Date: 19 Nov 1998 10:59:55 U From: "Jim Roth" <jim_roth@smtp.grafica.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3642$foo@default> Subject: frogs with neps
--I've always been fond of frogs and would like to
--keep them with my nepenthes but I'm worried of having some accidental
--deaths. Which tree frogs would be the happiest in such an arrangement?
Hi list,
I want to just jump in here. I have some experience with the lovely dart
frogs, and other frogs, and I am a novice Nepenthes keeper.
Darts are hard to maintain--you will be raising fruit flies and/or flour
beetle larvae too.
Darts are not tree frogs. Some like the green-and-blacks spend most of their
time walking on the ground.They may be under the neps.If fact, try-to-find-the
frog is a game you'll be playing with some species. They like to have a
cliff-type structure to climb, say along the back of the tank. They also
really like to have some running water nearby, like a little waterfall. This
water, in turn, needs to go through a biological filter (eheim canisters work
fine) to remove the accumulated toxins. An inline heating module will keep the
environment warm and humid. This info was gleaned partly from Jack Cover at
the National Aquarium, the best dart frog breeder/keeper in existence. Don't
miss their fantastic terrariums if you're ever in Baltimore.
My suspicion is that it's best to keep old world frogs with old world neps.
Something easier than darts, too, though the combination would be stunning
(throw some orchids in there...). I'm planning to keep Mantellas with neps.
They're a kind of pseudo-dart frog from Madagascar, so possibly they've seen
nepenthes before. The colors of some approach the dart frog colors, and
they're easier to keep (will eat crickets). They climb even less than dart
frogs. Another good choice would be the flying frog Rhacaphorus sp. (SP?) a
little Asian tree-type frog. The climb, and spend the day looking like a lump
of green clay stuck to a leaf. Also good and appropriate would be white's or
white-lipped treefrogs from Australia, though they get pretty big and call
noisily when they're happy.
Anybody buying rare frogs, please make sure they're captive-bred. They'll do
better in the long run.
Sorry for the long post.
Jim Roth
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