Frog Heating

[dkir7979]

Hi all, been a while since i posted...

I was recently informed by an expert of a new way to maintain my white lipped frog enclosure. Heating wise the idea was to have a 60w flood light above the enclosure with a blue,green,red or yellow shield to make the light a colour and connect to a thermostat at 30 degrees... apparently this gives out enough heat and uvb that a uvb light or ceramic heat light are not needed, which is great because ceramics are expensive and such a pain!, the other thing to do was also to keep a energy saving light bulb or downlight on in the enclosure during the day to create more of a basking spot but also some natural light that looks better along with the coloured light from the flood light. Substrate wise the thing to do is to have just normal soil that is constantly water logged and to be turned over every day... this is much better as sphagnum moss dries out really fast.

Has anyone utilized this method?

 

[SarahScales]

Is the room naturally lit? If the room is not dark, they do not need a basking light. In fact, I would not recommend basking lights as they dry out the surface of your lovely little froggies skin. The temperature you have been indicated for a White Lipped is too high. I would recommend anything between 24-27 tops, personally. Obviously my advice is not the rule, but I do not externally heat my frog cages during summer. And during winter when I do heat, I just fasten a heat-mat to the bottom or side, depending on the cage structure (Wide or tall). Frogs are primarily nocturnal and receive only scattered light through the leaves during the day.

As for 'soil'. I use coco peat, it holds moisture really really well, just wet it the first time then thoroughly spray every day and it will maintain itself. You may need to resoak it after a particularly hot day, but on the whole, no. You purchase the blocks from bunnings and soak it and it expands hugely.

- - - Updated - - -

I forgot to mention: It is still important to keep UV light on White Lips, just not the basking lamp.

 

[dangles]

i just use an aquarium heater in the water and uv globe for mine. with plenty of shelter for them under leafy plants etc they will take whatever uv they want before hiding. Pretty sure normal flood lights wont give the uv required

 

[Cypher69]

Heating for frogs really seems to depend on where you live & the yearly temp range you're subjected to...
I've read 2 Aust books on frog keeping & they go into a lot of detail regarding using heating mats or water heaters to heat up the enclosure. BUT THEN when it comes to describing the care of each individual species both books will state heating is not necessary as long as temps don't drop below 10C for long periods.

I mean it is a bit confusing as I'm a first-timer myself with GTFs. Both books state that GTFs like a dry environment & they will seek out the water themselves when thirsty/dry...then what's contradictory is that by using a water heater as suggested to heat up the enclosure...that would obviously create more of a humid environment, compared to the dry conditions both books imply.

 

[rvcasa]

Only Aquatic species need constant water.

Ground dwelling a bit less. but not the same extent.

Tree frogs almost nothing. (compared to the 2 above anyway)
However, it's best to supply a water dish, big enough for them to soak in when needed. (a dog water bowl is perfect)

As for substrate, I tried coco peat, sphagnum moss etc. - what a mess!
Both on frogs' skin and enclosure inside walls, which required cleaning more often. Bah!

I also tried polished/smooth river pebbles from Bunnings (not too small, like aquarium size as they can be swallowed, but then a medium size pebble makes too much noise when frogs hops all night long in my son's bedroom!)

I have a big kitchen/bathroom tile on half of the tank with a water bowl sitting on top and other half of tank with pebbles or other.

The tile is elevated (with a beading frame) so a heat mat fits loosely underneath (during winter only)
That way, both the tile and water are slightly warmed up.

I also have a brunch across the tank, where my GTF spends most of the time!

Oh, and a small bromeliad in a small pot of dirt, (which my son insists on a "natural habitat look") which also provides as a hide. - but this is not really necessary.


Read: Frogs as Pets by Michael J Tyler and Raising Native Frogs by Alastair Bax. (both from your local library)

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[rvcasa]

...I mean it is a bit confusing as I'm a first-timer myself with GTFs.... What's contradictory is that by using a water heater as suggested to heat up the enclosure...that would obviously create more of a humid environment, compared to the dry conditions both books imply.

The aquarium or water heater is used upright inside a narrow, tall glass bottle (ie, tomato cooking sauce), which is placed inside the tank for warmth and then you mist the inside of tank, 1-2 times daily, (w/ rain water only), for humidity.

That way there's never any water on bottom of tank so it's always dry.




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[Cypher69]

The aquarium or water heater is used upright inside a narrow, tall glass bottle (ie, tomato cooking sauce), which is placed inside the tank for warmth and then you mist the inside of tank, 1-2 times daily, (w/ rain water only), for humidity.

That way there's never any water on bottom of tank so it's always dry.

Yup I read the same technique for heating a GTF enclosure...however the same contradiction occurs when the author states this method OR using a water heater IN the water OR a heat mat UNDER the body of water....once again increasing the humidity.

 

[KristenJ]

I use a water heater for mine. It keeps the humidity up too.

 

[KaotikJezta]

Keeping substrate constantly wet is not a good thing for tree frogs and can actually be detrimental. They need an area that is completely dry. I also wouldn't use lights as a heating method as they can tend to dry the frogs out to much. My magnificent tree frogs have a heater in the waterbowl part of their waterfall which is very large with lots of dry rocky areas that they prefer. My southern browns have a heat cable running under a small part of the water bowl that keeps the water at between 22-24C. The mags have coir mat and river stones on the floor area and the southerns have aquarium gravel 10mm covered with an exoterra moss mat.