[geckguy]

I have recently started to seriously think about a outdoor green house to house a colony of frogs. It will most likely be my "man creek" pumilio. I am planning for it to be 8' x 4' x 6', depth, width, height. I am looking for advice on materials for the walls, and the structure itself. I was originally thinking of using my extra 2" x 4"s from another project, but they will eventually rot, and I will have to rebuild it. I live in Florida, so we rarely get temps below 35 degrees, it still low enough to hurt the frogs so I am also looking to keep it fairly warm in the winter so I dont have to go on a frog hunt and bring them inside. It will be under a orange tree in my backyard to keep the heat down when it is hot, which I think will be my major problem. There will be two sets of doors to keep the risk of escape low, so when I first enter I close the first door, then enter into the actual frog space by going through the second door.

The floor will be covered in oak leaf litter, and I will be doing research on some plants to use, as the standard pothos and bromeliads wont use the vertical space to well. Any other advice is appreciated. I will put fruit into the cage for fruitflies to breed in like in the Panamanian greenhouses. As Brent suggested I will seed it with tons of insects.

 

[Guest]

ds

I think honestly it wouldnt be worth the trouble. It would seem too complicated to be feasable. Greenhouses are not that easy to keep within a range of temps without some sort of complicated control system (SOmeone who knows more than me on this one, please contribute!!!). It would seem to me that if the temps fluctuated too much, ALL the frogs would die, and depending on which way it fluctuated or how much, all your plants might die too. That would suck.

How would you monitor their food intake? There are no doors for humans that I can think of that have a small enough gap around to keep IN a dart frog.

 

[Darks!de]

Have you looked into the professional breeder series book at all? They have a whole chapter devoted to greenhouse construction/upkeep.

Luke

 

[JWerner]

First of all, have a good budget. Plan on $4000.00 for the dimentions you mentioned along with needed components. Temp stabilization would be easiest achieved by digging in to he earth and having the ground floor of the greenhouse 4' or so below the outside dirt line. Also, living in Florida, you have fire ants to worry about. You will need to seal the floors, walls and make a water obstacle around the perimeter of the greenhouse. For the exterior, I'd use double or triple wall polycarb. sheets. I would prob. make a greenhouse within a greenhouse design too to help stabilize temps. Good shade cloth, an evaporative cooler, misting system, radiant floor heating (just in case) and an air conditioner. Another safety feature would be a temperature alarm system in case of extreme high and low temps. I'd research materials, sources for materials, talk to others that use greenhouses, purchase all the newer greenhouse design books and read them many times, research passive solar benefits, design plans and determine what the cost would be, then add another 20% for the cost for those unforseen expenses and upgrades.

 

[geckguy]

Well it looks like I need to start getting some money together. I will check out some local green houses and see how they are building them, and start reading. Thanks.

 

[Scott]

The most important part of what JW writes is "putting it below ground".

You need to do what you can while building to give you a more consistent temperature.

Local greenhouses likely do not house live animals (not on purpose at least) so while they'll be helpful - you need to look at them with your own needs in mind.

s

Well it looks like I need to start getting some money together. I will check out some local green houses and see how they are building them, and start reading. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Remember also that these frogs and not hurricane rated, so you greenhouse must be!

 

[geckguy]

I'm planning on having most of it below ground so that will help with hurricanes. It will limit the plants I can use, but the temperatue stability is well worth it.

 

[mydumname]

Seeing that you are 15, you probably live at home with your parents, what will you do when you move out? :?

 

[geckguy]

I have thought about that and I can either tear it down and bring it with me which will be a pain in the a**, or I could leave it and let my mother have it as she enjoys gardening. I was hoping to have it going for awhile because I will most likely not get a chance to have an outdoor greenhouse for along time as I plan on moving to a cooler climate (CO)when I am eighteen as I despise Florida and love the mountains, I may also end up at the University of Florida because I am pretty much guaranteed a full scholarship there. If I decide not to make it due to it only being able to be setup for a short time and not observing the interesting behavior which will happen, I will have the knowledge for the future if I decide to move to a tropical climate or set a greenhouse up in my basement. I am also ordering the Professional Breeder book.

 

[Guest]

greenhouse

http://www.vivaria.nl do some greenhouses. look at the special projects on their website. they are pretty awesome and they might be able to give you some advice.

 

[Derek Benson]

as I despise Florida and love the mountains,

wow, never heard of that, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I'll gladly change you locations. I'm in a neighboring state to the mountains after all, and since Kansas is so flat, you can see clear to Colorado.

Editted for my usual terrible typing.

 

[geckguy]

Thanks for the help. I will post a thread on the construction if I decide to build it.

 

[markpulawski]

Greenhouse

Do not use pressure treated lumber in the plans as it is loaded with toxins, the Cincinnati Zoo lost their entire collection years ago due to the usage of pressure treated 2x4's in the construction of their frog room.
Mark

 

[Ryan]

Despise florida? you crazy! Well anyways, if you could possibly post pictures of your shed that would be great though! I remember reading about it, sounds realy cool.

Thanks
Ryan

 

[geckguy]

I will borrow my dads camera and get pics of the shed soon. I will not use wood to build it, as a majority of will be burried under ground and they would start rotting fairly quickly, plus like Mark said it is loaded with chemicals.

 

[addam4208283]

I don't think I would like the whole open flat landscape either if I lived in Florida. a couple of my friends live on one of the islands off of Florida, I think if I was to move down that way I would do what they did move to an island that’s about 14 square miles. This way I can get away from people when I want to be on my own but still be able to go to the clubs when I feel like it as well.
Also being able to go to the beach in a hop skip and a jump and not have to pay ridiculous entrance fees is a plus too. Beaches on the north shore in Massachusetts are $15 a day, and $20 a day for the weekends; and these are public beaches. :shock:
ADAM

 

[Ryan]

THATS Messed up! You have to pay for the beach?! wow.... Well this summer i am living on the beach, brother moved to melbourne, 3 minute walk to the beach, surf heaven!

Ryan

edited: political correctness....

 

[StevenBonheim]

Gay?

 

[addam4208283]

Last summer I lived on the beach and let me tell ya there was a huge hole in the wallet.
not to mention that with all the $ going in you would think they would have things like trash barrels to put trash in. but I guess for that price that’s asking to much. lol :evil:
ADAM