Vietnamese Mossy Frogs

FireFly_1976 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-11-2007, 08:33 AM

Hi all. I went off on a turtle tangent for a bit, but that project seems out of my realm right now (no space in the new place

). So, I'm back to my 60g paladarium (that includes the land and the water, smaller than the 6'X7.5' turtle enclosure for sure). I recently found these adorable frogs (on Saurian's website), and have read all the posts about them here, and done a google search on them as well. I e-mailed Saurian as well, but haven't gotten a reply..l Not finding tons of care info on them, but they seem not too hard to keep, and very cool. I realize they may have to grow out somewhere else, until they are too big to be eaten by the fish in my tank, but that is o.k. Once they reach adult size, and are almost as wide as long, they should be o.k. in that respect.

My question is, how well do they really swim? I do have a fair bit of water in this set-up and there is a false bottom under which they could swim. (but there may be a gap between the water line and the top of the false bottom, so they could probably climb out under there and be kinda in a cave....). I know PDF's will *think* they can swim through the clear glass, and can drown trying--not having the sense to move elsewhere to get out of the water. Would this be a similar issue with the mossy frogs? I can probably cover the glass on the side and back under the 'island' but I want the front open so I can see my tank. If these guys won't work in such a setup, I'll go with something else for sure, as I already want to focus on the fish I've got planned (one African butterfly, gets about 4" eats whatever fits in it's mouth (so the frogs would have to be adult sized with an adult sized butterfly), six ctenopoma (spotted climbing perch, spotted African leaf fish, gets about 4" as well, would likely eat baby frogs, but do fine with adult sized ones) and many of the larger cories (harmless, but must be larger to survive the other fish)).

I think these frogs are awesome, and may be the answer to my land critter for this set-up, but if they can't handle all the water (it will be over a foot deep I think), then I'll rethink. I don't want to put an animal in jeopardy, but if these guys will work, they are what I want (again a ways down the road, they would be the last addition to the tank, so I've got plenty of time to think/research/prepare).

Emily

Rainfrog · #2 (**permalink**) 07-12-2007, 06:01 AM

Water is not the problem. Mossy Frogs spend most of their lives in water and in caves(in a set up like yours you may even seldom see them) With the fish you have planned the Mossys would be stressed out. They prefer to spend allot of time around the edges at the surface of the water. with all that traffic in the water I dont think you would have happy Mossy Frogs. I would ask Pat at Saurian (hes a busy guy but should get back to you when he has time) I think he will agree with me. I understand you though Mossys are awsome.
PS. The problems with PDFs and lots of water is most plain dont swim well

FireFly_1976 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-12-2007, 08:34 PM

Ah, pooh. I don't want stressed out mossies. Sigh. They are way cool though. well, I'll rethink this then. Thanks for the reply. I did e-mail pat a while ago, but haven't heard back. I suppose though you're right. Maybe I'll do a smaller setup, just for some mossies... Maybe a 'practice' one before the big one. It would be a cave-like setup, with a land area above the cave... I do have a 29g I could use.... Hmm.... A couple of mossies would do fine in a 29g if they were the only inhabitants, right?

Emily