signs of stress from the frog. She ate and was fat while acting as a regular toad would. I learned the reason the frog tried to escape was because the new female had a parasite that spread to the frog and adult male toad. This led to her death months later and my frog committing suicide in the same week. The frog found a way out and the female toad died of the parasite. I managed to get my male healthy again but he showed signs of actual depression or something wrong when he hopped over and found the female dead in the hut he has never been the same.
However, if the animals are healthy and treated unless captive bred and guaranteed healthy then that would be the best bet to accomplish this.
Material used:
Rocks and pond liner for drainage layer and topsoil and eco earth for soil.
Dish container for water bin for frog.
Plants:
Pachysandra Autumn Fern Perriwinkle Day Lilly were the successful plants kept in this setup. Need to be fertilized and watered to maintain growth.
Diet:
Crickets Waxworms Earthworms Red Wrigglers Woodlice Baby Yellow Jackets Earwigs Stone Centipede Fish (for frog only) grass hoppers and wild crickets.
Accessories:
Monsoon RS400 Misting System with 6 nozzles
Odyssea 48" light with timer
UTH 40 Gallon
Small CPU Fans
Solar Power Lights
4-5 Hides
Conclusion:
If it is done with proper care and how I attempted this setup it can work and be successful. These species can cohabitate nice if the animals are the same size. I would advise against having 2 frogs and one toad because the frogs are too high strong and could become dominant. I recommend 2 toads and 1 frog in a 75 Gallon due to the info of my findings however there could be exceptions and two pairs could potentially work. If the animals are raised together from smaller sizes they will learn to live with one another and will have no issues. If you release a toad it seems the frog or frogs will test it to see how the toad will respond. So make sure the toads are the first occupants. It will be much work and can have a lot of time and money invested into it but if done right can be very rewarding. These are the only Frogs and Toads I would recommend keeping along with some relatives
Southern Toads Southern Leopard Frogs Eastern Spade Foot Toads. Other species will not meet the same requirements.
Temperature/Humidity
Mine were kept from 60-75 humidity and 83 day temp to 70 night temp. These are the only species and subspecies that can adapt to live together because they can tolerate the change in more humidity and slight heat. It's not advised by this thread to have the humidity high and the temp high I was at my hallways mercy in the summer. I had fans blowing on top of the enclosure for constant air flow and that's important. The frog went in the water when too dry. The soil was always moist so the toads were okay. It is important to read care guides from this forum and reptiles magazine for info on these species before keeping even one of these animals.
Lighting:
T5 bulbs and could simulate morning mid day evening and moon light with my fixture. This is important for the plants and to help the animals tell what time of day it is. No UVB was used however it can be beneficial for the frogs because they will bask in the light. The animals loved when the moon light was on and the mister would go off because it simulated a night rain shower. I had a Day and night cycle with the seasons. 8-9 spring and summer, 8-7 winter and fall. Moon light 12-1 so they would think clouds covered the moon at times.
Supplements:
Calcium with D3 and Repti Vite without Calcium D3. Crickets got fish food bird seed honey strawberry blueberry apples and water.
Housing:
2 toads 20 Gallon long
1-2 Frogs 29 Gallon Long
Minimum size tank 75 not 50 because you want to have more then the minimum for larger species and so you can create for both species what they need.
Animal Size:
Both species 2-4 Inches
Life Span:
American Toad up to 12-40 years debatable
Northern Leopard Frog
5-12 Years
Other facts:
The Toads never went in the water but the frog stayed out of the water for hours. This species will wonder from water for periods of time. The frog would go to the far end of the tank to explore and hide. It didn't usually stay by the water.
If these species are housed together make sure they are very close to size because the animals will be dominant over a much smaller one of either species. This is what I learned bringing my favorite frog the Northern Leopard Frog with my favorite amphibian the American Toad together. I hope this gives the thread the end it deserves. The findings were very extraordinary and sometime down the road I may attempt this once again.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...1uO-9cQqrFgVcz
The Vivarium
https://youtu.be/HvuGFTAQ1CY
The Female Toad and Male Frog Hunting
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Hey everyone! I have begun the new journey on another thread so if you wish to follow this new build you can here:
75 Gallon PA Woods Vivarium (Toads & Skinks)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...8&share_type=t
I hope you will follow and support this new thread as much as you have supported this one.
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One more update:
The lone survivor of this build
King II American Toad has been released into the wild today. He was just not happy in captivity anymore and would not eat for me. He had his own enclosure and everything but it didn't matter. While he's been in my care for 2 years and 5 months I knew he missed the wild so he has a fresh opportunity to have a life for himself out there. I got a fair well video for him that I'll post soon on here for you all because he was the star of this thread and on YouTube as well.
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Very sorry to hear that, man. I hope he does well in his return to the wild!!
1 Male Giant African Bullfrog
2 Woodhouse's Toads
11 Pacific Treefrogs
1 Dubia Roach Colony
2 Australian Green Treefrogs
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