[Stippy]

Hey everyone! I recently "saved" a White's Tree Frog from a horrible 5g tank with fake plants, gravel, day-glo/neon silicone, no supplements, tap water, only black light, no place to hide... Poor guy. This is my first frog and I've tried to do a lot of research on my own, but I'd really like to run this setup past the pros here.

Frog (after replacing gravel, adding cork bark, before new tank):

Current setup: (the temp/humidity gauge is temporary, he's hiding in the cork bark)

Exo Terra 18x18x24. Bioactive substrate from Biodude. 25 Dwarf Whites and Springtails added about a week ago, frog's been in there around 2 weeks, same with the plants.

Humidity varies from 50's to 90s and I use a 12v pc fan to help increase the airflow (pulling air up and out, not pushing it in) otherwise the humidity stays high.

Temps are mid-60's at night, up to 80 during the day with the basking lamp on. Around 70 without it. I used a seedling mat under the tank for extra heat, but that kept the humidity too high. (No extra water in the bottom, the HydroGrow always looks dry.)

Lights (LED strips) are on a timer; warm white starts at 0900, white light comes on/is added from 1130-1630, then turns off leaving only the warm white till 2100. (The picture is with both on). At night I use a single, dimmed and frosted 3v blue (470nm) LED to simulate moonlight. I've read that UVB is and isn't needed, depending on my info source.

Misting: I hand mist 2-3 times a day with filtered water. (I have a big, whole house water filter that I only use for my fish as well as the frog. No need to dechlorinate, I put the water directly in my fish tank with my 25+ year old Plecostomus). I do use a water softener and have a little mineralization on the tank after many years of use; do I still need to get a RODI/use distilled?

Feeding: Small crickets, (maybe 10 at a time) calcium/Vit. D dusted, every other day. Sometimes 1-2 make it through the night. My local cricket options are from Petsmart... large or small, that's it. Not sure if he's ready for large ones yet.

After being moved into the new setup, he's turned dark brown and stays hidden till night time. From what I gathered, this is normal and not something to be worried about. I'm assuming after he gets used to his new environment he'll go back to his original color. He's croaked only a few times since moving in.

I'd really like to add 1-2 more White's to the enclosure, but I'm worried about the size difference. He's about 3" long and I want him to have buddies, not snacks.

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[SpaceMan]

Good on you for rescuing that guy from what sounds like a horrible setup.

I'd provide more vertical space/features for them. The plants will fill that to some extent, but these are tree frogs, and you have a lot of unused vertical volume there. Adding wood features that go up the entire height of the enclosure would be a good start.

I'd also cover the background to give them more a sense of security. Since you've already planted the tank, you could use black vinyl on the outside back, or a piece of black foam core.

 

[Stippy]

Thanks for the reply!

I just got a big piece of manzanita that I'm planning to put in there just as soon as I can cut it down to size. I also have another round of cork bark.

I was thinking of painting the back with black latex, outside of course, and maybe part of the sides. I'll do that this weekend.

Any thoughts on getting him 1-2 buddies? I didn't really expect the cost of setting up a proper tank for him, so I'd like to get a little more bang for my buck. 🙂 Of course, if the size difference is an issue, I won't do it... Or maybe I can use a spare 30g fish tank for a few months till they get bigger.

 

[Chris S]

If you can find a big piece of hollow cork, it will also allow it to hide when it feels stressed. Manzanita might not be a great fit if its a typical piece (smaller diameter branches)...something thicker like cork branches or ghost wood, unless of course you have a super fat piece of manzanita! Give it some height, and you will have doubled the usable area in the vivarium.

 

[XxFrogxX]

Thanks for the reply!

I just got a big piece of manzanita that I'm planning to put in there just as soon as I can cut it down to size. I also have another round of cork bark.

I was thinking of painting the back with black latex, outside of course, and maybe part of the sides. I'll do that this weekend.

Any thoughts on getting him 1-2 buddies? I didn't really expect the cost of setting up a proper tank for him, so I'd like to get a little more bang for my buck. 🙂 Of course, if the size difference is an issue, I won't do it... Or maybe I can use a spare 30g fish tank for a few months till they get bigger.

You don’t want to get any buddies that are smaller than him. Try to find frogs that are a similar size to him, that would be ideal.

 

[Stippy]

Any recommendations as to where to get slightly bigger frogs? So far all I've found is the little guys.

The manzanita I have is pretty big, wider than the frog, and I can easily get more large pieces.

I'm going to try and get some thin slate or maybe sandstone for the background. That'll look better than painting the back black and it'll give him something else to climb on. 🙂

Unfortunately, I got ahead of myself and setup the tank in a temporary spot without thinking how heavy it would be. Now I need to figure out how to safely move it! Worst-case, I guess could empty it.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Stippy]

Manzanita added, might add one more branch, minor plant rearrangement. Still working on a background, stuck the styrofoam one behind the tank for now.

 

[Chris S]

Looks a bit better now, somewhere to hang out anyway.

 

[Stippy]

Ok, take three! He's actually out in this picture and his color looks much better.

 

[Chris S]

This is much better! You can also put a bit more leaf letter down, to keep the floor a bit drier.

 

[FroggerFrog]

Looks great! Good job! Can’t wait to see what else you can do to this tank.

 

[Stippy]

Thanks! I'll get more leaf litter in there asap.

Will my plants grow well so close to the sides or should I give them more room?

 

[Kribensis]

Thanks! I'll get more leaf litter in there asap.

Will my plants grow well so close to the sides or should I give them more room?

Mine don’t ever seem to mind. It should be fine as long as the sides aren’t constantly wet.