building a frog enclosure

[bimbo]

we have been given 4 red eyed green tree frogs and have had them for a few weeks now and they are growing heaps. they where given to us a month or two after they morphed from taddies into frogs and are sooo cute. been feeding them on crickets and just recently some flies as well.

anyway i have an old fish tank that i am going to change into a froggy house. just wondering the best way to go about it and how best to set it out. the tank is 2 1/2 feet long and about 18inches high and 12 inches wide.

what i was thinking was to drill 2 hole in the base of the tank and put in drains with a tap underneath the tank. silicone a piece of glass accros the tank somewhere so one end can be filled with water (with a heater) and the other with gravel.

planning to make up some frames covered in mesh to replace the glass lids and change the light fittings to fluro's. what lights should i use. is it ok to run red or blue lights at night to aid night time veiwing but not affect the frogs?


anyway i think that is all i have for now. just looking for comments and suggestions on how this sounds and how i can make it better

cheers
James

 

[jack]

I wouldn't bother with the drilling the base and having a reservoir of water at one end. I kept a couple for about 8 years without any standing water, just a mist of water now and then. (unless of course you are going to try breeding). A mesh lid sounds good, and a red light at night seems to work OK (you might need the warmth too in Newcastle)
My main hint is to keep the cage as simple as possible cos you are going to need to clean it out regularly, and a complex cage tends to be a pain to clean...and thus doesn't get cleaned often.

 

[bimbo]

my idea of having the drains in the bottom was so that you could just wash the sides of the tank down and then just open the drain and flush the tank out.

cheers
James

 

[Bono888]

G'day James,

I have a Red-eye enclosure that has a hole in the bottom that acts as a drain. This works great for me and makes cleaning the enclosure very easy.

Your water source could be as simple as a large dish or like you have suggested a piece of glass to hold an area of water. You could also create a tier type formation with large rocks and back fill one side with large grade gravel and fill the tank so the water level sits below the height of the rock wall.

Mesh lids are great because they allow go ventilation and lets unrestricted flow of UVB through from your light source. Place branches high in your enclosure so your Red-eye's will have good exposure to their UVB source.

I use red reflector globes at night for viewing and it does'nt worry them. They also bask under it on occasions.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Matt.

 

[bimbo]

I was going to fit two single fluro battens inside the hood so i cann have both on times and have one to simulate daylight and one for night (red) what type of tube should i get for the daylight. is there a full spectrum tube that will give me the required amounts of UVA and UVB as well as being a sunlight type colour? or should i run both tube during teh day and just get some red LED type lights for night time?

i have seen a few tanks where the bottom is filled with water and has rocks and gravel to make dry land. i think i might go for this type cause i like the look. but we will see wht happens and what my wife says - seem as though they are her frogs :roll:

cheers
James

 

[Mysnakeau]

Be careful drilling holes in an already established tank. If you crack the glass then you won't have a tank at all.

The light you're talking about, is that a UV and heat light all in one?

 

[rodentrancher]

Instar, might have some good input re froggy enclosures.

 

[bimbo]

was planning on putting live plants in the tank so was going to fit a double fluro and use one growlux type tube and one uv tube.

 

[JasonL]

Sounds OK, a mesh lid is a must as condensation will form and fill up your dry area if you dont have it.

 

[bimbo]

just thought i would post a pic of my wifes frog. she was cleaning the tank out and this one always tries to escape and then just sits in her hand. it is also the smallest one. 2 are really fat and there are 2 smaller ones

cheers
James

 

[MDPython]

Cool Great pic!!!
Cutest little things arnt they...........
Bet your wife is proud. :mrgreen:
Looks like he would make a great meal for some hahah lol

 

[pugsly]

Yeah great shot! What a cutie!