Some animal shots

[froggy]

I'm afraid that all these are anurans, but I thought I'd share a few pics of some of my animals.

These are Bombina orientalis and their tank, B. variegata and it's tank, an Anaxyrus cognatus and an Agalychnis callidryas juvenile.

The orientalis are CB (not by me, though - froma shop that only sells CB stuff), hence the washed out colouration. The large plant is Tradescantia (as Rodrigo will recognise!) and is growing on a lump of corkbark.

The cognatus is enraptured by the wax-worm giving god.


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[froggy]

....and a few more that didn't fit in the last one

Duttaphrynus melanostictus and enclosure and some juvenile Bombina orientalis.

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[Azhael]

Nice! Thank you for succumbing to pressure and sharing these
The adult bombina are looking great, very healthy and big, and i have to say, you have great taste in tanks, man, it´s simple but it looks fantastic. I´m afraid i´m not sure what you mean by tra....tradescan...tia? The name sounds vaguely familiar...perhaps it´s that plant i took a whole plastic-bag full off the dunni tank the other day.

Watch out for the cognatus. It looks like it could start sacrificing its peers to bring the favour of The Waxwormy One. That twinkle in its eye is pure adoration....you know it´s muttering "Chris, Chris, fhtagn!" under its breath.

Is that the leucocephala in the variegata tank?

It´s not nice to have favourites, but the melanostictus is just brilliant. I hope they do VERY well for you!

 

[froggy]

Yes, I hear the cognatus tittering at night sometimes. Every time I go in with a torch they all stop what they are doing (usually lolling somewhere) and gather at the front of the cage and stare at me. They are so greedy - they attack their own reflections in the water dish sometimes!

The plant in the variegata tank is the Hydrocotyle that you sent me (I think H.l vulgaris). It seems to be quite happy and is flowering all the time. It's planted in garden topsoil with sand on top. I think it will start to need fertilising soon, though - some fo the leaves are looking a little yellow.

I'm quite pleased with the tank - they are simple because most of them were thrown together quickly and because I get paranoid if I don't see an animal for a few days and have to look for it! IUnfortunately, I lost one orientalis adult before I discovered that the huge RUBs need slight modification to close an escape route. That has only worsened my paranoia!

The black-spineds are doing well.The large ones are growing quite fast; the smaller ones not so fast. They are split by size into two groups (4 and 4). Perhaps the smaller ones are males, but they don't yet have full adult coloiuration like the one in the photo; also they are well below adult size yet. Hopefully they will put on a spurt soon. They feed avidly and particularly like grey slugs, calciworms and earthworms (but they are useless at catching earthworms, as they try to get them with their tongue and the worms don't stick terribly well!).

I'm sorry the Tradescantia took over your tank...all from one rogue seed! Newts seem to like it, though, and it grows in temps from about 5C to 35C!


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[Azhael]

Aaaargh! What the hell is wrong with me? I meant H.vulgaris xDD (first i said "lacerina" instead of intermedia and now this...).
Mine has never flowered! I´ll PM you to enquire about your light conditions It is a great plant. I love it when it produces really large leaves with huge stems
Sorry to hear about the scaped bombina. You can´t take any chances with these guys, they are devilishly good at scaping through unthinkable places.

LOL The melanostictus. That used to happen to my bombina, they had to be fed with tweezers with the worm in the right orientation or they just missed and missed...I found that if you dry them with a bit of tissue first, they can get the tongue to stick to the worm. Mind you, that´s usually a waste of time in aquaterrariums...

Again, really nice tanks. Particularly the B.orientalis enclosure just looks fantastic, like a little piece of pond.

 

[KingCam]

wow, love the setups! Congratulations, you just inspired me XD I'm going to have to make a pond tub like that!

 

[evut]

Really nice pictures, Chris. All the tanks look very bright - what sort of lighting do you use?

 

[froggy]

Thanks, Eva. I use fluorescent tube lighting for all the tanks. The variegata tank has a Phillips room lighting strip bulb (very bright) and also a reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb. Bombina like it brihgt and the juveniles do better with UVB, it seems.
The orientalis tank has two fish tank fluorescent bulbs and a 10.0UVB bulb (the lid is quite a distance from the frogs, so a stronger bulb is needed for these); I'm not sure of the make/model, but it makes yellowish light, rather than the reddish colour that a lot of tropical bulbs make. Not so good for the plants but doesn't make everything look red! They also have an incandescent basking bulb; just a normal 40watt bulb with built-in reflector.

The callidryas have a 10.0UVB bulb and a tropical daylight (one of the rteddish ones) bulb, but both these shine through the mesh on the top of the viv, which mutes them a little. The tank also has a small halogen spotlight to keep the temps up, but is a coupe of inches above the mesh.

The rest of the tanks are lit with an assortment of fluorescent tubes; the toads are nocturnal/shade loving so don't need much/any UVB as they are never exposed to it. The cognatus don't have their own lights as they destroy plants and become more nocturnal if they are brightly lit.

All the fluorescent bulbs have aluminium reflectors over them; some purpose-bought aquarium ones and some made from half-piping and aluminium foil, which are less effective but will do until I get round to replacing them. The UV bulbs all have proper reflectors, though.

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[sallie2010]

I really like the cognatus waiting for more I do have a question I see one tank is in a plastic container. Do you find it hard to clean? and do you keep a top on it? I am a science teacher and I am trying to find "cheaper" ways to house my animals.

 

[froggy]

Two tanks are plastic - the Bombina orientalis one and the Duttaphrynus melanostictus. They are Really Useful Boxes and are very sturdy and come with clip-on lids. The very large model used for the Bombina needs a slight modification to extend the rim at one end to close a gap that animals can get out of if they are small and agile. I used rolls of cling-film held on with duct tape. It's not the prettiest solution but it forms a tight seal. The top of the lid is cut away to leave a 'frame' that is covered with wire mesh for ventillation for the Bombina. For the Duttaphryne, a smaller slot ius cut out over which the light is placed. This allows enough ventillation but keeps the humidity highger for this tropical forest species.

They are very easy to clean, although I don't scrub them out at all while in use, only if I change species. They are light and so can be moved easily to the shower/bath/outsidfe hose to be cleaned out.

They can also be drilled easily to plumb in filters, drains etc.

The one disadvantage is that they are not as transparent as glass, so its not quite as easy to view. I had to take the lid off and put the camera inside to photograph the animals.

I also like to let them 'weather' before using them, letting them stand with water inside for a few weeks to remove anything that's left on the plastic walls. I know some people who find that Mantella tadpoles don't do well in new boxes but are fine in those that have been treated as above for a few weeks.

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[sallie2010]

Thanks for the reply and the explanation. I will definitely be looking at the options since I have to take my animals home during winter and summer!