second time owner after a disastrous first attempt. (baby CB RETFs)

[edie]

not sure how tonight is going to look, but last night they roused between 7 and 8, ate a ton of crickets, took a little snooze, and were awake when i went to bed at 10p. woke up this morning at 6:45a and they were already fast asleep for the day.

contrasting with the day before, when they didn't wake till 1a and 2a respectively, and were still up running around at 7:30a.

the tank is definitely not too wet (made that mistake last time); humidity is consistently between 75 and 85 on one gauge and 60 and 80 on the other. i'm going to assume the truth is somewhere in the middle, which i think we can all live with. this is misting a couple of times a day, morning and night, but the humidity holds regardless. most of the time i end up misting because the air simply feels stale and still, and have to leave the door cracked for a bit to avoid the humidity jumping to 95%+.

until i figure out this humidity thing, i am very reluctant to switch to live plants, since they'll obviously ramp it up even higher.

tonight, my biggest concern is heat. i haven't figured out a way to keep the tank at a consistent temperature without hovering over it, and although right now it's not a disaster because it's not cold here yet, it will be in a few weeks, so i need a resolution pretty quickly, considering i'm out of the house for 12 hours a day. 40 watt bulbs STILL heat it too fast, and the mat i bought for the side of the tank didn't work at all - not sure if it was a lemon or if that's just the way they are. (exo terra heatwave)

RETF are the only frogs I have (I'm a gecko breeder) and I got older juveniles, but what I've learned so far is that they do seem to be inconsistent in how much they're awake vs. asleep. I also think I've heard that an environment that's too wet can be a problem. I have at least 10 planted habitats (mostly for geckos, with the one frog enclosure) and depend heavily on pothos. It grows quickly to fill the enclosure and a is very hardy. If you get a pothos plant from the nursery and then, once it's grown new shoots in your living room, take cuttings from the new growth, that may work well. I've got pothos in all my enclosures from a single plant that I got from my mother's house 13 years ago.

Aliza

[LilyPad]

Welcome and congratulations on your new babies! Do you have a screen top on your tank? If so, I would seriously doubt your hygrometer readings. I actually cover approximately 1/2-2/3 of my retf screen tops with Saran Wrap to keep from losing humidity but still give ventilation. Do NOT continue to leave the door cracked, you'd be amazed by how little space they need to escape. If you do not see condensation on the glass or water setting in the decor, it is not too wet. Are you using an analogue or digital hygrometer? Analogues are notorious for being inaccurate. Once a little moisture gets in them, they give consistently high readings. Digital are better, but even they will go bunk if they get sprayed. I don't even measure my humidity anymore but it helps to at first while you figure out what the normal feel and smell is. I would say the biggest cause of baby red eyed tree frog death is probably dehydration from low humidity. You'd be better off keeping it a touch too high rather than too low.

If you do not have a screen top, it is an absolute must. These frogs need ventilation to stay healthy.

For the plants, just go to Home Depot or a store like that and pick out some tropical plants. Take them out of their pots and shake as much dirt off as possible. Then rinse it. Then soak it for a few minutes in a 10% bleach water mix. Then soak the plants again in clean water with extra dechlorinater mixed in. Following those steps will make the plants safe. I've been doing that for years without a problem. The only thing that doesn't work on is moss. I really find live plants necessary for red eyed tree frog health.

For heating, I use a ceramic heat emitter with a thermostat attached. That way, when it is warm enough, it just shuts off and doesn't overheat. In my opinion, that is the absolute best way to keep sensitive red eyes at a stable temperature.

Keep asking any any questions you might have, we're happy to help! If you want to post pictures, you can use a photo hosting site like photobucket or Flickr. Our photo uploader has been stubbornly down for some time now.

[FrogBone]

As far as your heating/ humidity concerns; Zoomed makes a product that allows you to set a desired Temp and Humidity and it will maintain it. It's called the HygroTherm and all you do is plug it up to a heat source and a humidity source ( fogger/ water feature) and it will kick these on if it detects that it is off.