The northern glass frog, or Fleischmann’s glass frog, is a small tree frog that averages between three-quarters of an inch to one and a half inches (20 - 32 mm) in length. The name “glass frog” is derived from the white, translucent skin on its belly, where the frog’s beating heart and other organs are visible. Read on to learn how to care for these unique creatures.
Steps
- Provide a stable living environment. Considering that glass frogs are typically arboreal in nature, they need an enclosure that provides more vertical than horizontal real estate. They need plenty of branches and vines to scale and preferably a nice cork background. The size of enclosure is the standard 10 gallons (37 liters) per inch (2.5 cm) of frog. Some find this a bit extreme, but they love to explore. The more room you give them, the happier they will be.
- Use forest floor (sold in dried bricks) and have about 2” (5cm) of soil for the floor of the enclosure. Forest floor holds humidity longer and allows for Coprophagous insects to develop and help break down any missed fecal matter. This is essential to help with the ecosystem of your enclosure.
- Provide plenty of live broad leaf plants, like pothos and other philodendrons, pillow moss, or bromeliads. Jungle moss, sold in bricks, is good to disperse about too. However, pillow moss may be preferable, as it tends to feast upon frog excrement, considering it's living moss.
- Be sure to keep either a large shallow bowl of distilled or RO (reverse osmosis) water or create a waterfall/pool for the frogs. Just be sure to provide the frogs with multiple easy escapes from the water; they aren't good swimmers and can easily drown. Water should be kept clean and changed daily or as needed. Frogs tend to like to eliminate their bowels in water.
- Keep the humidity high (90% or higher is ideal). Provide enough ventilation though to allow fresh air to constantly enter, but be careful not to over-dry the enclosure. An ecosystem that is too arid can be as harmful as one with stagnant humid air. The vivarium should always smell humid and fresh (like fresh damp soil).
- Provide a source of light with the appropriate spectrum and intensity for all the live plant specimens. If you choose not to use live plants, be sure to allow dim to moderate lighting to help keep the frogs on their normal photoperiod. Typically, this means 12 hours on and 12 hours off. The use of an automatic timer is nice too, especially for waterfall systems.
- Keep the temperature stable. Average temperature in the enclosure should fall between 76ºF and 82ºF (24ºC - 27ºC) during the day with a drop to 68ºF - 72ºF (20ºC - 22ºC) at night.
- Provide a wide variety in the diet for optimal health. Crickets, drosophilid flies, flightless fruit flies, newly born soldier fly larvae, red wiggler worms (only the smallest you can buy), newly born dubia roaches are good too.
- Supplement their diet with vitamin powder, Calcium powder, mineral powder (V, C, M). Simply lightly dust the food items before each feeding with my foolproof method of V – C – M – 2 days off. In this formula, you supplement day one, day two, day three, then you give two days off and repeat.
- Feed juveniles once a day. Feed adults every other day. Give them enough to fill their stomachs but not bloat themselves. Best practice is to feed about 30 minutes or so after the light shuts off.
- Spot clean the enclosure as needed. Fully clean the enclosure once a month, unless it's a full living vivarium. Then you should only have to spot clean daily. Never use chemicals. Only water and a drop or two of bleach. Just be sure to get every bit of the bleach out (even a faint scent of bleach can be a lethal amount to absorb).
Tips
- These, like most frogs, are strictly nocturnal. Don't attempt to make them change millions of years of behavior by keeping them awake during daylight hours. You will severely stress your frog(s) and this will cause a very early death.
- Only get your crickets from reputable distributors, such as reptile specialty stores or online breeders.
- Only feed prey items that are no larger than the width of the space between the frog's eyes.
- Never use tap water. Only use RO (reverse osmosis) water or distilled water.
Warnings
- Never feed venomous prey items to your frog(s). They could be injured or die.
- Never handle amphibians with your bare hands. The oils and/or cosmetics present on our hands can injure the permeable skin of all amphibians.
- These frogs are not for the beginner. You're best with a more common amphibian to get more experience.
Related wikiHows
from How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1qE0ATt
via Peter
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