Some questions from a newbie...

[19ginger90]

Hi there. I've been getting ready to purchase a White's Tree frog, but I still have a few questions before I continue.

First, I realize that there is some daily and weekly cleaning requirements for a frog. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The daily requirements consist of spot check for feces and cleaning out the water bowl. I'm not so sure about the weekly requirements. My terrarium is set up with a few inches of hydroballs on the bottom, a piece of plastic mesh, and coconut fiber on top of that. I'll be putting in some sort of frog moss for decoration, a branch, and a few plastic plants. I also have a waterfall kit that has water running down the background into a little bowl made out of half a coconut shell. The shell will have some holes in it for the water to then drain into the substrate and hydroballs, then back up to the waterfall with a pump.

My question is, what would my weekly cleaning be like if I have coconut fiber as my substate and hydroballs underneith that?

Also, I will be getting a clamp lamp. What sort of light bulb do I put in that?

Thanks in advance for any help! I really appreciate it!

[into]

Welcome to the forum one of the weekly tasks may be that you will need to do a partial water change. With the water flowing down into the substrate, the water will soon turn yellow. This is my experience with coconut fiber and waterfalls.

I have a water feature that runs down through rounded stones into a partial false bottom under the substrate and pumps through the other side and back up. The moving water never came in contact with substrate.

[19ginger90]

Great idea! I think I will use it.

So how do you clean your terrarium weekly? Do you have to remove all the substrate and hydroballs, and completely replace the substrate? Thanks!

[tylototriton]

I wouldn't remove all the substrate. Thats pretty labor intensive for you and stressful for the frog. You're better off just making sure that you remove the feces regularly, change the water, and then maybe clean the substrate every few months.

[Hannah Wilbanks]

How deep should substrate be in a tank? I am curious b/c I am trying to set up a slightly bigger tank for my WTF and was wondering if I will have to buy more or can just use the half bag that I already have. (The closets pet store that sells it is about 45 min away, so I will have to plan a trip if I need more.)

[Kurt]

About two inches of substrate is fine.

[Tom Highum]

As for the clamp lamp it matters what the room temp is naturally if it is too low for the frog you could use a incandescent light bulb like the normal household ones if you dont need heat you could use a fluorescent bulb because it emits less heat. For both of the lights you need to keep them on a 12 hour cycle to reproduce daylight and nighttime.