Terrarium Too Big?

[Hellie1]

I purchased a new terrarium for my froggies (Whistling/Brown tree frogs) secondhand as they've only been living in a recycled fish tank for years that my husband built an awesome lid for, & I thought they'd like the bigger one. However, since they've moved into their new home, one of them is continuously inflating itself (like the frog Shrek blew up like a balloon in the movie lol) & falling over sideways. It comes right eventually & I've looked up the behaviour online & it says it's a defence mechanism to make themselves look bigger when they're startled or frightened. The new terrarium is in exactly the same place as the old one was for years, in the hall by the front door, lots of traffic & I've never seen them do this before. Is it because the new terrarium is more open/has more glass? Is there anything I can do to rectify it? I only have mosses in there at the moment, plus branches to climb & a few logs to hide under. Can someone send me a pic of their set up or suggest some plants for camoflage I can plant that don't need too much water (I have a garden soil/sand mix under the moss plus big & small rocks under that)?

[jtay]

Hi Hellie,
A terrarium can never be too big in my opinion
Your frogs will need some time to adjust to their surroundings if you are right about the behaviour - I have not seen it before myself.
Plants for cover is a good idea, as it will help them feel safer. I like hen and chicken ferns as they have nice foliage and don't need too much water - just to be kept moist.
Here is a pic of my green & golden bell frogs enclosure - in the back right corner is a planted chicken and hen fern.

[Hellie1]

Thanks Jess, I had thought of Hen & Chicken's ferns as they appeared from nowhere in the last terrarium I had (must have already been seeds in the natural habitat I got lol). Will see if I can resurrect any of the ones in the old terrarium or perhaps see if I can find some small ones somewhere. Guru died yesterday & although I am going to get some friends for Winston, I'd like him to stick around & be happy for a while longer lol. I've added a pic of my terrarium, a bit sparse at present I guess & I didn't leave the polystyrene 'fake'rock' wall at the back as it was broken in half when I bought the secondhand terrarium.

[jtay]

I'm sorry about Guru, hope Winston stays happy and healthy.
That is a good size terrarium - tonnes of fun to be had in the way of decorating.
It is a shame the back wall was broken as they are good for climbing, and whistlers being climbers would like it. If you want to you could get a replacement wall from a pet shop or make one yourself, or even redesign the broken one
As for small ferns, at most plant stores you can buy small ferns and other plants in tiny pots called 'wee cuties'. So it shouldn't be a problem to find some nice small plants.

[Paul Rust]

I'm with Jess....anything smaller than NZ is not too big. You need to use furnishings like logs, plants, other natural cover to break up the line of sight between areas. They will settle into their own little kingdoms and get on just fine.

Welcome aboard.

[irene]

Normally your frogs are living in nature, so a terrarium can never be too big.
I think it a nice idea to offer them a lot of space ;-)
Just give them some time.

[Viv]

you could also cover some of the sides with black paper so the frogs feel more secure

[Hellie1]

Alas, wee Winston succumbed to the same malady that felled Guru so for the time being I'm frogless (more are on their way though! ) but I was advised to get an aquarium antifungal agent, water it down & wipe the terrarium glass out with it, any thoughts on that? And if it's frogless at the moment, could I just spray the foliage that I've so carefully planted with a watered down mixture of it as well? I mean, if you can put in fish tanks without harming the fish or plants, the mosses in the terrarium should be ok, right? Also, about these calcium supplements - to D3 or not to D3? That seems to be the question. Would love some feedback please, help!

[jtay]

I'm sorry about Winston - I wonder what caused their deaths?
As for the anti-fungal agant - I'm not sure... Frogs, as you know, have very sensitive skin - more so than fish - and any chemical residue could (any usually does) have a detrimental affect on the frogs health. I would remove everything from the tank and give it a good clean with hot water and a scrubing brush, rinse with cold and allow it to dry. It is a bummer to pull it apart, but since Winston got ill in it I think it is the best thing to do to reduce the chances of your new frogs getting ill too.
For the mosses - I would wash/spritz them with water and leave them outside to 'air out'.
Starting again could be a good thing as you can incorporate things you didn't think of before - for example: you could use coco fiber instead on garden soil for the substrate?
To D3 or not to D3 - I would D3. From what I understand D3 is usually received by frogs from the livers of insects. Now since we dont really know how our feeder insects were raised - UV exposure...D3 synthesis, etc, I would (and do) include D3 with the calcium supplement just to be sure that the calcium is able to be absorbed. Again I only dust once every one to two weeks to be safe.
Other members will have an opinion on this.
Best of luck

[Hellie1]

Thanks for all the info. I went to my local pet store for the supplement & the only one they had was in liquid form (although it did say it was for amphibians as well on the label). Someone has told me about a 'feeding pod' that you put the flies into & it dusts them as they make their way out? I couldn't find anything on Trade Me about them, does anyone know what I'm talking about (as I don't lol). Also, where does one buy coconut fibre from please, and will the mosses be just as happy on that rather than soil?

[jtay]

The calcium supplement I use is Flukers Calcium with D3. Another one called Rep Cal is popular. These are both available on trade me I believe, if not from your local pet store.
Feeding pod? - I know of the Exo Terra Termite Hill designed for crickets, and the Feeding Rock - both are dusting tools. Not sure about one for flies though, although one of those may work.
You can get bricks of coco fiber from garden/plant supply stores - about $4 a brick, and yes the moss will be happy growing on it. It is just like soil but better in my opinion.

[wesleybrouwer]

For frogs growing up, they advice a smaller terrarium, they will be able to find the food better and will therefore grow more easily.
I tried it out to get it proven, and indeed, raising juveniles in a big setup results in smaller adults then ones of the same clutch raised in smaller tanks.

I am also puzzled since i reasoned in nature they got even more space,
looking at fish that will grow bigger as you put them in larger tanks i supposed it was just made up.
But now i'm certain of it, it's better to keep the frogs smaller 'till they are grown to semi-adults.
I tested it on some red eyed treefrog babies and the result is they are almost 0,5 inch smaller