Setting up your Frog's Terrarium

Before purchasing your frog, you should have the terrarium ready to put him in when you get home. The most common terrariums today are the half water and half land habitat, for semi-aquatic frogs and toads, such as leopard frogs. However, the half and half terrarium is a great choice for any frog. You need to know which frog you're getting so you know which habitat's best for him. To find out more about frog habitats, check my article: Your Frog's Habitat.

When you're choosing the bedding you're going to use for your frog, DO NOT use gravel at all. Frogs can swallow gravel and it can clog their intestines and be fatal.







Things you'll need to setup a frog terrarium:

• Moss, coconut fibers, sand (for frogs who prefer a drier climate), or other bedding
• Water dish
• Food dish (optional; water dish can serve both purposes)
• Logs (for frogs to hide under and climb on)
• Plants (live or plastic)
• Heat lamp
• Thermometer
• Hydrometer (optional, but recommended)
• Terrarium humidifier or squirt bottle
• 5.5 gallon tank (at least; you can use a larger one)
• Large bucket
• Warm water

How to set up a frog terrarium:
Soak the moss block, coconut fiber block or other bedding block you chose in a bucket of warm water. The water to bedding ratio should be 2 to 1. Slosh the bedding around in the bucket and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Ring the bedding out leaving about 20% moisture in it. Spread the bedding on the terrarium floor. The bedding needs to be 1.5 to 2 times thicker than the frog it's housing. I strongly suggest using moss in your frog's terrarium. Moss keeps the tank humid and retains moisture. Also, moss adds a natural look to your terrarium.

Make sure that there are no sharp edges on any of plants or logs. Place the logs, plants, water dishes, etc. around the terrarium. Live plants help retain moisture in the terrium along with moss. Arrange the plants so that your frog has plenty of places to hide, hunt and explore.

Place the thermometer and hydrometer where it's easily visible but where your frog can't easily get to it.

Squirt down the terrarium with a squirt bottle (you can buy a humidifier that will automatically mist the aquarium for you, but a squirt bottle's about 1/10 the price!). Set the heat lamp on the terrarium lid (yes, you will need a lid... frogs can climb out of their habitats; the lid needs to be well-ventilated no matter what frog is housed) where your frog CANNOT access it. Frogs will climb up to the heat and can burn themselves if they touch hot heat lamps! Turn on the heat lamp and you're ready to bring your new frog home.

Things to remember:

To prevent your bedding from rotting, squirt the terrarium 2-3 times a day generously. Keep the heat lamp on during the day to evaporate any excess moisture that can cause mold to grow. Mold can hurt the frogs... and humans. If you happen to see mold starting to grow in your terrarium, do a thorough cleaning (see my article: Cleaning your frog's Terrarium) and remove all bedding, live plants, logs, etc and get rid of them.

In the case of mold, warm water (as suggested in my article) won't work. It will only spread the mold spores around. What you need to purchase is a chemical that can be found at almost any Petco or Petsmart. It's called WipeOut by the Zoo Med brand. It's a deodorizer and disinfectant that works great for problems like this, but will harm your frog if you let it touch him. When you use this chemical, remove everything from the terrarium and use generously. Then do a thorough warm water wash over your entire terrarium.

Mold can be caused by not having enough ventilation in your frog's habitat, or by having too much moisture and humidity.

Your Frog's Habitat - The Aquatic Habitat

Your frog will be happiest if he has a habitat that is most like his natural habitat in the wild. The terrarium your frog needs depends on the frog you purchase. There are four main types of terrariums: the aquatic habitat, the terrestrial habitat, the arboreal habitat and the half and half habitat. Read my other articles to find out more about each.

The Aquatic Habitat
The aquatic habitat is identical to a fish aquarium. It should only be used for an aquatic specie of frogs. Some aquatic frogs need oxygen from the air, not the water. Be sure to always allow 1-2 inches of space between the top of the habitat and the water for your frog to breathe.

The size of your habitat depends on what species of frogs you are housing and their sizes. The pet stores will usually tell you about 2 gallons per inch of frog. You can never make the mistake of too large an aquarium since in the wild, frogs have no limits on their space. You need the aquatic habitat that looks comfortable for the frog you are housing.

Your frog's aquatic habitat will need to be cleaned more frequently than a fish aquarium, since frogs shed. Cleaning the aquarium about once a week is acceptable with a thorough filter. Change the filter cartridges once a week. Filters are sized based on the aquarium they will be put in. You can purchase filters for as small as a 1 gallon aquarium and up. Know what size your aquarium is and be sure to provide the proper filter.

Another way to keep the aquatic frog's tank clean is to add goldfish to the mix, because goldfish eat the frog's skin. Still, some aquatic frogs will eat fish (and even other frogs) smaller than themselves (such as the African Dwarf frog and African Clawed frog). Read my article: Common Species of Frogs to find out more about each specie of frogs.

The use of gravel in the frog's aquatic habitat is the most common for most aquariums and is the easiest to maintain. Some frogs are large enough to swallow gravel, and for any specie of frogs this is exactly why I recommend to NEVER use gravel! Use sand, marbles, etc. but never use gravel! I cannot put enough emphasis on this. If a frog swallows gravel, the frog will usually NOT live.

Do not leave aquatic frog aquariums in direct sunlight. Algae and bacteria will thrive in this sort of an environment. However, do allow your aquatic habitat to have some indirect sunlight (about 5 hours a day). If you want to incorporate electric lighting in your aquatic tank, the choice is yours, since aquatic aquatic frogs don't necessarily require lighting. Lighting can help frogs produce vitamin D3 but this vitamin is also found in their diets.

You always, no matter what animal is housed in the terrarium, want to have some sort of cover or lid over the habitat. Frogs can easily jump out of their habitats (all frogs, not just aquatic frogs). Some lids have built in lighting for extra convenience, but if the lid doesn't have good ventilation, don't purchase it. Frogs need a well-ventilated habitat. If you don't want to spend the extra money on a lid (which usually range from $20-$30), you can put some screen over your frog's habitat.

To decorate your aquatic habitat, you can use gravel, plastic and/or live plants and other decor. Give your frog plenty of places to hide and explore. Make sure the gravel and plants (if plastic) are well rinsed to rid them of any dust or dirt. Also, check and see if there are any sharp edges on any of your decor.

To heat your aquatic frog's aquarium, you can purchase an in-the-water heater, or you can use lid lighting. Lighting usually always comes with any aquarium lid.

Be sure to check this blog again soon for posts on the Terrestrial Habitat, the Half-and-Half habitat and the Arboreal Habitat!