Bath dish leak

[Dan Cromack]

Hi all,

First post here and just have something that's baffling me.

I like to include a little bathing dish in my tree frog terrarium and have used several different things. However the water level always seems to go down real fast. I have 2 Pacific Tree Frogs and considering the size of the bathing dish there is no way they're absorbing up that much water in a day. It seems like the water is leaking out because the bottom of the terrarium is flooded under the dish. I know for a fact that dish has no leaks. The substrate I use is coconut based and then I put a nice layer of moss on top. The moss continues to feel dry and the top layer of the coconut substrate is a little moist, but the bottom of the terrarium is wet. I've tried the commercially marketed dishes, tupperware, pop bottle bottoms and currently using a Rubbermaid plastic freezer container (just a thick plastic container).

The terrarium isn't super humid so I don't think the water's getting out that way (especially at the speed and volume it seems to be depleting).

Anyone else experience this. Is there some special name for what's going on in my terrarium? Any way to stop it from happening? It makes the weekly cleaning a real pain because rather than just changing out the bathing dish I have to remove out all the substrate and dry the bottom of the terrarium so the water doesn't sit, go stale and start to stink.... Would love a solution if anyone has one.

Thanks.

[deranged chipmunk]

Sounds as though the frogs are tracking the water all over the place. There is no way to avoid it, much like it is impossible for you to leave the shower dry and track water outside (unless you dry off in the shower, of course lol). There's no way to stop it. But adding a drainage layer in the bottom of the tank will keep the substrate from becoming a bog. There are many different posts on false bottoms. I would suggest reading up on them and adding one to your vivarium.


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