Lots of questions

[Crab_Lover]

Hi, my name is Rachel. I'm considering purchasing a group of frogs in the next few months, possibly late October. I'm trying to do as much research as possible & get a good vivarium set up, so I am really glad I found this forum ! Alright, I've got a bunch of questions, so I will start with the biggest one:

1. What species is a good species to start out with? I have a 20 gallon long (this is big enough, right? I have read some caresheets, that say it is good, but I know they are sometimes misleading so ?) tank, so it couldn't be an arboreal species.

2. From what I have read online, the basic set up is: a glass aquarium with a small, very shallow "pond" that is very easy for the frog to get out of, and a larger well planted ground area with plenty of places to hide. Is this right ?

3. Is eco earth (compressed coconut fiber) ok for these frogs ?

4. What type of lid is best for these guys? I know they have to have real high humidity (80-100%, right?), so you would need to have a glass lid...but, they also need good ventilation, so what type lid is reccommended ?

5. How big will the species you reccomend get ?

6. What is the best diet to give the species you reccommend? My dad breeds crickets/mealworms & weevils, so we have a ready supply of all of them. I'll go check out the diet forum, but I thought I'd go ahead & ask it here.

Alright, thanks for reading this & thanks so much for your help!!

[Cindy Dicken]

Hi Rachel,
welcome the hobby.
A 20 gal long tank will be ok, just keep in mind that you will be limited in your plant choices as well as your dart frog choices. Some of the darts that would be considered begginer frogs for your set up would be, D. truncatus (yellow), D. galactonotus, P. terribilis, P. vittatus, and possibly D. auratus. The ones I have mentioned will all do well in groups, are primarily terrestrial, and are fairly easy to obtain.

A "pond" is not neccessary, provided you can maintain the humidity level, and this can be done with daily mistings and having a solid glass lid.
I believe Eco-Earth is a ground coconut product. I have heard of people using it, with mixed results. I would urge you to use some type of ground cover (either moss or leaf litter) so it does not get stuck to the frogs skin.

We use glass lids for all of our set ups. They will have plenty of ventilation, as the lids are not air tight, and you will have the lid open a couple of times everyday for feeding and misting. The lid will need to be very secure, as the frogs are great little escape artist!

Out of the frogs I have mentioned, the P. terribilis will get the largest. They can obtain a size around 2 in. The vittatus and truncatus will be the smaller ones listed.

We feed our frogs primarily a diet of flightless fruit flys, supplemented occassionally with termites, waxworms, dwarf woodlice, and springtails. Culturing your own fruit flys can be one of the easiest, most cost effective ways to keep your frogs fed. Some people feed crickets, we do not, due to the possibility of the crickets carrying coccidia. Frogs will not eat anything with a hard ectoskeleton, so meal worms would probably not be taken.
The best advice we can give you is to do your research BEFORE you get your frogs.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Crab_Lover]

Ok, thanks!
My question is, if eco earth is not reccommended, then what can the plants grow in? Too bad about the crickets & mealworms, I will try to order some springtails & fruit flies soon. Thanks again!

[Cindy Dicken]

Rachel,
some plants would probably do just fine in the Eco-Earth. Take pothos, it can be grown in water.
We use a mix that has a little more "substance" to it.
We custom blend our own substrate, it has coco fiber, peat moss, leaf litter, fir bark, and a few other goodies.

[Crab_Lover]

Ok, another question...is tinctorius a good species for a 20 gal? I read that they are terrestrial, so would this be good? If that is good, how many would be comfortable? The care sheet here says 2-4, so would that many be okay in a 20 gal or would that be too small? THanks again.

[Cindy Dicken]

Yes, tincs are primarily terrestrial.
The reason we do not recommend tincs as a "beginner" frog is they can be territorial once they become sexually mature.
I would not try to put more than 2 in the 20 gal.