# Any reptile or amphibian keepers?



## Tom (10 Oct 2011)

Any out there?

I've just got myself a Crested Gecko, and of course I have plans for plants (and waterfalls!)

So who's got what?


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## squiggley (10 Oct 2011)

Have a bearded dragon.






No plants required. 

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk


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## Morgan Freeman (10 Oct 2011)

I've kept plenty in the past, leopard geckos, rainbow boas, too many tree frogs to remember, fire salamanders and dart frogs. Unfortunately I just have a pair of Dendrobates Tinctorious Azureus at the moment which I hope to breed. I'm currently building a 4.5 x 2 x 2 feet paludarium for them   

Dart frogs are my major hobby really.


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## squiggley (10 Oct 2011)

I wanted to get into dart frogs a while ago but the missus has a fear of frogs and said no.

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## si-man (10 Oct 2011)

I've got a crested gecko. Had him over a year now. 




Wow, uploaded images on tapatalk don't half get raped with pic quality


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## Tom (10 Oct 2011)

I'd like to keep dart frogs too, with an awesome planted paludarium! 

Nice looking Crestie si-man, from what I can see! Got any pics of your viv setup?


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

I like the look of vivariums, saw some in holland that were way more amazing than any planted tank I've ever seen.

The issue is price, aren't frogs really expensive and hard to keep?


.


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## si-man (11 Oct 2011)

Better version of the water bowl picture




Part Dalmation, part extreme harlequin when fired up 




What it looked like when I first did it in Feb this year




Got 2 bromeliads in there and a ficus plant. Ficus is now grown over the top of the viv, gecko likes to sleep up there out of the way. Needs more branches in there though. Also has bio active substrate, bought some tropical woodlice and springtails off the net, not changed the soil in about a year as they eat all the poop and any mould that grows. Make sure you mist the tank once a day. I do mine at lights out so it doesn't dry out before he wakes up. 

Need any help, gimme a shout

First 2 photos taken with a Galaxy s2 for anyone wanting to know.


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> I.
> 
> The issue is price, aren't frogs really expensive and hard to keep?
> 
> ...



Expensive? Depends on species. Common species you can get for as little as £25 each from private breeders, the more expensive species can be over £100 each.

Hard to keep? Again, depends on species. If you get the set up correct before adding frogs they're not so hard. You will need to practice culturing fruit flies though.

My stuff, now massively overgrown....


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

That is what I am talking about, how amazing are those setups? Way better than most planted tanks.  

I don't see many people using the normal aquatic plants we have, why not? Hygrophilas, Anubias, and ferns would do very well there.

Also, misting? Do you make your own setup, or anything that you could recommend to buy ready made? I was looking at mistking, but their pages stopped working.

EDIT:
Found this:
http://www.vivariumland.com/product_inf ... cts_id=141

May get a pump from them, or is there something you would recommend that I could find in the UK?

I am looking at using it for emersed plants and moss, and maybe one day frogs.


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## si-man (11 Oct 2011)

I just use a mist bottle and spray it by hand. Can buy systems, polywog do good ones, only thing is you need to buy a seconds timer and they aren't cheap! Plants are usually bromeliads, weeping moss, spagnum moss, ficus, ferns and any air/house plants. Gotta be careful with some though as they can be poisonous to some amphibians and reptiles, especially sappy woods like pine. Going to over haul mine after christmas, going to make a background out of expanding foam, silicon and coco fibre with plants built into the background.


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

Si-man

Try the gorilla glue method, much easier than expanding foam and silicone. You don't need a seconds timer, I use a normal timer and use 60 second spray times on 3 times a day.


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> That is what I am talking about, how amazing are those setups? Way better than most planted tanks.
> 
> I don't see many people using the normal aquatic plants we have, why not? Hygrophilas, Anubias, and ferns would do very well there.
> 
> ...



I would definitely get a mistking if you can. They are the best by far and the most quiet.

I have some anubias in the water area hidden in the corner.

Why not use aquatic/marsh plants? Until I got into planted tanks I didn't know you could! My paludarium build will utilise more aquatic plants.

Actually, I threw some stems from my planted tank in one of my unused terrariums, just lying on the floor, thought they'd make compost but they've actually continued to grow!


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

Yeah, I got a vivarium of sorts, using it on a primary school, and I put there Crypts, ferns and riccia. Also getting some staurogyne and ranunculus for it. Got some anubias and indian fern growing on the expanding wall foam I made, but misting is an issue. The teachers are meant to spray twice a day, but they not always do so.  

So if I could get something automatic it would be good, then just change water once a week. It would have a 10cm water level, so with a reservoir for 10L I would be ok. 

Any shop on the UK you could recommend for the mister? I would rather buy it on the UK than buying from abroad, but if I have no choice then so be it.


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## Tom (11 Oct 2011)

Morgan Freeman, what moss is that you have growing in the frog tank? How much moisture does it get?


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

http://www.dartfrog.co.uk/equipment/climate.html

I use the basic system but with 6 nozzles and it's a little stretched. If you only want to power say 2/3/4 nozzles, then the basic system would be good. It is rather noisy however.

The ENT pump is also good I hear. ENT are a German company but you can also buy their products from the above site.

Mark (the owner) also has a fantastic shop near Birmingham which is well worth a visit. You can also pick his brains on all things dartfrog while you're there.

There's also the pollywog system to consider.

http://shop.pollywog.co.uk/index.php/cPath/5_27


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

Tom said:
			
		

> Morgan Freeman, what moss is that you have growing in the frog tank? How much moisture does it get?



I have Java moss, wild UK moss (growing for over a year and still going strong) flame moss and various mosses from a dried pack I purchased from www.dartfrog.co.uk. Stick them in a blender with some water and paste on. I also use tree fern root as a background, given enough light and moisture it will began to sprout ferns and moss from spores in the fern root, as mine has done.

You cannot let it dry out, at all. I have a small patch where the spray doesn't quite reach and the moss is dead. Humidity is around 80-90%. Bear in mind that's a little high for crested geckos.

I'll take some close up pictures if you like.


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## si-man (11 Oct 2011)

My humidity goes from 90% at night down to roughly 60% then back up again. Need fluctuations to stop them getting lung infections. I was looking at getting that Exo Terra monsoon mister as everything is built in and doesnt look ugly so can have it on show. Dartfrog is the best website to get stuff from, bloody fast delivery too. Yeah, was looking at the gorilla glue method on RFUK before. Might have to give that one a try.


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

I forgot about the monsoon, no idea on how well it performs though.


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

Fantastic dudes, will check the sites today and get some orders in. As I said, rather buy in the UK, we need to help eachother on these hard times..


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

Morgan Freeman said:
			
		

> I forgot about the monsoon, no idea on how well it performs though.



Seen some bad reviews online, so going with the tried and tested pumps..


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

I imagine it's not much better than the lucky reptile system, noisy, no power, clogs up and uses 100 gallons of water every second.


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

Really liking the 	
ENT Power Pump Misting System @ £124, it would run up to 35 nozzles, so I would get a lot of use of it, I very much doubt that I would need more than 30 nozzles. LOL.. 

So to something like that I would just need to add the tubes and nozzles. 

I am thinking about visiting the shop in early November, only 5 hours round trip from London, but at £25 return it would make sense, as I would save on the postage, and I would get to ask stupid questions..  

I am more interested on the mosses, and plants, don't think that I would keep frogs.  

Maybe we can have a section here on the forum for Vivariums?  There are plants on vivariums..


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## Morgan Freeman (11 Oct 2011)

Tubes, nozzles, connectors and a water basin.

Bare in mind Birmingham is the closest city, it's actually in the middle of nowhere, we needed a sat nav to get there.

If you want terrarium plants you need to check out the German or Dutch sites. The hobby is far more advanced over there.

http://www.bens-jungle.de/en/agb.php

More Orchids than you can ever imagine!    I'm about to order some from here and really get into orchids.

For Broms, Bert's the man!

http://bromelien-westermann.eu/


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## ghostsword (11 Oct 2011)

Now that is something that I would like, keeping small orchids..  Thanks for all the tips guys, really appreciated.


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