Red Eyed Tree Frog Housing
Frog Housing
Reptiles-info brings you a step by step guide on how to house your Red Eyed Tree Frog. Follow the information below to help create the perfect living environment for your pet Red Eyed Tree Frog.
Cage Setup
Before you purchase your Red Eyed Tree Frog it is best to set up its housing around a week in advance. This will give you a chance to check that all of the components in the housing are working. There are two suitable types of cage setup for your red eyed tree frog one is a hexagonal arboreal tank that is a tall tank to give the red eye an area in which to climb, as the species are excellent climbers. The second type of tank that is appropriate for a red eye tree frog is a tall glass (plastic would also be acceptable) terrarium which also gntes plenty of scope for the frog to climb around the housing. Also to assure that your red eyed tree frog has a suitable environment you can follow the information on cage size, heating, lighting, ventilation, decor and cleanliness and hygiene featured below.
Cage Size
The size of the cage in which you keep your red eyed tree frog should be around a 38 gallon (170L) tank this should provide adequate room for the frog to manoeuvre around the terrarium. The shape of the tank is of great importance to the overall well being of the Red Eyed Tree Frog. In the wild they like to climb and in order to recreate this within your frog's housing you must install a tall tank so they can climb easily. As a rough measurement the minimum size of the tank should be 24 inches long x 18 inches deep x 24 inches high. It is best to select the largest sized tank available to you as Red Eyed Tree Frogs are communal creatures and are often found to do better when housed with another frog, therefore selecting a big enough tank to add more than one tree frog is advisable.
Heating
As red eyed tree frogs originate from the rain forest in Central and South America it is important to replicate this temperature within your frogs housing. To do this the daytime temperature should be 24C to 29C and at night time 18C to 24C. You can heat your frog's housing in two ways: the first is to place a heat mat underneath the housing that will cover two thirds of the base of the tank; this will provide enough heat to keep the whole of the housing at the correct temperature. The second way in which you can heat the tree frogs housing is to use a heat or ceramic bulb controlled by a thermostat. Important! The heat bulb must be placed at one end of the tank to provide a warm spot and a cooler area. Temperature variation allows the frogs to regulate their temperature by moving to warmer or cooler areas as they would in nature. Also the bulb should be placed outside of the tank with the heat radiating down through a wire mesh section so that the frogs cannot get burnt by touching the bulb. A water area within you housing can also act as a cool area for your red eyed tree frog to cool off if it becomes too hot.
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Lighting
Providing lighting within your frog's housing is not essential as the light within the room is adequate enough for the Red Eyed Tree Frog, they do not need UV light in order to remain healthy, unlike many reptiles. . However UV lighting is often provided to improve the aesthetic qualities of the frogs housing. If you have live plants situated in your tank a bulb will help them grow. If you have installed a bulb onto your housing always remember to keep it on a day/night cycle of 14 hours in the summer and eight hours in the winter.
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Ventilation
Ventilation and humidity are key factors in the success or failure of your frog keeping. Red Eyes are dependent on a humid environment in order to feel comfortable. It is advised that you spray the inside of the tank with water a few times a day or sue an automatic mister, so that the humidity within the red eye tree frogs housing is always between 70 - 90%. If you have live plants within the housing spray them with water as they can retain water for long periods helping to keep the humidity levels of the tank high. However adequate ventilation of your Tree frog housing is a must and the housing should ideally have ventilation mesh low down at the front and also higher up at the back or top of the cage. The hot air in the cage will rise and exit from the top vents, pulling fresh air in at the front. Without good ventilation your cage will most likely develop fungus and your frogs will probably suffer ill health.
Cage Decor
The decor within the Red Eyed Frog's tank needs to have a suitable substrate on the floor of the cage; this can range from aquarium gravel placed on the floor or soil that can be landscaped into a terrain to resemble the natural environment for your red eyed frog. Using soil also helps to keep moisture and humidity within the tank, plus you can plant natural plants. All of which add to the frog's housing becoming as natural as possible. However if you don't feel confident enough to use real plants, fake plants will be a good alternative. A large climbing branch would also help to keep your tree frog entertained, along with a hide area that can be created by using a range of cork bark shapes available from most good pet stores. Water is a necessity within the tree frogs housing and a dish placed at the bottom of the terrarium is an ideal feature that allows your frog to soak in and also helps to add to the humidity of the housing. Be sure to use a good quality aquarium water dechlorinator to remove harmful chlorine from the water.
Cage Cleanliness
You should aim to clean the frogs housing around once a week this should help to keep your frog as healthy as possible. To optimize the living conditions of your frog's housing you should replace the water daily always misting the housing as regularly as possible. Remember dirty water will lead to infections in your frogs. Other ways to keep up the cleanliness of your cage could be to wipe the glass of the terrarium daily and also remove any of the frog's waste every day.
Frog Pages
