# My little viv



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

18" x 18" Exoterra enclosure with 2 PC lights and MistKing misting system. This is the start to my new endeavor. I currently have 2 red eye tree frogs in a much larger enclosure. I have had them for about 1 1/2 years. I also have a panther chameleon, and reef aquariums, but these will be my first PDFs.
Here is their enclosure...


















I hope to keep a male or two and one female Dendrobates tinctorius "Cintronella" in here. I am ordering my fruit fly cultures today to get them started in advance of buying my PDFs.
Any suggestions on how to make this better are appreciated.
My lights are on right now from 12:00 noon until about 7:00 PM. The mister comes on twice a day for about 5 minutes keeping the humidity about 75%-85%.


----------



## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

Looks good! My only suggestion (outside of leaf litter of course) would be to move your two broms up onto the wood or the background. They'll do much better out of the soil.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks. I have almond leaves to put in there. I was just going to wait until input the frogs in. I can move the bromeliads.


----------



## kingfisherfleshy (Mar 17, 2012)

Looks nice man...well done for your first go. I hope to have the same sucess. 

Very nice list of pets as well...I have a 125g reef and would love a panther chameleon and RETF...and getting into darts as well now.


----------



## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

Rendos said:


> Thanks. I have almond leaves to put in there. I was just going to wait until input the frogs in. I can move the bromeliads.


Cool. Yeah I'd just take some toothpicks and make a cradle of sorts that keeps the brom pressed against the background. The roots will take off and attach itself there. They'll thank ya for it


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestion. That seems easy enough to do.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

So I moved the broms higher and not in soil. I also added some leaves. I think I need more leaves, but this is not a good time to find them. Here are a few pics.



















This pic is just because I love this plant.


----------



## Totenkampf (Jun 25, 2012)

nice looking background! a dab of liquid nails will keep a neo in place. wrap a small amount of moss or coco fibers around the rootball first. i have started using IAL and magnolia as well, i roughly crumble them first though. the scales seems too big to me otherwise.


----------



## kingfisherfleshy (Mar 17, 2012)

Definitely looks better with the broms up on the walls


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Totenkampf said:


> nice looking background! a dab of liquid nails will keep a neo in place. wrap a small amount of moss or coco fibers around the rootball first. i have started using IAL and magnolia as well, i roughly crumble them first though. the scales seems too big to me otherwise.


I have been unable to find any information stating that Liquid Nails is safe to use around frogs. Several threads discussing it's toxicity and how it fails in a moist environment, though. Personally, I would never use it in a viv.
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/beginner-discussion/61417-liquid-nail.html 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/46407-liquid-nail-palu-viva.html


----------



## Pacblu202 (May 8, 2012)

Simple yet effective! Looks nice! What kind of wood is that in the middle? Also that green plant on the ground that looks to be a tillandsia should be put up on the wood or on the walls. Tilandsias need to be kept out of soil since they are epiphitic like most broms. If I'm wrong about the plant then don't listen to me but if I'm not then it'll die in no time if it's in the soil.


----------



## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

Nice, the new brom locations look great!

Be sure to trim that fittonia a lot (the green w/white veins). It grows pretty quick and can get leggy if just left alone. I trim mine all the time!


----------



## Neodoxa (Oct 12, 2006)

The background looks great! That's a nice looking viv.


----------



## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Background looks fantastic... Very well done.

I do have a couple suggestions for you though:


Rendos said:


> My lights are on right now from 12:00 noon until about 7:00 PM. The mister comes on twice a day for about 5 minutes keeping the humidity about 75%-85%.


Most people here run their lights around 12 hours or so. I would say you would want them on at minimum 10 hours. You have to consider that these frogs are from equatorial areas where they typically get in excess of 12 hours of daylight.

As for the mister... That seems crazy long to me. I run mine 3x a day for 20, 40 and 20 seconds each time. What is the ventilation like on the tank? It looks like you have a glass top... Does the tank have a chance to air out a bit between mistings? What are you using to measure humidity?


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

I can increase photoperiod. I just use what I do on my reef tanks. I read through the care sheets and didn't see any suggestion for how long to run the lights.
As for misting, again, I need suggestions. I am using a hygrometer from ExoTerra to measure the humidity. It stays pretty moist in there, but I am just trying to maintain that 75%-85% humidity level. The tank has no real ventilation and it does not air out between mistings. I could definitely change any of these things. That is why I am asking the questions now...before I have any frogs in there. I like to get all these issues worked out ahead of time. 
Thanks for the reply.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

freaky_tah said:


> Nice, the new brom locations look great!
> 
> Be sure to trim that fittonia a lot (the green w/white veins). It grows pretty quick and can get leggy if just left alone. I trim mine all the time!


Thanks for the tip. I will watch it and trim accordingly.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

carola1155 said:


> Most people here run their lights around 12 hours or so. I would say you would want them on at minimum 10 hours. You have to consider that these frogs are from equatorial areas where they typically get in excess of 12 hours of daylight.


Question - do you account for morning and evening not being as strong light as the middle of the day? I know the equator gets a lot of sun, but it is not 12+ hours of midday sun. Also, there are rainy/cloudy days, monsoon seasons, etc. Do I need to account for those things also?


----------



## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

I dont get ridiculously involved with mine... I know there have been people that do and you are free to get as exact as you want. I am not sure if it is of any real benefit to the frogs to actually simulate all those different things.

I came up with my numbers from this website since I originally set my lights on my R. Ventrimaculata "Iquitos" tank.

Iquitos, Peru - Sunrise, Sunset Times

As you can see... the average time of daylight is ~12 hours and the time between dawn and dusk is almost 13 hours. So i figure my frog tanks turn on roughly half an hour after I get up and I kill most of the lights in my room half an hour after they go off. This way they get about an hour of ambient light per day as well. Is this always exact? absolutely not, but its what I at least shoot for.


----------



## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Rendos said:


> I can increase photoperiod. I just use what I do on my reef tanks. I read through the care sheets and didn't see any suggestion for how long to run the lights.
> As for misting, again, I need suggestions. I am using a hygrometer from ExoTerra to measure the humidity. It stays pretty moist in there, but I am just trying to maintain that 75%-85% humidity level. The tank has no real ventilation and it does not air out between mistings. I could definitely change any of these things. That is why I am asking the questions now...before I have any frogs in there. I like to get all these issues worked out ahead of time.
> Thanks for the reply.


Sorry I'm responding to these out of order... but what Kind of hygrometer is it? Is it analog or digital? Odds are if it is analog that it is wrong... there are not really a lot of great hygrometers out there (that I have seen at least). The best way to check is to just keep an eye on how much condensation you have on the tank (assuming there is a reasonable temperature variation between it and the rest of the room).

Things will start to become very soggy and plants will start to die off if it needs more ventilation. Take a look at some of the other exo builds and you can see most people use a ~2in strip across the top that they build out of window screen from Lowes/HD. I think the only picture of my own that I have on building a vent like this are in this thread: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/79906-tetrafauna-deluxe-custom-top.html

If you still have the original exo screen top, many people just place two custom cut pieces of glass in the rectangular sections on top of the screen. You can then just prop the front one open to allow ventilation or get it cut a little smaller than the space to leave the screen exposed


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

carola1155 - thanks for the replies.
I am using a digital hygrometer - PT2477 from ExoTerra. I will definitely keep an eye on the plants and see if they start to suffer from too much water. I will also look at ways of ventilating a little more. So far the plants seem to be doing well.


----------



## gardennub (Dec 10, 2011)

As far as lighting goes, I think the photoperiod is more for the plants than the frogs, which is why you would not find it on any care sheets. I think a minimum of 10 hours a day is good, but ideally 12 hours a day.

If you are not trying to simulate the equator time you may even go as low as 10 hours in the winter and as high as 15 in the summer. IMO this is best if you have a lot of plants that go through these changes in nature. Not sure how it affects the frogs though.

I agree with what others are saying about your misting. Mist for 20-30 seconds a couple times a day should be fine. If you see your humidity level is dropping increase the frequency but not the length of time it sprays.


----------



## aurantiaca1 (Dec 13, 2010)

I had a digital exo terra humidity measurer, and it sucked! It was very inaccurate. Also, the photoperiod cycles are for breeding as well, longer in the wet season, shorter in the dry. Just look at the amount of condensation on the side of the tank as an indicator. I think with those five minute mistings you should be absolutely fine, if not too wet.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

I have increased the photoperiod to 12 hours. 8am to 8pm. I have also changed the misting to only mist for 30 seconds each time. Once at 10am and another at 4pm. 
If the ExoTerra hygrometer is not good, can anyone suggest a more accurate one? 
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Another question - I just received a fruit fly kit from one of the site sponsors. It has no instructions with it at all...only to mix the media mixture 1:1 part of hot water. I have 10 containers and media, excelsior, vitamins, etc.

My questions are:

1) do I start with one culture at a time or do I start all 10 cultures at the same time?
2) how often do you feed your frogs?
3) how much do you feed them?
4) how many fruit flies do you start your cultures with?
5) how long to melanos take to go from eggs to flies? that will give me an idea of when I need to seed a new culture to keep up with my frogs needs
6) I'm sure I'll think of more questions. Thanks in advance for helping out a newbie.


----------



## The Dude1 (Jul 5, 2012)

Rendos said:


> Another question - I just received a fruit fly kit from one of the site sponsors. It has no instructions with it at all...only to mix the media mixture 1:1 part of hot water. I have 10 containers and media, excelsior, vitamins, etc.
> 
> My questions are:
> 
> ...


I'm a newb as well. I'm just getting my frogs today, but I can share what I've found. 
1. Most start a culture every 7-10 days
2. Most feed frogs every other day or 2 - 3 times a week.
3. My understanding is that you start pretty small and try not to over feed. Watch their bellies
I'm not sure how long it takes to go from eggs to flies, but each culture is usually disposed of at the 21 - 28 day mark


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks for the info.
What frogs are you getting?


----------



## aurantiaca1 (Dec 13, 2010)

Getting a hygrometer isnt necessary. Just look at condensation on the tank. Also, froglets should be fed more frequently, like once a day. I sometimes feed my babies twice a day


----------



## SNAKEMANVET (Dec 14, 2011)

Your viv turned out really good,what kind of frogs are you planning on getting.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

D. Tincturius 'Citronella'


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Well, I went to Repticon today and picked up a pair of Tinc. azureus. They are awesome. I got a proven pair of adults that are already eating pinhead crickets along with fruit flies. I got these because when I saw them in person next to the Citronella's, they were so much nicer.
Got them home and introduced them to their viv. Fed them a few crickets which they ate with great enthusiasm. They are alos drinking water from the leaves of the plants and actively checking out their new home. Here are a few pics. 
I believe this is the female. Her toe pads are much smaller.









I believe this is the male. Much larger toe pads.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

I have noticed that the back feet middle toes on both frogs twitch a lot...like they are sending morse code. Is that normal? Also, their throats are quivering quite a bit. Anything to worry about or normal?


----------



## SNAKEMANVET (Dec 14, 2011)

Hey Richard,thats normal,I think the toe twitching is used to attract food.I am still new to the frogs also.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks, David. I figured it was something like that, but wasn't sure.


----------



## Rendos (Aug 5, 2012)

Well, I am happy to report all is good with my frogs after their first night in their new home. They are currently enjoying a breakfast of pinhead crickets dusted in yummy calcium.


----------



## erae (Nov 23, 2011)

Rendos said:


> So I moved the broms higher and not in soil. I also added some leaves. I think I need more leaves, but this is not a good time to find them. Here are a few pics.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


what kind of plant is this, i love it! I want to get one for my viv


----------



## ICS523 (Mar 10, 2012)

that's a fittonia species


----------

