How moist should the substrate be?

[Nijd]

Hey all, just a quick question about something I'm unsure of as a new frog owner.

Of course I knew that the substrate needs to be moist, but until now I didn't realize how vague that was.

I know it can be too dry and too moist, but does anyone have any general rules of thumb to help make sure it has the right moisture level? Right now I'm using a coconut fiber substrate.

[pixiefrogman]

The substrate should be one level down from dripping wet.

[bshmerlie]

If you dig into it.. it should still be wet. But if you push your hand down into it...water should not puddle.

[Nijd]

Alright, thanks both of you. Should I be worried or take any special precautions against bacteria/mold growth?

[bshmerlie]

Many here on the forum use springtales or woodlice (pill bugs) in their enclosures as "cleaners". They eat the decaying materials in the soil and help to keep the environment clean for your frogs. Search for further info on those guys on the forum here. You can buy cultures of them to seed your tank. As far as mold... it comes and goes and is not anything to be concerned with.

[Jace]

Just make sure you have adequate ventilation. I didn't in one of my tanks, and had a mould problem, even though the soil was no wetter than usual. Now that ventilation has been fixed, my frog is as happy as a pig in...dirt.

[Nijd]

Great, thanks again. It's nice to know I can come here for some good advice.

I work at Petsmart and I just picked him up this morning. I found him a few days ago, when I was feeding and cleaning habitats, dried up to the point where he couldn't open his eyes. There were crickets hiding under his log which means whoever opened the store the past week was just throwing food in and assuming he was all set.

I took him into the in-store vet, they checked him out and soaked him. As of yesterday he looked much better.

So anyway, I decided I didn't want him to end up in a home under the care of an 8 year old where that could happen again and now he's here with me. lol. He was waddling across the length of his habitat eyeing my betta bowls so I threw in a cricket. To my surprise he ate it happily along with a few others. I wasn't expecting him to get back to eating normally so soon in his new home, especially considering how bad he looked a short time ago. So things are going great for him so far, I hope to keep it up.