Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

I’ve begun making some much needed changes to the vivarium. Here’s what it looks like now.

So far so good. The froglet is doing well. He’s been eating and looks great thus far. He hides much of the time though. Hopefully tomorrow or early next week I’ll be getting another one. These frogs are more bold in groups.

As for the branches that are leaning against the back wall on the left side, I’m going to get some cement and make bases for them. If this was a normal vivarium with super thin glass this would be the most stupid idea in the history of stupid. Having a half inch thick glass bottom has its advantages.

The bases will be molded kind of like when one makes aragocrete live rock, except this will be straight cement and I’ll be molding these into hill like shapes. I’ll cover the bases with moss. If and when these pieces rot out I’ll be able to just pull it out and replace it.with a new one. A 10 lb bag is only $4 so it’s a cheap but versatile. It’ll help create an awesome backdrop and I can also make hides for the frogs.

These branches are going to be “tree trunks”. They’ll have vines and epiphytes growing on them and the frogs will have plenty of space to climb and explore.

 

[tbrown]

I’ve begun making some much needed changes to the vivarium. Here’s what it looks like now.

So far so good. The froglet is doing well. He’s been eating and looks great thus far. He hides much of the time though. Hopefully tomorrow or early next week I’ll be getting another one. These frogs are more bold in groups.

As for the branches that are leaning against the back wall on the left side, I’m going to get some cement and make bases for them. If this was a normal vivarium with super thin glass this would be the most stupid idea in the history of stupid. Having a half inch thick glass bottom has its advantages.

The bases will be molded kind of like when one makes aragocrete live rock, except this will be straight cement and I’ll be molding these into hill like shapes. I’ll cover the bases with moss. If and when these pieces rot out I’ll be able to just pull it out and replace it.with a new one. A 10 lb bag is only $4 so it’s a cheap but versatile. It’ll help create an awesome backdrop and I can also make hides for the frogs.

These branches are going to be “tree trunks”. They’ll have vines and epiphytes growing on them and the frogs will have plenty of space to climb and explore.

Gonna use Portland Cement or concrete? It might still be beneficial to soak the concrete for a week or so so it doesn't pH burn stuff around it? I'm not sure how it all works in vivariums, just that concrete planters can sometimes need a longish cure time for pH sensitive plants.

 

[Fishy888]

Gonna use Portland Cement or concrete? It might still be beneficial to soak the concrete for a week or so so it doesn't pH burn stuff around it? I'm not sure how it all works in vivariums, just that concrete planters can sometimes need a longish cure time for pH sensitive plants.

I did some more research because I remembered that cement has a crazy high pH. I’m going to use hydraulic cement because it can be used immediately after curing without leaching any alkalinity. It’s pricier for sure but I can get 20 lbs for $25 bucks. That’ll be plenty. It hardens super fast though so I’ll need to work quickly.

 

[Fishy888]

So I got two more frogs tonight. All three are doing well thus far. I made sure they ate before going into hiding. Hopefully all three will find each other and start coming out more.

There will be more frogs coming. I’m going to get two more this month if not three. I’ll get two more in June. After that I want to get the frogs breeding. I might get some from another source though so the genetics are more diverse.

I got some decorations for free from the guy I’ve been buying my frogs from. He gave me some cholla logs which are hollow and make great hiding places, and a faux log that could double as a fountain. I won’t use it that way but I could see it fitting in and it would make a great hiding place too.

 

[Fishy888]

Just a quick update. At least one frog came out tonight. They’re fast boogers though. They were hopping on the leaves of some of the plants. It looked like traps getting sprung, especially one vine they hopped on and off a couple of times.

I’ve been waiting to see them come out. I hope they’ll be out more now. All three are still froglets and they tend to be shy and skittish until they get to 8 months old or so. According to my research that’s the age when they would have gathered enough poison to be lethal.

 

[Fishy888]

I did a little more work on the vivarium yesterday and today.

Things are going well so far with the viv and the frogs. I need more leaf litter and plants but I’m almost done with larger wood pieces.

 

[Mschmidt]

how are you plugging the holes in the back?

 

[Fishy888]

Weed barrier and fiberglass mesh.

 

[Fishy888]

how are you plugging the holes in the back?

Weed barrier and fiberglass mesh.

 

[Fishy888]

I just caught one of my frogs out today. I thought I heard a frog jump into the leaf litter nearby yesterday so I may have found where this guy prefers to hide. It’s gone now but hopefully it’ll return soon.

Hopefully this means they’re starting to grow bolder. I’ll be getting two more in a couple of weeks. After that I may end up buying from Josh’s Frogs so that there’ll be genetic diversity. I’m going to keep 10 in the beginning and let them breed. They don’t mature until two years of age though.

 

[Mschmidt]

at least they, unlike me, mature at all.

 

[Fishy888]

at least they, unlike me, mature at all.

The same could be said of me too.

 

[Projects with Sam]

I prefer to hide in the leaf litter too. lots of spots in the fall.

 

[Fishy888]

This image was taken last night. I believe it’s a different frog.

I also added some more branches to the vivarium today.

I added a boatload of flies today, probably 50 or so. I see no stragglers so they’re getting eaten it seems. It’s a good thing my fruit fly cultures are doing well but I’m going to need a couple more cultures on hand because the next two frogs are coming home then.

The hard scape is pretty much all in now and most of the leaf litter is in now. I need more substrate on the left hand side where the bulk of the plants are right now. I mainly need plants now. I won’t go overboard but I’m thinking of parlor palms and ferns that stay small, as well as baby tears, a few marcgravia species, maybe a tree that can be trained kind of like bonsai but not quite like bonsai among other possibilities. I’d want to do a tropical fruit tree if I went with a bonsai like tree. I’d likely grow it from seed if I went that route.

 

[Fishy888]

I can officially say that I’ve seen all three frogs out, albeit at different times, if only briefly, over the last week. Today marks the first time I’ve seen the smallest frog, probably 5 months out of water, actually out in the open. He looks good and healthy.

This is youngest of the three. He looks just as metallic in person as he does in the image.

This next image is of froggo number two, the middle child. He was out yesterday. He’s probably around 6 months old.

Last but not least is the oldest, 6 or 7 months out of water. I’m guessing almost 7.

Now these guys can eat! I’m glad though because it means they’re healthy! They’re growing froglets after all! Even as adults they’ll be voracious. They’ll be much larger too.

It takes 18-24 months for newly metamorphosed P. terribilis ‘Mint’ froglets to become mature adults. They can live 20 years and possibly more.

These guys can eat prey much larger than most other dart frogs, even those larger in size! They’ll be capable of eating prey the size of house flies. The staple diet consists of fruit flies dusted with Repashy Calcium+. I might try house flies that are lab grown and parasite free but I have to see if such things exist.

The fruit flies I’m culturing are wingless. They sure can run and jump though so the entire culture (in a deli cup of course) goes into the freezer for 30 seconds to a minute to induce hibernation. You can pour them like skittles while they’re still cold. Once they start warming up the lid better be on the deli cup housing the flies for obvious reasons. If they get left in the freezer too long (or the refrigerator even) they’ll die.

At any rate I’m going to culture bean beetles and possibly rice flour beetles just to have on hand should I have several cultures crash.