# R. fantastica 'Lowland'



## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

Had these guys since they were about 2 months oow.

Some shots of my female lowland fant:
Couple months ago









Couple days ago









Just found their first clutch this week. One good egg, which the male constantly guards. The clutch was laid on one magnolia leaf which was covered by another leaf.










FTS:








Yeah, that's right, they are breeding in their grow out container. I had no idea they would breed like that.

These are the grow out boxes I use for all fantastica/reticulata group frogs. About an inch of Flourite covered by leaf litter with some sort of plant clipping and a couple film canisters. Containers are seeded with isopods and springtails.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

Chris...FantasticA...ReticulatA....are you sure your not Bill Samples?


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

My summersi bred in a similarly setup 5 gallon grow out tank. They've been in their 20H for over 6 months now and haven't bred since.

Where do you get those containers? They look sturdy.


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

markpulawski said:


> Chris...FantasticA...ReticulatA....are you sure your not Bill Samples?


Lol...as long as he doesn't say 'treemites', it's all good.


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

How old is that fem?


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

markpulawski said:


> Chris...FantasticA...ReticulatA....are you sure your not Bill Samples?


Apparently keeping that book for 8+ years didn't help me much eh? That or I spent too much time will Billyboy in the Keys. I'm just using the new nomenclature which requires a change to the spelling of the specific epithet to match the gender of the genus (I think). I got these from Pat, don't know if you sold him his breeders.



Corpus Callosum said:


> My summersi bred in a similarly setup 5 gallon grow out tank. They've been in their 20H for over 6 months now and haven't bred since.
> 
> Where do you get those containers? They look sturdy.


Yeah, the same thing happened to me with some summersi that were just tossed into a temp enclosure. I ended up selling them, but now I wonder if it was too humid in their 'real' enclosure.

Those containers are from the Container Store and are display boxes for shoes. They come in a bunch of sizes but these are the biggest. The vents let out flies so I just covered the vents with clear tape and poked some pin holes in each opening. They are crystal clear and for $10 I haven't found a better temp enclosure.



Arrynia said:


> How old is that fem?


She is about 8 months old now and pushing an inch. Gonna be a monster.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

I actually sold Pat my 2.2 breeders so his are F2 from UE...once again too many species and not enough tanks. I gave away the last 10 froglets they produced, 1 guy I gave 4 to put them in a heavily planted 125, last I heard he had about 30 in the tank.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Those look great!
30 of them In a 125 would be awesome


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

interesting that they would breedin such small of a space. How often do they lay?


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

This was their first clutch. I've had it happen before with R. reticulata in the same containers, but I was kind of surprised that these guys started in there since they are so big. Once things slow down at work I will end up moving them into their permanent enclosure. I've put some deposition sites in there for the male when he transports.


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## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

Hey Chris,
Looks like you're going to have your hands full with some great froglets. I have some retics that are getting ready to morph out and am going to use the containers you have, thanks for posting the link. Where do you get Flourite at? I think that would be better to use than the spag moss I usually use, seems like they could find springtails better on it.
Thanks,
Scott Bryant


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

boombotty said:


> Hey Chris,
> Looks like you're going to have your hands full with some great froglets. I have some retics that are getting ready to morph out and am going to use the containers you have, thanks for posting the link. Where do you get Flourite at? I think that would be better to use than the spag moss I usually use, seems like they could find springtails better on it.
> Thanks,
> Scott Bryant


So far it's working great for raising baby retics but I'm still only a month in. One thing I can say for sure is that it greatly increases the springtail carrying capacity of the enclosure. Between the flourite and the leaf litter, the box is loaded with springs but I don't feel like the springtails will stress out the froglets. There are plenty of hiding places for both the frogs and the springs and I can see baby springs weaving their way around the flourite pieces.

I get my flourite at Petsmart $21.99 for a 18-25lb bag (don't remember how big it is). Probably overpriced, but they sell Winston's bulldog food and it's on the way home from work and there's another right by the shwarma place.


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## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

Aurotaenia said:


> So far it's working great for raising baby retics but I'm still only a month in. One thing I can say for sure is that it greatly increases the springtail carrying capacity of the enclosure. Between the flourite and the leaf litter, the box is loaded with springs but I don't feel like the springtails will stress out the froglets. There are plenty of hiding places for both the frogs and the springs and I can see baby springs weaving their way around the flourite pieces.
> 
> I get my flourite at Petsmart $21.99 for a 18-25lb bag (don't remember how big it is). Probably overpriced, but they sell Winston's bulldog food and it's on the way home from work and there's another right by the shwarma place.


I don't think it will stress them out too much, either. As long as they arent crawling all over the froglets, it shouldn't be an issue.


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## boombotty (Oct 12, 2005)

Thanks for the info. 
Scott


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

Arrynia said:


> I don't think it will stress them out too much, either. As long as they arent crawling all over the froglets, it shouldn't be an issue.


Oh, yeah, I've raised them before, but this setup is so much easier because the springs have somewhere to go and hide.



boombotty said:


> Thanks for the info.
> Scott


No problem!


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

Alright, so found another clutch. Three eggs this time, two were fertilized, one is still developing. Looks like they are about 3 days old so the clutches were about 10-14 days apart (egg from first clutch still has gills and looks like it has a couple days to go.

Sorry for the bad pic- took it on my cell phone.


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## BBoyette (Mar 9, 2009)

I think I need to get me a few of those lucky grow out containers. Congrats!


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