Orchids & Frogs/Toads

[barron]

Hello.

I spent all of last year building a computer-controlled case for my orchids with heating/cooling/lights/fans/waterfall/mister etc... My plants grow really well!

My daughter saw some firebellied toads in a pet store, and based on what I've read, I think they would do very well in the case. The temperature is 65-85, there are spots with light, and spots with shade, a water fall, volcanic rock, and humidty that ranges from 60-85%

But I'm a little nervous about releasing a bunch of crickets (food) onto my valuable orchids. Can the FBT's get by on something a little more friendly to the plants? Like lady bugs?

THanks!

Barron

[Tindomul1of9]

Wax worms and fruit flies. I would reccomend fruit flies as the staple diet.
Chopped up earthworms too.

[barron]

Thanks for the quick feedback!

A quick google on waxworms indicates that they wouldn't be any harm to orchids - although our decimated honeybee population would probably want me to keep them from escaping And the fruit flies are pretty benign. But my case may not be tight enough in all spots to keep them inside - and I've already caused enough marital grief by spending all my time working with plants. A few bugs in the house and I think she'd kick me out with my plants.

Are there any readily obtainable (or culturable) predators that would serve as frog bait, stay in the case, AND eat scale?

[Mrnicolai]

Try showing her some pictures of dart frogs and see if she would prefer them. They are hardier then the fire belly toads, a bit more expensive though, but darts would love a vivarium with orchids and they do no harm to them. you can culture your own flightless fruit flies for them to eat whick will make your wife happy because they cant fly all over the house.

[Landon]

there is a small predatory (on sclaes) wasp that is fairly easy to culture, from what ive read. a thread pops up here and there in a few board about them, but ive never seen them in person. ive got a friend trying to acquire a colony. if he is successful, ill let you know.

[littlefrog]

You could feed D. hydei (a fruit fly that is 2-3x bigger than melanogaster). I've stopped culturing them because most of my frogs seem to prefer the melanogaster, plus it is a pain to raise two types, but they are easy enough to raise.

I have almost exclusively orchids (and bromeliads) in most of my vivariums with dart frogs. No problems so far. Start with a D. tinctorius morph (Cobalts, Patricias, etc) or D. azureus. Look that last one up and see if your daughter doesn't fall in love... *grin*