Whites tree frog - no idea what I am doing

[Mvjnz]

I have one small frog in a temporary setup at the moment, after one of my friends needed to get rid of it. I bought a terrarium today, it's 40 x 40 x 50 cm (80 litres).

I have no idea what to do with it. I like the idea of having some water at the bottom and having a filter running in the water, but from what I understand these frog don't need much water, + it might be easier from a food perspective if there was less water in it.

But with substrate at the bottom and a water bowl, I heard that the soil can go funny or mouldy and needs cleaning a lot unless you use a false bottom.

I really just want to keep it simple and low cost, but also natural looking.

Which is better, water at the bottom, or substrate? Do I NEED a false bottom if I use substrate, or can I just put a layer of gravel at the bottom and soil on top of that?

What substrate is recommended? What plants can I put in it?

[Leefrogs]

ya, a water feature is complicated, u have a project when u take that on. Most of us don't go quite so elaborate. U can layer rock, coco fiber to absorb moisture, and moss. Plants can be put in pots before u build bottom. This will help hide pots. 2 or3 inch pots are fine. If u want to plant plants into soil u need more than a total of 3 inches at bottom. U can use anything that's not toxic or sharp. Clippings from grandmas house plants work, things like spider plant, mother in laws tounge, ferns, and photos vine are common. Tea plant, corn, jade, bamboo, fiddle leaf fig, palm, bromiliad, hibiscus, orchid, or ivy are more choices. They will hold up to a heavy whites. A visit to local green house will give u more options. Check my album, as there's one plant I have that's verrigated (striped) and I can't remember name.
Welcome to forum, have fun, and enjoy!!!!

[Mvjnz]

Thanks

So gravel, then coco fiber, then moss. Plant plants (thanks for the list), put some branches in, and all good?

[Mvjnz]

Oh, and another thing. The frog is very small, I think about 1 cm from head to vent, maybe slightly more. Do you think it's big enough to eat mini mealworms? I put some in yesterday and today, but they don't seem to get eaten.... I am working on getting some fruitflies. What else can they eat at this size?

[Leefrogs]

crickets, the size of the distance between eyeballs. Don't forget to give vitamins and calcium. There legs will break without. Crix are easy to breed. U can check raising them to left, although I don't use light or heat pad, they just take 2 or 3 weeks to hatch at room temp. if u to get branches from outside make sure they're dead wood and bake in oven for an hour (or until they start on fire) in oven. Oak and birch, or any driftwood, or hardwood, no pine.

[Mvjnz]

Excellent, thanks

[Kisa]

Ginger's advice is great, she knows exactly what she's talking about, especially with plants. ^ ^

You can put some clay pellets (hydro balls) on the bottom of the viv and fill to about an inch or an inch and a half for good drainage, then put in a piece of screen material to separate the balls and the substrate, and throw some plantation soil (exo terra), jungle bed (T-rex I believe), or anything with coco fiber, as it's ok if the frogs ingest it at the desired thickness. On top of the substrate you choose you can put moss and/or leaf litter to provide something for the frogs to walk on without getting the dirt stuck to their skin (they don't seem to like that, mine always tries to kick the substrate off).

Ginger's absolutely right about plants, anything that is frog safe and has big, strong leaves or provides a good place to hide is good for White's. They like to stay hidden most of the day and will come out at night to perch and look around, wonderful frogs. ^ ^ But they're HUGE and you need plants that will be able to hold them up and provide space for them to lounge comfortably. That tank you have is a great size, just make sure you have some perches high up as White's like to sit and look around a lot. That's all mine does all night long anyway. XD

And make sure any plants or sticks you bring in from the outside are properly cleaned (boiled or baked or at least washed) to make sure you get rid of any bacteria or bugs that could have rode in on them.

The water bowl or section should be a bit deep as White's like to sit and soak, but not too deep as they're not good swimmers and could drown easily.

You can check out pictures of other people's White's vivs and see what I'm talking about. Ginger here and Donlisk have great examples and in fact I built my White's viv based solely on their suggestions.

I hope this helps and remember you can always ask us questions! I'd be happy to provide any information you may need and Don and Ginger were always very helpful and full of good suggestions for me. ^ ^

I have this setup in my viv and it's worked great so far. The plants I have are a bromeliad, snake plant and some bamboo, with the addition of some fake suction-cup plants to cover up the side and make Bruce Campbell (my White's) feel safer. I also have some other fake stuff in there and a big stick, but that's all personal choice.

Hope this has helped you.

[Mvjnz]

Thanks

I have almost finished setting it up now, will post a photo when it's done

I am struggling to find food that is small enough, I have put some fruit out to get fruitflies, but no luck so far. When I ask for baby crickets in the pet store they just show me their 'small crickets' which are too big. Someone said I could buy large crickets and breed them myself, but that would take weeks and I need food now...

But for future reference, do you have a link to where it explains how to breed crickets?

Thanks

[Kisa]

Thanks

I have almost finished setting it up now, will post a photo when it's done

I am struggling to find food that is small enough, I have put some fruit out to get fruitflies, but no luck so far. When I ask for baby crickets in the pet store they just show me their 'small crickets' which are too big. Someone said I could buy large crickets and breed them myself, but that would take weeks and I need food now...

But for future reference, do you have a link to where it explains how to breed crickets?

Thanks

Please post photos of frog and tank, it's always nice to see what other people have done for their frogs. ^ ^

And you said your frog is 1 cm long from head to vent? That sounds awfully small for a baby White's. The one I have now is only a few weeks old and already about an inch long, the small crickets are good for him to eat.

As long as you feel like the frog can fit the food into it's mouth I think it would be ok to eat, but if you really want to find smaller foods I believe fruit flies can be bought in store or you can start a culture. There's a link for fruit fly culturing off to the left here or I'm sure you can find some useful recipes online.

You should post a picture of the frog next to something as a reference for size, right now I'm having trouble picturing it not being able to eat small crickets. The ones I feed my little guy are tiny, some are so small I can barely tell they're there. XD And White's are voracious eaters, as long as they can fit it in their mouth, I'm sure they'll go for it.

[iatakden]

Kisa always going all or none lol

Sent using my ( Samsung Galaxy S ) .

[Leefrogs]

to the left side is culturing crix. If u use heating, your eggs will hatch 2 weeks earlier. Keep dirt moist, if it dries out a bit just keep misting. Mine dried out everday and still hatched.

You should be able to get some nice termites or something from outside.

[Kisa]

Kisa always going all or none lol

Sent using my ( Samsung Galaxy S ) .

Haha well someone's gotta do it, right? XD

[iatakden]

Haha for sure

Sent using my ( Samsung Galaxy S ) .