# leucomelas



## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

Hey,

I'm planning to buy some juvenile leucomelas soon. I have a 18x18x24 exo terra enclosure ready to house them.

I have read many times that leucs are great communal frogs, but I'm wondering how much I can put in my terrarium. I was thinking about 4...would it be too much? Maybe 3 would be better?

Thanks for your help!


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## widmad27 (Aug 9, 2006)

I have seen 10 gallon tanks that have housed around 4-5 adult leucs. Your size could surely accommodate 4 leucs, just give them places to hide and make their own niche. If you have any other questions just send me a Private Message via Dendroboard.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

I wouldn't keep more than a pair in something that size. Just because they're larger frogs and most of the space is vertically oriented. While it's true that leucs have arboreal tendencies I think it's nice to have as much ground space as vert space for a group of leucs... maybe that's just me, though.


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## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

Thanks for your answers 

I really thought that leucs are well known for their communal behaviour, so even if my terrarium isn't really large, I supposed that I can house 3-4 leucs, like widmat27 told me. Also, my enclosure is well planted and I think that the frogs would have some places to hide wich would probably reduce aggressions between frogs. 

Any other opinion?

Thanks!


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## xsputnikx (May 11, 2010)

provide plenty of things to climb on and you should be good vertical space is just as important as horizontal space


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

sck90 said:


> I really thought that leucs are well known for their communal behaviour


They are. For dart frogs. You've gotta remember that dendrobatids are territorial. When you hear someone say a leuc or an imitator is typically a good group frog that's relative to dendrobatids. It means they're not going to destroy each other like tincs would.

And for the record, I was housing four leucs in a similarly sized viv and I experienced a significant amount of male on male aggression as well as egg eating. When I moved them to a 46 gallon bowfront aggression ceased and I started getting regular clutches. In the end you'll do what you want, but I think this information and this experience is worth mentioning.


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## widmad27 (Aug 9, 2006)

As it stands right now the tank that he is going to be putting them in is about 34 gallons. But as SmackoftheGods stated do what you are going to do, but use our advice and your best judgement to give them a suitable home.


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## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

I took some shots of the tank to show you what would be the frogs environment. The top of the vivarium, as you see, isn't really accessible, but they would have at least the 3/4 of the total height. Do you still think that 4 frogs would be ok? My goal is not to put as much frogs as possible in it, I just would like to have a little group of 3-4 frogs.

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it!


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## Jasonwade02 (May 3, 2010)

Hey sck90, I really like the bark background you are using, were did you get it?


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## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

Thanks! These are Zoomed Cork Tiles:

Natural Cork Tile Background

They are kind of expansive (in Canada, it is 45$ for a 18 x 18), but they look very nice. You can get thse at any petshop selling zoomeds products.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Your viv looks great. 

I wouldn't hesitate putting 2 males and a 1 female in there.

Are you getting sexed frogs or froglets?


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

I still think with that floorspace I'd only go with a pair of leucs. You might get away with a 2.1, but personally, I'd just go with a pair.

As was mentioned by widmad you're technically working with about 34 gallons of space, but it's obviously not all usable space. If this were horizontally oriented I'd feel a lot more comfortable keeping more frogs in there.


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## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

I will probably order my frogs from Understory Entreprises, and they are supposed to ship only non-sexed juvenile frogs, but they told me they are able to make an ''educated guess'' about sexing the frogs they ship.

Based on what has been said in this topic, I think the best option would be to order 3 juvenile frogs and to let them mature. If I begin to see agressions when they reach breeding age, I'll just keep two frogs and sell the other one, but I wish that the trio is gonna be fine in this vivarium.

Thanks for your advices!


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## xsputnikx (May 11, 2010)

you should be fine either way.... just keep a close eye on them.... 

with the zoomed cork background for the price of that stuff would you need to purchase 3 panles for example when it says 18x24 size is that enough to cover all 3 sides of an 18x24 or is it just one piece to cover the back?


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## sck90 (May 13, 2009)

xsputnikx said:


> you should be fine either way.... just keep a close eye on them....
> 
> with the zoomed cork background for the price of that stuff would you need to purchase 3 panles for example when it says 18x24 size is that enough to cover all 3 sides of an 18x24 or is it just one piece to cover the back?


Hey,

The background panel is itself (for example) 18x24, so you would need 3 panels to cover the three 18x24 sides. It is expansive, but I'm sure it is cheaper in the US. And it looks awsome. It is also easy to mount, you just need some silicone, and you can also easily cut it to make it fit in any place. I will probably use this background for my next vivariums also.


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## xsputnikx (May 11, 2010)

no its pretty expensive here in the us as well.. its like 25-30 bucks per panel.. if im going to drop 100.00 in a 3 sided background I would just make my own as I always do... its is nice... just wished it was cheaper


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