[herhuskalusk]

I've been thinking about getting some dart frogs for quite a while now. My only problem is I still have a couple years of college left and I travel back and forth from home during breaks. (6 hour drive) I'm pretty set on building a 20H terrarium with a pair of tincs. How practical is it to travel with a setup like this? How much does a tank like this weigh? (set up with GS background, layers of LECA, ABG mix, water weight, ect.) I've tried the search function and haven't been able to find a thread that addresses my question. Hope you guys can help me out! Really hope I'll be able to get some of these cool critters

 

[Mer_]

I am actually a college student myself.

I am also a 6 hr drive from my parents' home. This winter break I decided to take my frogs on the journey home with me, but I did not bring the setups with them. My parents set up vivs for me back home, which was extremely nice of them.

So all I did was put the frogs in travel cups with paper towels, and some leaves, fruitfly cultures, and springtail cultures in a backpack with some heat packs and off to the bus I went. If you do decide to travel with your frogs and not the whole setups make sure you take the proper precautions. I had some issues caused by exposure to the cold weather, but overall I think it can be done you just need to be well prepared.

If you have a car at school with you then its even easier because you can easily (well relatively) travel with the vivs!

 

[herhuskalusk]

Thanks for the quick response man! It's good to know that there's other people out there with the same situation as me. Setting up another viv at home is a good idea. I don't know if my parents will go for it though hah. I think I'll go ahead and start setting up my 20 gallon that I have laying around at home before I head back down to school after break is over.

Also, I was wondering if dart frogs tanks put off a bad smell...I don't think the girlfriend would want a gnarly smelling tank in the room haha

 

[Mer_]

Haha! I have my tanks in the bedroom and it doesn't smell at all. My roommate never complains about it. The only thing that does have a very faint smell is the FF cultures, but I put those in a drawer so I dont worry about that.

I am also assuming you'd be driving yourself back and forth from school and home for breaks?

 

[BurnsinTX]

I started keeping dart frogs in college and had to do the same thing. My drive back home was only about 2 hours though. I kept the tank in the passenger seat the whole way home and had the temperature gauge where I could see it while driving. I also recommend wrapping it in a blanket while carrying it to/from the car. On top of that, make sure you remove anything that could fall or roll around while driving. That is very very important as I almost lost a frog because a fake rock fell on him . It was irresponsible of me but I learned and hope you can take that too! Have fun with the build!

 

[herhuskalusk]

Thanks for the input man. Yeah I'll be back and forth from home for spring break and then for summer probably. So at least I will only have to do it twice. I'll be setting up the tank next week and hopefully get it ready for LA herp show where I'm planning on buying a pair of tincs

 

[brosta]

I actually just got back from bringing my frogs home and back for Christmas. I have a 20L at home and set up a temporary tank out of a plastic tote. I have done this a few times now (for other holidays) and am surprised with how well they travel. I just set up some wet paper toweling, cocoa fiber, rocks and plants in the plastic tote. I place the tote in the front seat of my car, (in the winter I pre-heat my car). Once I get to my parents house, I lay down an electric blanket and set it on the 2 (I already have tested it on my temporary tank without the frogs to find out that it keeps the tank around 73).

If you end up using a temporary tank like I did, don't forget about the actual tank left behind! My first time leaving I was so worried about the frogs making it that I forgot that the actual tank would need the lights and misting while I was gone. Luckily the first time I was only gone for a few days and it survived, but I came back to a very dry tank.

 

[herhuskalusk]

That's good to know that the frogs do well while traveling. The temporary tank idea is a good one. I was actually hoping to be able to just pack my whole tank into the front seat and turn on the car heater so they don't get too cold. I would think because my tank is only gonna be a 20 gallon it shouldn't weigh too much and should be pretty easy to transport (hopefully). I'm getting excited to get some frogs! Gonna set the tank up when I get back home from snowboarding, and hopefully have it ready by Jan 7th for the LA Reptile Show where I'm planning on picking up a couple tincs.

 

[srrrio]

I guess being from Las Vegas I am a big believer in keeping frogs in a cooler, ice chest, etc. while traveling anywhere... anytime. Deli cups or plastic shoe boxes are easy to pack inside whatever chest you have. It takes a lot of risk factors away..like sun shining through the windows into the tank and super heating it, or sudden drops/raises in temps when your getting in and out of car. When I have gone out of town with frogs, I bring both heat and cool packs...just in case.

You could still bring a temp tank or viv on the front seat just put them back in the tank

Sally