Australian Frogs - Questions

[hey_im_sam]

Hey guys

My roommate is looking at creating a kind of moss-garden terrarium in one of my old cages, with a little waterfall and pond and everything. We thought it would be cool to set it up with some little frogs in there, which is where the question comes in...

I want to know what small, fairly terrestrial species are available in captivity. For those of you with some overseas experience, something the equivalent of a great little dart frog set up. I see quite a lot of Limnodynates sp. in some of the mountains around here, anything like that? We were thinking of getting half dozen or so, having a little colony. I know you're allowed to take a couple from the wild if they aren't threatened, but a few more and potential breeding would be nice.

So if anyone has any species suggestions and/or breeders that they know of, I'd love to hear from you. It sounds like it'll be a beautiful set up, so a few happy frogs would be nice

Cheers guys

p.s. - for those of you that know of microhylids - have found a few species since I've been up here, they hide well! Incredible little frogs. May be able to scrounge up a couple pics if anyone's interested.

 

[hey_im_sam]

Taudactylus sp. perhaps? Anyway, over to you My thoughts are reasonably limited to NQLD, which is by no means a requirement, it's just what I know.

 

[hey_im_sam]

Noone here knows frogs?

 

[Wrasse]

Wish I could help you. I have a frog set up myself and it is great, the frog song is wonderful and it looks good too. There is so much you can do with the terrariums.

However, outside the species I keep, I know nothing, not about sizes or anything, so I can't help. I can get the number of a friend here in Brisbane that does breed frogs however and PM you that if you would like it. He has youngsters coming up for sale shortly and could certainly help you with any questions you may have.

 

[hey_im_sam]

That could be very useful wrasse, thanks I've sent you a pm

 

[instar]

Ive seen some fantastic setups for terrestrial frogs, complete with waterfall, moss, live bromliads etc etc.
While these look fantastic you might consider your maintenance a little more pre planning.
Cleaning is number 1 with any frog setup, the more decoration etc you have, the harder it will be to clean. Also if you go 'natural' completely you should carefully consider drainage, soil/s types, lighting, etc. plants need the correct lioghting conditions to thrive and wet soils are a happy place for fungal disease to thrive.
between you and me, simpler is better, you can still creat a fantastic looking 'natural' terrarium, using, non degradeable substrate and fake plants etc. (beware silk plants, they can dry frogs skin, plastic smooth, is better).
Depending on the species, and where you live, lower humidity if can for any frog terrarium than is reg advised. Humity is often, over stressed and higher humidity than required, particularly in cooler temps is not good.
Best wishes with your terrariums, look forward to seeing pics, both in progress and after.

 

[hey_im_sam]

Instar,
I appreciate what you're saying, but we kind of want to do it properly One of my good friends at uni is doing a Phd on mosses, liverworts and hornwarts, so should be able to supply a great variety without having to take anything from the forests (also illegal). For lighting we're going to use two fluros, one white (viewing) and one 'black', with a better uv range.
Living in Nth Qld, we can't really consider any species from too far south - there's no way we'll keep soil temps below 20 degrees.., but with a decent water supply, humidity will eventualy control itself (after some trial and error).
One of the thoughts at the moment is to create a 'circular stream', with waterfalls at opposite corners, each with their own pumps, pools, etc... but one water source, so it's circulating through them. Still up in the mind at the moment though
Thanks for the input, if you have any ideas on species suggestions, let me know