[gaxmode]

Just bought an 18x18x24 exo terra.... along with 2 tubes of ge II black silicone and a can of great stuff window and door foam. Today I applied my first layer of black silicone to the back of the tank, letting that cure overnight and doing a second coating tomorrow, along with first coating on one of the sides.

I currently have 2 crested geckos and stumbled on this forum searching about DIY backgrounds and lets just say... I got sucked right in. Hey what can I say, I'm easy lol.

I've read over the beginners threads, top 5 mistakes etc... but does anyone have any advice for me? Or questions that I should ask myself? I plan on having maybe 3-4 azureus or tincs in here... thanks!

 

[frogface]

Welcome to the addiction

My advice would be that tincs and azureus do better in pairs due to aggression issues. Some people have groups of 3 but these are usually in larger tanks.

 

[Pumilo]

It's "New Math". 2 Tincs + 2 Tincs = 2 Tincs (because 2 will most likely be stressed to death)

 

[sports_doc]

^ sad but true

works with retics too

 

[gaxmode]

So with the great stuff, is it worth making a bunch of ledges for these frogs? I see they are more terrestial so more than likely wont be climbing... I'll have ledges mainly for plants, moss, water collection.

 

[frogface]

They do some climbing. It's just that they are more often on the ground. My terrestrial frogs all have some climbing spots that they use from time to time.

 

[Zoomie]

Welcome !

Be sure to get your silicone completely dry prior to a second coat and definitely prior to GS ing tank. You can test it by by sealing a the tank (glass lid and close doors) and throw a light on it for a few hours. Open the doors and and stick your head in, huffing profusely. You'll know if it's not cured!

A number of members here have reported that if the silicone has failed to dry and it is moistened, it can stink for months. Probably an unhealthy environment for your frogs.

Take your time with your build. Keep reading and checking out the build threads here. You'll be up and running in no time.

 

[gaxmode]

I'm letting it dry some more, I just reinforced the bottom portion with clear silicone... I have the exo terra, can ff escape the vent area under the front door panels (not the actual gaps in glass)?


Hopefully its planted by Christmas so I can let it establish 2 months before grabbing a dart at Hamburg in Feb

 

[InHoc1855]

Welcome! That is my EXACT STORY as well.

Was doing research on naturalistic backgrounds for my pair of newly aquired Gargoyle Geckos, stumbled across this forum and now im hooked. I am on this site multiple times a day every day for the past 10months, and i dont even have my first frogs yet (really close now though).

 

[B-NICE]

get more room and a bigger wallet.

 

[love_chariot]

Read the books, both the AZDR book and the Juchems book will help fill you in on alot (there are many other books, I personally own these two). The 5 gallon per frog rule is silly, 10 gallon per frog. With Tincs when they are little they can be housed together, at sexual maturity only a pair. So either get a trio and plan to sell one later or get an adult pair. Don't rush, remember that after everything dries and you plant everything that you still want it to grow in. Practice fruit fly culturing before you get frogs so you have no gaps. If you want to raise groups in your 18x18x24 go either auratus or leucs. Both deal better in group situations and you won't find your females trying to kill each other. I personally love the leucs, but am hoping in awhile to get some super blue auratus.

 

[gaxmode]

Yeah I think I am now leaning more towards leucs, maybe auratus.... guess it depends what they have at the Hamburg show in February... thx for replies.

 

[B-NICE]

just set up 2 and get both lol. i made my 1st viv around may/june. now i have 6. once i get my rack in my house, im going to buy the rest of my tanks to fit them in, then start building. Both those frogs are a good choice. I want a super blue too. Just take your time with the builds, and stay away from the water features. Homedepot/loews will be hitting your pockets hard along with some other places. Dont spend too much in pet shops, they sell the same stuff that the hardware stores sell, just at a way higher prices with some type of herp logo.

 

[gaxmode]

I was going to add a water wall, is that a negative then? I will be setting up my mistking. I've spent over $500 on this setup already lol

 

[CALBerkGuy]

welcome

 

[gaxmode]

Just got my pieces of cork bark and drift wood along with 2 cultures of springtails in from neherp, anxious to get started. I think I will bypass the water feature on this tank and save that for my future 50g breeder.

 

[gaxmode]

Started the gs

Turn your head to the left, for some reason its sideways, even when I rotate it.... weird.

 

[B-NICE]

Damn $500 bro..... Dont worry its a trail and error thing, once your done with this joint they get simple. My next build is going to cost me like 50 bucks. At this point anything else shouldnt run me more than $100.

 

[gaxmode]

Yep, I had to buy some reusable stuff though so from here on out it should only be terrarium, gs, silicone, eggcrate, cork barks, driftwood, plants, abg substrate... so shouldn't be too bad.... I plan on building at least a 50g breeder next, when I setup my reptile room... that should be fun

 

[Ed]

. The 5 gallon per frog rule is silly, 10 gallon per frog. With Tincs when they are little they can be housed together, at sexual maturity only a pair.

Working backwards.. so this isn't to isolate you out.. neither of these are exactly true..
Anytime you get a recommendation of volume as a method to house terrestrial animals, you really have to pay attention to it.. the reason is that a volume doesn't tell you anything about how the needs of the frogs are being met. The space is much less important than how the resources needed by the frogs are placed in the enclosure. You could have a 100 gallon tank (which by the ten gallon rule could house ten tinctorius) but if you place all of the needs at one end of the tank, you aren't going to be able to house ten frogs as they are going to fight over the one end and not the other. As another example, a 100 gallon tank standing on one end is not going to be able to house the same number of terrestrial species as one set up horizontally....
Volume as a method of determing numbers of frogs really has little to no value.

With respect to the comment on pairs, this is not exactly true either... for a very long time, people did keep these species in groups. It is only relatively recently (within the last ten years) that there has been a trend towards keeping these frogs in pairs. This does make it easy for newer people to be successful with these frogs as it removes the need to understand that both sexes will defend resources (such as access to a mate, calling sites, egg deposition sites) and removes the requirement of how to set up an enclosure to accomedate those needs. As a recommendation that it provides better success for newer people, it has it's merits but the hobby should also be guarding against becoming dogma (which it is dangerously close to becoming).......

Some comments,

Ed