Are they necessary?

[RubyTues]

Hi all!

I will be getting a 18x18x18 enclosure at the end of this month and my goal is to have it set up by april or so where I plan on getting 1 (one) dart frog. I was thinking about a tinctorius. Anyhow, this leaves me with plenty of time to set up a functional system, and if I have it up and running for a while, I may get one before april. I am not new to stuff like this since I have had a panther chameleon in the past and have had to change enclosures multiple times, adjust for heating, humidity, uvb, etc.. I have been reading forums from this beginner section and I was just curious about something. Are Isopods and the sort necessary for an enclosure? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Chris

Also, with an 18x18x18 enlosure, do you think a thumbnail frog might suit it better?

[DanDrobates]

Isopod and springtails though not necessary are extremely beneficial. They eliminate a lot of the unwanted waste and they act as a supplemental food source. Once they are in the vivarium you’ll never even know they are there. It’s wise to seed a vivarium a few weeks before adding frogs. I seed all my vivariums and I see a definite benefit.

As for vivarium size an 18 by 18 is ok for a single smaller tinctorius but they do appreciate more floor space. A 24 wide would be a better fit. A thumbnail would do fine in that size.

[RubyTues]

Isopod and springtails though not necessary are extremely beneficial. They eliminate a lot of the unwanted waste and they act as a supplemental food source. Once they are in the vivarium you’ll never even know they are there. It’s wise to seed a vivarium a few weeks before adding frogs. I seed all my vivariums and I see a definite benefit.

As for vivarium size an 18 by 18 is ok for a single smaller tinctorius but they do appreciate more floor space. A 24 wide would be a better fit. A thumbnail would do fine in that size.

Thanks for replying!
I will be studying thumbnails more to make sure I have all the right requirements for one.

A side question. Is it common to use automated misters for dart frogs? I have a mistking from when I had a chameleon and now it just sits in the garage. Previously I would just set the timer to go off for 2 minutes or so every three hours, however this was because I had a large enclosure. I would not want to risk flooding an enclosure because that would be pretty chaotic. I'd like to make things as constant as possible such as the humidity. If misters are used, I know there is some sort of hygrometer that will trigger the mister when the humidity gets low, but I can't think of the name. Anyone know?

Chris

[DanDrobates]

I actually use a mist king for a few of my vivariums. I just use the timer feature and I don’t bother with hygrometers. The main difference between your chameleon setup and dart frogs is the ventilation issue. I modify my vivariums to restrict ventilation by covering the screen tops with sheets of glass or plexiglass. You won’t have the same drops in humidity as you would in a typical screen cage for chameleons. I run my 18 by 24s twice a day at 30 seconds a clip and it keeps the humidity right where I want it. You may also consider one of the pumillios or epidobates they’re small and would do well in that size.

[RubyTues]

I actually use a mist king for a few of my vivariums. I just use the timer feature and I don’t bother with hygrometers. The main difference between your chameleon setup and dart frogs is the ventilation issue. I modify my vivariums to restrict ventilation by covering the screen tops with sheets of glass or plexiglass. You won’t have the same drops in humidity as you would in a typical screen cage for chameleons. I run my 18 by 24s twice a day at 30 seconds a clip and it keeps the humidity right where I want it. You may also consider one of the pumillios or epidobates they’re small and would do well in that size.

Thanks for replying again, I knew ventilation would be an issue however just covering the top could probably do the trick. I'll have to fiddle around with the timing of the mister once I get things up and running just to make sure the humidity doesn't drop.

When wanting to browse at available pumillios (which are strawberry dart frogs?) is there some website that would sell them? I only know of josh's frogs and I haven't seen any. I'd like to look up care requirements of them and be able to decide which species I would go with. I know this is early, but would a hobbyist sooner order a frog online rather than go to an expo? I ask this because for chameleons it was much preferred to get one online rather than an animal expo.