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Johny Sway asked in PetsReptiles · 10 years ago

What a real reptile/amphibian viv should look like...?

Not to be cruel, but i'm kind of laughing at this. I haven't used yahoo in a while as I use a forum, but a lot of your reptile and amphibian tanks and just can't get what you see in what your doing. You can't keep an ampibian over repti bark and you should spend time on your tanks.

Let me first talk about why i'm laughing. I've spent a few years in the amphibian hobby and 1 year in reptiles. All of my tanks simulate there NATURAL HABITAT. I don't fall for marketing scams. If you have a reptile, reptile carpet is a scam for one. Leopard geckos live on hard slate with pockets of dirt and sand. Impaction is a one in one hundred thousand chance of happening. All of you hypochondrias make me laugh. "Can a leopard gecko live on sand?" YES! A bearded dragon's natural habitat is sand in the desert. That's why they like higher temperatures. Now for all of you amphibian lovers. ALL amphibians should be kept in LARGE tanks, not 10 gallon or 5 gallon boxes. They should be kept in large enclosures. The SMALLEST i've ever kept and animal is a 20 for a pair of D. luecemalas, a type of terrestrial poison dart frog. All of them need to be kept on a soft, well draining substrate, again marketing scams. "Eco earth", "Jungle floor" all gimmics. I use the ABG mix. It is 1 part peat moss, 2 part orchid bark, 2 part tree fern fiber, and 1 part spagnum moss. Also you need a drainage layer. if you plan on having a display tank, a good layer of gravel will suffice. But if you withh be moving the vivarium around a lot, an Eggcrate light diffuser with screen mesh or weed blocker or hydroton/lecca ball false bottom is what you want. This is where ANOTHER marketing gimmick comes in! Zoo meds "hydroballs" is colored hydroton. Terrarium accents is overpriced gravel. Go to home depot and get a 50 lb bag of gravel for 5 bucks. Next ALL amphibian vivariums NEED live plants. tree frogs would perfer broad leaf plants like pothos, bromeliads, and others like that. Poison dart frogs can have practically any humidity loving plant. Now for lighting. No matter what the **** kind of frog you have, DO NOT BY A HEAT LAMP! It heats up the cage WAY to much and drys EVERYTHING out. Also if you want, you can buy an exo terra or zoo med vivarium. But i'm just going to say this. I would never do it. 160$ for an 18x18x24? LAUGHING MY ******* *** OFF! Go to your hardware store build get glass to build one for 35$. *** for making a vertical tank from a regular rectangular tank, just buy 2 slabs of glass, a window screen kit, mesh, silicone, and a hinge. There you have it. I'm sorry for ranting here but i'm sick of people like you people new to the hobby ending up you've messed up and kill everything and WASTING THEIR/YOUR money. Rant over.

Update:

Thanks for reading. The reason I said you need live plants as they act *** filtration for waste, just like a fish tank. Also I forgot, use a glass lid. Or even in some of my tanks I use saran wrap. If you're worried about mold or even the occasional mushroom (I've had shrooms pop up in all my tanks) buy spring tails or isopods eat mold and frogs/manders eat them.

2 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Yep, totally agree.

    although I'm a fan of artificial decorations for the ease of cleaning and the hygienics of having less soil and places for filth to collect. Not everybody can keep up a planted vivarium.

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    5 years ago

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