Planning a dart frog terrarium?

Question

I am planning on purchasing a dart frog terrarium and a breeding pair of dart frogs. I only want a 10 gallon terrarium and am trying to choose between the Exo Terra rainforest kit (12x12x18) which comes with a vine, hanging leaves, and substrate, or the Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium (12x12x18) which comes empty. I have heard both are good for dart frogs, but the exo terra does not have enough vegetation for the frogs to actually climb the vines and leaves so i would have to purchase moss and live plants, which i really wanted to have in the first place. I want the terrarium to have a rainforest feel, with a lot of moss and live plants. I am also not sure the substrate in the exo terra is sutable for growing live rainforest plants and it could look tacky with fake plants and vines and then real moss and plants in too. Also, dart frogs need very humid environments, and the plants need to be watered, so does this mean i need to have some sort of gravel or drainage below the substrate? Also, i am on a low budget, and need to purchase any needed substrate, moss, and plants fairly cheap. Also, i wanted a sexed breeding pair of frogs, but i have looked around and they seem to be very expensive. I am looking for colorful, easy to breed frogs that together would cost no more than $100. if anyone has any advise i would greatly appreciate it. :)

Answer 1

First of all, you should join Dendroboard. It is a forum for people that keep dart frogs. I've posted the link below for you.



I personally prefer the Exoterra units to the ZooMed ones. You don't have to buy the Exoterra unit as a kit. They do come as just the empty terrarium as well. I prefer to buy mine as just the empty tank, as I like to decorate the tank to my tastes.



You will probably have a hard time finding a sexed pair or a pair of proven breeders for cheap. Sexed animals are usually more expensive the unsexed juveniles.

Go to a few reptile shows to get some of the animals priced out. Also, check places like Craig's List, sometimes you can luck out and people sell their breeding stock off because they are getting out of the hobby.



If you are planning on putting live plants in your tank, you will need to set up some sort of false bottom, with either egg crate or LECA pellets. This is done to prevent the roots of the plants from rotting if they get too wet. Egg crate you can pick up at any hardware store (Home Depot) and LECA pellets can be picked up from any garden center that sells Hydroponic supplies. ZooMed also sells them, but they are really expensive for a small bag, and they are called "Hydro Balls"



Most dart frog keepers spend months to at least a year planning out and setting up the tank before actually getting the frogs. If you are on a tight budget and don't have much extra spending money each month, this can work out to your advantage.



Check out Java Moss. It is moss that is sold for aquarium fish, however it can be kept in dart frog terrariums if it is really humid and misted every day. It is a slow growing moss, and does take a while to attach itself to logs, rocks, etc, but it looks very attractive when it's done.



For soil, I like mixing the Cocofiber, Peat Moss, and Worm Castings. This makes a nice dirt that I use in my darts tank.



Dart frogs also really like Leaf Litter. Oak, Magnolia and Sea Grape are the best because they last a really long time, but other (non-toxic) leaves can also be used. In smaller tanks, like the one you are interested in, look for smaller leaves.

To clean the leaves, dry them, and bake them in the oven for 20 minutes at 250F. If they are fresh leaves, you can also give them a wash in a mild bleach solution, rinse well, dry then bake.



Be careful which plants you choose, as lots of the tropical plants do get huge.

You can get cheap plants at places like Walmart.

You can also grow your own from seeds. Mint plants are really easy to grow and look attractive in terrariums.

Answer 2

Frog Terrarium

Answer 3

One thing for sure: you'll need much bigger than a 10 gallon.

Also, if you want to start breeding exotic frogs, I suggest trying Red-Eyed Tree Frogs over Dart Frogs.

But whatever you get, you'll need a bigger terrarium and get one that stands vertically. (more height than length/width) After all, we're talking aboreal frogs here. You can use real or fake silk plants if need be. I suggest eco-earth or peat moss substrate to hold in humidity. Lastly, you can spray the tank daily, OR some people actually buy automatic foggers for their terrarium.

Since your breeding, you will also need a tank to put the tadpoles in.