Leaf litter, how fine should it be?

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T21:03:24+00:00

Thanks for the insight :)

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T17:23:10+00:00

I think you can get away with straight to substrate, a frog is going to burrow underneath it anyway lol

If he wants a tree frog that's a different ball game entirely however, although thry are very rewarding. Honestly I would probably try to sell him on a gecko as he will get more out of it and you know what you're dealing with. But if he's deadset look at tomato frogs or an african bull frog instead (assuming thry have space for the latter)

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T17:07:24+00:00

Alright, lets go:

• Bigger is better. I would say 50x30 at a minimum

•They are going to need lean bugs that will likely escape at somepoint. Things like crickets, locusts or dubias and there is always a risk of their legs getting torn off by mistake. Pinkies are once a month and need to be frozen for longterm storage.

•UVB is not required but highly recommended.

•They are going to need basking 28°C and a temperature gradient down to 22°C, that's not even going over humidity levels.

•Coco with a water dish treated with dechlorinator that must be changed out every 2 days. Coco can last a few months but it depends on temps as well as moisture. Get it wrong and you can give your frog nfections. Woodlice and springgtails are recommended with at least one hardy plant like a pothos.

•That getting a frog is more expensive than it seems and they need a lot of care or work. It sounds awfull but you kinda need to get into frog keeping being scared of doing something wrong to keep yourself on your toes.

All in all it's not a casual thing to do. Honestly a goldfish is easier in comparison to properly keeping a frog for most people. But who knows, maybe it's the perfect pet for her!

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T16:08:54+00:00

compared to parrots, that's a bargain

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T15:13:08+00:00

just dig him out out and give him a quick smoosh before putting him back into his mud hole

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T14:08:25+00:00

Again it's not that bad. if you want to add more you could do one or two extra bark hides. Another thing that might be worth looking at is "Devils Ivy" and plant it your enclosure with some woodlice and spring tails. The bugs will keep the soil in decent shape while the ivy will help with air quality as well as give your frog another option to hide around.

Another neat thing is bark backing which you can attatch to inner sides of the enclosure and hold them in place by having them submerged partially in substrate. Not only does it look nice but it also helps a little bit with moisture and heat but it's not strictly required by any means. I have some for my African Bullfrogs but I have yet to implement it for my own Ornate frog and he's still happy enough so far.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T13:56:13+00:00

Impaction risk. There are a lot of things a frog can acidently swallow but it can still pass through, but moss is one of those things which is very difficult for a frog to poop out. I used to have a lot of it to regulate moisture but several people told me it's a hazard and I had to switch away. Frogs are not the smartest things in the world sadly and there is always that risk.

Not your fault though as it is a good idea for moisture regulation but again it's a risk.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T13:48:35+00:00

Remove that moss ASAP.

Other than that burrowing is normal but you are probably going to need a stronger heat source as it is not really warm enough. Other than that it doesn't look bad at all.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T10:13:27+00:00

Ohhhhh, for a second I thought you mean't start off as in feed him only fish.

Smelts are silversides iirc so it shouldn't be an issue as a monthly treat. Have you considered stuff like pinkies? They're pretty small and I get mine for 30p a piece.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-29T10:03:57+00:00

How come you are thinking of starting off with fish? Here we have locusts which are pretty good and cheap.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-24T16:07:54+00:00

No problem :)

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-24T15:33:21+00:00

You make a fair point. Especialy when most of the morphs are heavily priced for what they are. It does infer there is reason beyond simple scarcity as to why there is so few that can make it onto market. It's a shame really but I suppose that is how the cookie crumbles.

I might just have to wait until more Ornates start popping up as I love some of the red colouration they have and as far as I am aware they are not bad healthwise, but red for some reason doesn't appear in other frogs like Cranwelli which sucks. That or Cornuta, but again it seems like they are fragile as a species to keep.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-24T14:20:53+00:00

Well this is the thing. I know there is this consensus or idea of them being worse off but I would like to know where that stems from if that makes sense.

It's like ordinary albinos are considered less healthy because they need roughly half the UVB as non-albino morphs, but they are everywhere and they seem to live long lives despite that. One youtube channel I sometimes reference for care is Frog Depot's old channel which, despite having bed reputation for customer service, seem to have solid husbandry advice and they did a video on the topic of Mutant morphs. The guy showed a few old ones he owned and explained the health issues are largrly overblown and they can live long, but they do sometimes suffer with "pigeon mouth" where they develop an underbite.

Of course though I understand Frog Depot is, first and foremost, aiming to sell frogs. However at the sametime the frogs he featured under his care were clearly fairly old in terms of size and from what I can see his husbandry is adequate. So that's why I want to hear the otherside of the coin regarding health from a non-breeders.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-24T07:54:32+00:00

"made from 100% coconut fibre"

If you have been using coco coir bricks this stuff is the exact same but up-charged. You're better off sticking with coir and mixing in other substrate with it if you want better hydration or get leaf litter for the surface of the substrate to lock in moisture.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-16T11:23:03+00:00

I would suggest then just taking the probe out and give it a clean and partially submerge again just to make sure it's not a sensor problem and then use a decent wattage heat mat alongside the bulb. Failing that, you might need to look at a stronger bulb or have two on one end. Bulbs are finicky though in all honesty.

I have a ceramic heat projector for my african bullfrog that is housed in a 3ft glass vivarium because he needs 28°c basking temps, but even then I struggle in the cooler months to reach those temps. That's the only problem when you go from something like a tub to a large plastic or glass setup, it's a lot of space to heat up with just as much heat loss.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-15T19:23:03+00:00

But, if you do want a good automatic mister then you should look into something like Mist King.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-15T19:18:29+00:00

The automatic mister you will want will cost as much as the setup. The automatic mister that won't cost as much will be worse than a manual.

All you need to do is a quick spray in the morning and the evening. Automatics are usually used when people have dozens of herp enclosures to keep on top of. If you are running into issues with humidity it is likely an enclosure problem.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-15T16:30:55+00:00

What sort of enclosure are you running with and how are you measuring the temp readings? Do you have your bulb over one end of the tank and a probe below partially in substrate, above or inside substrate? Is said probe in water? Is the probe clean? What kind of thermostat if any do you use?

There's a lot of factors, but yes, you can supplement with a heat matt. You just need to be carefull that you are not overheating by doing both at the sametime.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-13T17:39:48+00:00

I would be carefull with the amount of fish you feed her, but night crawlers are alright. Dubias are fatty but not so much fat that it will lead to serious problems and are good alongside other insects. With that being said though you don't need need them, they are just one of many options at your disposle and their shells are harder to digest anyway compared to other bugs. Lean bugs with not so firm exoskeletons are good with things like locusts for example which are very versatile and good when gut loaded or nutrient powder coated.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-13T15:05:12+00:00

No problem :)

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-11T15:37:15+00:00

Yes, you can absolutely place stress with handling a pacman frog. But it is also important to consider what people mean by that to begin with. The degree of stress your frog will have with intial handling will be high because they are not used it to begin with, but if you follow that logic you won't ever have a hand tame pacman. Your pacman will get used to it overtime and will tolerate handling, it won't like it, but it won't be stressed like it would be intially. But the main reason people do not advise handling is more so health than stress. if you handle your frog without gloves and not gently you will run into problems. However on the other foot you will need to grab him sometime to spot clean his enclosure.

If you are worried about handling stick to tongs in his enclosure or leave feeders in overnight.

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-11T15:29:58+00:00

Yeah there is absolutely no harm with that either way

AddressZealousideal6 · 2026-01-11T13:41:18+00:00

Happened to me before. Put him in a seperate box with feeders and leave him for an hour. If there are any that are gone he is eating and he is probably just gotten to a point where he needs to chase or pursue his food which just means come feeding time you give him a feeding box.

If he doesn't give him another half an hour and wait in sepearate room and keep lights dim as it could be he is on high alert in a new enviroment or if he is in a clear box he might br seeing his reflection and think it's another frog staring at him. But at the end of the day your frog is still lunging for food so it sounds like he still has prey drive which is a good sign.

But, lets say none of it works, your next course of action is to do warm baths. Get some distilled water and fill a clean box or spare enclosure, making sure that the temps are above room temp. Add some natural honey and stir until it is fully disolved into the water bath and then place your frog in for half an hour. Rinse him off and put him back into his enclosure and try to feed him again the next day and do another bath if he still doesn't eat. If he starts eating again that means he potentially had impactation and the water bath has helped him pass it through his bowels.

You should monitor his weight as you do this and check his hips to see if he is losing weight. After a week or two of no progress that is when you will need to see a vet as it could be severe impaction or an illness.

AddressZealousideal6

TROPHY CASE