Red Eyed Tree Frog - Habitat Questions

[DonLisk]

Hi All,
I have my habitat top substrate as the ESU Jungle Mix and was wondering if I should have a moss layer for him too? Maybe some leaf liter instead?

He is slow to acclimating to his new home and only comes out when its really dark and quiet. As soon as he notices someone near the enclosure hes out of sight and hiding.... guessing he had some incident at the store prior to me obtaining him.

He has a ton of hiding places so its sometimes impossible to find him but thats what hiding places are for.


Thanks for any replies.

[Tony]

I use a top dressing of long fiber sphagnum moss to prevent small soil particles from sticking to the frogs. I have not used leaf litter with tree frogs but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work except that it may offer too many hiding spots for feeder insects.

He will probably become bolder as he settles in to his new home, my red eyes do not seem to be bothered by my presence and I have several well established males who consistently wake up and start calling about 30 minutes before the lights go out.

[bshmerlie]

Your tank as you describe it sounds perfect. He should be Able to completely hide from you if he wants. Just give him time. My tank is like a thick jungle and all of my red eyes could completely hide from me if they wanted to that makes them feel secure. Now they spend all of their time out in the front watching me. When I got my first red eye he did the same thing as yours and I started to wonder why I even got him. But over time he got use to me and realized I was the cricket God and now he doesn't mind anything that I do even inside his cage. You've got to understand that in the wild frogs are always afraid of being dinner. So when they see some animal (like you) they hide. But soon he will realize that you're not a threat. So keep the cover as you have it. Keep him in a location in the house that is quiet and completely dark as you said and I guarantee you he will relax. Just give him time. Soon enough he will be front and center for you to enjoy. Try a cricket bowl so he can find the crickets and they don't get lost. My cricket bowl is up front and i often have many of them hovering on the branches above waiting for me to drop in crickets. Over time you wont have to go searching for him he'll be sitting on a leaf watching you.

[John911]

I use a top dressing of long fiber sphagnum moss to prevent small soil particles from sticking to the frogs. I have not used leaf litter with tree frogs but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work except that it may offer too many hiding spots for feeder insects.

He will probably become bolder as he settles in to his new home, my red eyes do not seem to be bothered by my presence and I have several well established males who consistently wake up and start calling about 30 minutes before the lights go out.

Beautiful pics and frogs as always. Would you be able to post pics of the full habitat? Trying to set one up for them.

[Tony]

Beautiful pics and frogs as always. Would you be able to post pics of the full habitat? Trying to set one up for them.

Thanks John. Here is a full viv shot:

you go:

[John911]

Tony, do you even use a background on something like that or is it almost all plants?

[Tony]

Tony, do you even use a background on something like that or is it almost all plants?

The original exo terra background is in there but has been taken over by pothos vines.

[John911]

The original exo terra background is in there but has been taken over by pothos vines.

Is that the 24x18x18? How many do you keep in there?

[Tony]

Is that the 24x18x18? How many do you keep in there?

18 x 18 x 24, and I think there are seven frogs in it. I shuffled them around a bit during breeding and don't remember exactly how many went back in there.

[DonLisk]

Wow, thanks for the responses. I stopped by a local landscaping place and picked up some live plants to put in since the plastic ones are pretty flimsy. That will be tomorrows job while he sleeps behind the cork round he has taken too.

I did change out the moss in my Whites viv since I thought I saw some black dot specks that worried me. I came to find a worm in the soil, and the specks were only the coco bottom layer working its way through the moss.

Man thats a nice viv. I did the Exo 18 x 18 x 18.

Cheri, thanks for the reply too. I guess I'm just impatient and want to see he is doing well. :-)

[DonLisk]

Do any of your Red Eyes use the water dish/bowl?

My plans for today are to add some live plants so I picked up some plantation soil to add some filler as I place the plants.
I'll add some areas of the New Zealand Moss I picked up to some areas while modifying the enclosure.

He was out some this morning and aas the sun hit the glass he decided to go back into hiding. Good signs for me :-)

[bshmerlie]

Do any of your Red Eyes use the water dish/bowl?

My tank is 36x24x18 and I have a waterfall that goes onto a pond section that takes up about 1/3 of my tank and all frogs tend to spend the majority of their time on that side of the tank. The water is not that deep because I have flat stones in it so they can just sit there and it doesn't go above their chins. They love the water. If they're not sitting in it theyre sitting in branches or vines above it. Do you need to have a large water section? No. I'm just telling you that my five red eyes like it. I originally only had it this size to help with humidity as I live in So Cal and it can get really dry here in the summer. But now that. I've noticed they all spend so much time on that side of the tank I was thinking of expanding it next summer. Water bowls are perfectly fine and you definately should have them. Change the water every day.

[Tony]

Mine soak pretty much every night, especially now that it is the dry season and I am no longer misting.

[DonLisk]

My tank is 36x24x18 and I have a waterfall that goes onto a pond section that takes up about 1/3 of my tank and all frogs tend to spend the majority of their time on that side of the tank.

I started the Viv with a waterfall from Zoo Med but after the first night it had a humming from the transformer that definitely made hearing it intolerable. I removed it and Zoo Med is going to replace the pump since everything is clean and the hum is from the transformer itself. Sucked to have to pull the whole corner section out to remove it.

I'll keep a water dish up front. I'll also try to get pics once I finish putting the new plants in today :-)

[DonLisk]

I'll also try to get pics once I finish putting the new plants in today :-)

Added a few plants and topped off with plantation soil. Also added a small area of New Zealand Moss to start.

[DonLisk]

My tank is 36x24x18 and I have a waterfall that goes onto a pond section that takes up about 1/3 of my tank and all frogs tend to spend the majority of their time on that side of the tank. The water is not that deep because I have flat stones in it so they can just sit there and it doesn't go above their chins. They love the water. If they're not sitting in it theyre sitting in branches or vines above it. Do you need to have a large water section? No. I'm just telling you that my five red eyes like it. I originally only had it this size to help with humidity as I live in So Cal and it can get really dry here in the summer. But now that. I've noticed they all spend so much time on that side of the tank I was thinking of expanding it next summer. Water bowls are perfectly fine and you definately should have them. Change the water every day.

Its been over three weeks and so far we only see this little guy about 12pm through maybe 6am then then hes gone back into hiding. He is not looking any skinnier so hes eating the crickets but hasn't once been in the water dish or even exploring the front of the enclosure.

Poor guy must have been traumatized at the pet store before I picked him up.
All I can think here. I was hoping by now he would at least start to become more use to the nice environment he has moved into. Maybe missing a mate? hmmmmm

[bshmerlie]

Some frogs wake up at different times. 6 hours a night is obviously working for him. He will become more bold with time. I have also found if you want more "frog time" for your enjoyment ...get more frogs. That way you always have one of them moving around.

[kiwibaby]

My tank is 36x24x18 and I have a waterfall that goes onto a pond section that takes up about 1/3 of my tank and all frogs tend to spend the majority of their time on that side of the tank. The water is not that deep because I have flat stones in it so they can just sit there and it doesn't go above their chins. They love the water. If they're not sitting in it theyre sitting in branches or vines above it. Do you need to have a large water section? No. I'm just telling you that my five red eyes like it. I originally only had it this size to help with humidity as I live in So Cal and it can get really dry here in the summer. But now that. I've noticed they all spend so much time on that side of the tank I was thinking of expanding it next summer. Water bowls are perfectly fine and you definately should have them. Change the water every day.

It's good to hear that waterfalls/ponds work well with red eyes because this is something I have always wanted to do. Do you have pictures of your set up on here? I live in southern AZ so I know about the need for extra humidity in the dry seasons too. For me, I used a terrarium moss top layer and if it was extra dry I would add some sphagnum moss and those would keep the humidity up nicely.

Maybe your frog is just of the shyer type? I remember when I first got mine one was fairly shy and had a tendency to hide while the other was extremely friendly and would crawl all over my hand every time I opened the cage for anything.

[DonLisk]

I'm thinking the add a mate plan would be a great idea but think I need to learn to sex this first to have a pair. I see the water dish is getting dirty and the crickets disappear so that brings hope.

I ordered some leaf litter from Josh and it should be here Friday.... bought the sea grape leaf and the magnolia leaf.

[bshmerlie]

It's good to hear that waterfalls/ponds work well with red eyes because this is something I have always wanted to do. Do you have pictures of your set up on here? I live in southern AZ so I know about the need for extra humidity in the dry seasons too.

Photos of my red eye tank are in my photo album although I do need to take a current photo because the pothos has really grown out and now I have vines and branches going into and above the water section. I have flat stones, river rock and many vines in the water so there is no way a frog could drown. Once a week while theyre sleeping I use a mini wet/ dry vac and suck out all the water and replace it. They do tend to poop in the water a lot.