# Tesoros de Colombia P. terribilis vivarium



## herbivrus (May 28, 2014)

As I had documented the build of my newest vivarium, using EpiWeb/Hygrolon (well, AquaMat -- an equivalent product), on this thread http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/202473-22-5w-x-24h-x-18d-euro-style-build.html, I thought I'd go ahead and show the "finished" product (plants are still growing, of course), complete with inhabitants, here.

After some thought, and discussions with Jeremy Mott at JL-Exotics, I decided on picking up a 1.2 trio of "Orange Black-Foot" P. terribilis from the good folks at Tesoros de Colombia. Since the viv was only just planted, Jeremy agreed to hold onto the frogs for me for a month or so as the plants established themselves a bit and the microfauna were able to get going. These frogs have turned out to be a great choice, as they are always out and visible, are gorgeous to look at, and because their purchase supports the good work of the folks at Tesoros (Tesoros de Colombia | Sustainable farm).

Here you can see all three terribilis on the left side of the vivarium, as it appears today:








[/url]Whole viv Oct. 12 2014 by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

One of the frogs likes to explore the water-catchment area at the front of the viv a couple times a day, as you can see at lower left. I built this vivarium in the "Euro" style, with a sloping glass false bottom that drains to a water trough at the front of the tank (I used EpiWeb as the substrate, covered in leaf litter -- the plants are rooting into the EpiWeb quite well, and growing). I figure the water area can also serve as a tadpole deposition site when the frogs are ready to start breeding eventually.

The male seems to like to call from the water area:








[/url]P. terribilis water trough 2 by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here the girls (I think) engage in a game of staredown:








[/url]Tesoros terribilis staredown by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

And one of the frogs tests its rock-climbing skills on one of the faux rocks I got from VivariumWorks:








[/url]P. terribilis climbing VivariumWorks rock by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

Speaking of those Vivarium Works rocks, I'm really liking the effect as some Peperomia emarginella grows to drape over the rock near the top of the viv; you can see the plant is also climbing up the hygrolon in the background, as well. The frogs basically never climb more than a few inches from the floor of the viv, so the plants up top remain completely undisturbed. It's kind of a shame that the frogs don't climb and use the whole viv, but on the other hand, it gives me a completely undisturbed area to play with plants! It is adhering to both the rock and the hygrolon really well, and growing fast:








[/url]Top right viv plant growth by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

And here's the living room rack as it stands today. Top row is 1.1 R. imitator 'Chazuta' at top left, a pair of juvenile Cruziohyla calcarifer in the center, and 1.2 'Chazuta' again on the right (I will be selling/trading these guys, but they're raising tads right now so I'm letting them be until the froglets emerge). P. terribilis at bottom left, and a small grow-out tank with three juvenile R. imitator 'Yuriguamensis' growing up (hoping one will prove itself to be a male, as I have two adult females who need some company). Various isopods on top of the rack, and my African Grey parrot's cage peeking out from the right:








[/url]Living room frog rack 10.12.2014 by herbivore12, on Flickr[/IMG]

Other frogs and herps spread throughout the house, of course!

Delaying the addition of the terribilis to their viv worked out really well on a couple measures: 1) the viv had some time to grow in and establish itself for its new inhabitants; and 2) Jeremy lassoed me into helping man his JL-Exotics booth at the big Sacramento Reptile/Amphibian Show, where I was planning on picking up the frogs anyway. There I got to experience the fun in meeting lots of froggers (and potential froggers), and also the experience of answering "So are these, like, poisonous?" about 10 million times while trying to keep little kids from picking up and shaking frog cups and trying to convince one guy that, no, it is *not* possible to keep D. tinctorius 'Azureus" with his bearded dragons in a desert terrarium. I don't know how you guys who have booths at several shows a year do it! (And it was there, while I stood at the table staring at them for a couple of days, that I broke down and bought the C. calcarifer from Jeremy, too; just couldn't resist those guys taunting me all weekend!)


----------



## oophagraal (Jan 2, 2014)

Nice setup and nice frogs!


----------



## jpg (Jan 3, 2009)

Love the viv and frogs . I really like the alocasia also , you never see those in vivs anymore .


----------



## herbivrus (May 28, 2014)

Thanks for the nice words. The alocasia is Alocasia "Black Velvet", and has done really well in there (2 months ago or so it had just one leaf a little bigger than the frogs, and now has several large, healthy leaves, and plenty of room to grow taller). I love the jewel alocasias in vivs, such lovely colors and geometry...


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

The tank is beautiful! These terribilis, then, are so photogenic!


----------



## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Great tank, it looks really, really good! I like the other ones too 

What is the orchid in the 5th pic? I always see blooms of people's orchids, but I never see the foliage! 

Happy frogging!

John


----------



## aratatatatus (Sep 17, 2014)

Lately none of the pictures from threads like this have been showing up. It sounds amazing, but I can't actually see anything


----------



## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Where are viewing the pictures from? It could be that the image hosting site is being blocked by a filter.

John


----------



## aratatatatus (Sep 17, 2014)

Its possible, the links aren't even illuminated..


----------



## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

Updated pictures please! 

Tank looks great. 
I too, thought about building any custom built I get, in the same fashion.
How do you like it so far?
Nice display for sure.


----------



## herbivrus (May 28, 2014)

FroggyKnight said:


> Great tank, it looks really, really good! I like the other ones too
> 
> What is the orchid in the 5th pic? I always see blooms of people's orchids, but I never see the foliage!
> 
> ...


Thanks, and sorry I hadn't seen some of these responses! That orchid, to answer your question very late, is Masdevallia amplexa. Sorry for the delay!


----------



## herbivrus (May 28, 2014)

Gamble said:


> Updated pictures please!
> 
> Tank looks great.
> I too, thought about building any custom built I get, in the same fashion.
> ...


Thanks; I'll try to get some pics soon (holidays are . . . busy). It's worked out well so far. Frogs are happy and healthy, plants are doing well. I had to cover part of the top ventilation screen to bump humidity up a bit, but that's about the only change, other than that the plants are bigger/fuller, of course!

Not sure why the pics/links aren't working for some; the pics are hosted on Flickr, and seem to be showing up fine for most . . .


----------



## Woodswalker (Dec 26, 2014)

Now that it's been a while, how is that Alocasia doing in there? I've got one that I'd like to put in my terribilis build, but I am wondering how it will fare. It's a delicate plant, and they're big frogs, so I don't want to lose my plant if I can avoid it. What have you learned about it since you first posted this?


----------

