I'm new and so is my WTF.

[colton]

The other day I decided to try my hand at small reptile/amphibian keep and it was a toss up between an Anole or two or the White's Tree Frog that I settled on.

I live in Maine, USA and it's mid winter so I a big concern for me was suitable tank temperatures. The night time air temp for my bedroom this time of year is commonly very low 60's. But after investing in a day time UV lamp of 50 watts and two under tank heat pads things are running smoothly around the clock around the Upper 70's to mid 80's (for the tank).

The tank is a standard 20 gallon glass aquarium with a mesh wire lid that I placed a glass pane over to help retain moisture and heat. It covers maybe 80-90% of the surface.

My substrate is a bottom layer of small river pebbles that range in size from jelly beans to marbles as well as a top layer of larger smooth black river stones. I figured black would retain warmth. Should I invest in terrarium soil or packaged dried moss to line the bottom?

For decor I have one potted plant, not sure what it's called but its pretty thick and sturdy. I read around that WTF are plant destroyers but for now hes pretty small and likes to sleep in it during the day. I have a water dish as well as another sculptural clay thing I figured he might like to climb around on.

I put in about 15 small baby crickets and I've seen him eat three in person and two take their lives in the water dish before I cleaned it this morning. I've misted it a few times in the past 2 days when a misting looked needed but I have yet to buy a humidity gage.

About an hour after he first went in I noticed he had turned an unexciting shade of brown, this morning when I saw him he was slightly greener around the edges but is now a stubborn brown again. This is from high humidity and low temps but not uncommon right?

If anyone has any advice for me or sees any flaws in my described set up please let me know. I can add photos of him or the tank set up later tonight if needed.

Thanks in advance and nice community you fine folks have built here.

[whitesarana]

Hey Colton,
Welcome to the forum. I also have a whites tree frog. ive had her for a year. What you heard about wtf's beeing plant destroyers is false as I keep many plants with my frog and they are fine. I recomend you visit White's Tree Frogs for information on how and why your wtf changes color and more great info.

[colton]

[Chu'Wuti]

Hi, Colton, and welcome!

The plant you have is what is commonly known as a jade plant (Crassula ovata). It probably won't do well in your vivarium for very long, as it prefers drier conditions. Here is a care guide for jade plants: Jade Plant - HGIC @ Clemson University

Also, though it appears sturdy, the leaves actually drop off pretty easily, though it doesn't look like your wtf is heavy enough to bother them.

Take a look at some of the photos of the natural vivaria people have posted in that section and in the frog section--you'll get lots of great ideas. Have fun!

[colton]

Alrighty, thanks for the feed back. If the plant starts to get a little gloomy I will take it out and maybe find a new new decoy plant or one better suited for vivarium living.

For a substrate would coconut bark retain warmth and moisture better then river stones? The water just kind of settles under neath them.

[Chu'Wuti]

Hey, Colton, if you haven't already checked out this thread, it's well worth a look. This may help answer some of your questions. It's getting pretty long, so have patience and read through to the end; he discusses substrate materials as well as all the other aspects of his design pretty thoroughly.

Thread title: 65 Gallon Acrylic Vivarium Build

[colton]

So I bought some dried 'Forest Moss' by Exo-Terra to pad the bottom of my viv for humidity and heat benefits. I'm worried about it growing mildew in the warm dampness. Is that a likely problem? Will it turn green and sprout at all?

Here it is with the added saturated moss but it's still a work in progress.

[Chu'Wuti]

I doubt very much it will either grow mold or turn green. I use dampened sphagnum moss to provide more humidity for my BP, especially when he's in shed, and it never turns green, nor does it mold.

Whatever the colorful background is, it's cool!

[colton]

Ok thanks for the tip. And that wasn't an intentional background it's just some of my art work nailed to the wall there before I located my tank there as well.

(I made the water dish too)

[Chu'Wuti]

I wondered about the water dish. The art of nature, your art, all combined--it's all good!