Ideas for a green and golden bell frog terrarium

[Pennyleigh17 10]

I have just gotten a new exo terra terrarium (90cm L x 60cm H x 45cm D) and I would like some ideas on setting it up. I'm wanting to go for a natural look and maybe have a waterfall. Im thinking about having a water section in the terrarium big enough to house a small school of minnows or a couple of coldwater guppies. Any ideas on how to divide land and water? (Preferably not using a glass divider)

Also what plants are suitable for green and golden bell frogs and what sort of substrate is best to use?

If anyone has a terrarium already set up that they'd like to share I'd love to see some photos for inspiration

 Thank you

[Benjansss 6]

When I had a frog terrarium 1 had one end with water and the land slopping up all the land was covered in moss with the odd small fern my golden bell frogs loved it enough that they laid eggs quite a few times unfortunately other frogs ate them 

[Pennyleigh17 10]

What did you use as a substrate? Gravel?

[Benjansss 6]

I used dirt so they could hibernate in the winter 

[Colour_genes 35]

My terrarium has a sphagnum moss substrate, with several plants growing across the moss (ferns, dwarf climbing ficus & pothos), also several pieces of driftwood taken from a lakeside so I didn't have to deal with salt on it. I adapted a largish plastic container for the water area, so I can lift the whole thing out and clean it periodically. Looks relatively natural, but also easy to clean & look after. My frogs certainly seem happy in it.

Suggest you have a look at the care sheet for Green & Golden Bells at the top of the Reptiles & Amphibians section, which has some good tips as well

[Pennyleigh17 10]

Thank you for the advice so far. My frogs are currently in this exo terra 45cm cubed terrarium with sphagnum moss as substrate, fake plants and an old takeaway container used to hold water. I'm wanting to up my game with my new terrarium as this basic set up is not very appealing to me anymore. 

 

 

 

 

[JJWooble 78]

Good on you for upgrading your tank -- I'm very jealous as I only have the 60cm Exoterra and saw the 90 in a store a few weeks ago, the design is just awesome for frogs. 

For a waterfall I'd investigate maybe making a DIY background out of polystyrene etc and have a tube that goes from a little pump (can get fountain ones for ponds) in your water area that goes up and then cascades down over whatever structure you design with your background. I've been meaning to do it with my tank but never seem to have enough time as for dividers,  I've got gravel piled behind a wall of rocks that I've stacked together to form a barrier so the gravel can't get into the water area. It allows the plants I plant in the gravel area to grow somewhat like in a riparium setup though. If I was to do a larger tank I would probably silicone down a plastic divider and then disguise it with rocks siliconed to the outside-- I saw somewhere that someone had used pumice as it could be sawed which was an interesting idea. 

As for having minnows in your water area,  I have no idea how the frogs would react to that-- have seen someone with a setup with minnows and frogs together but wouldnt personally trust the frogs around small edible moving items--but just make sure the filter is cycled before adding any fish as otherwise they will have a hard time with ammonia building up. 

[Pennyleigh17 10]

Thank you, that's great information!

I like the idea of disguising the divider. I dont like the look of glass but I think I might get a glass divider and hide it behind rocks/stones.

I might start looking around for some plants to use and a pump for a the waterfall.

Can anyone recommend a pump to make the waterfall as I don't quite know what I'd be looking for?

[gem_scott 3]

I set up this tank years ago (don't have frogs at the moment )
I also didn't want to use a glass separation for my pond so i used clear plastic and used silicone to secure it in place. I pretty much pretended i was making an outdoor pond so left enough plastic to be folded back and secured by rocks. I used spag as the base then dirt on top for my plants to spread.

Although I really liked this tank, next time I will be laying a more natural substrate so the water will flow under the dirt and I don't need that ugly silicone line.

setting up new tanks is such fun, i hope you can find some great ideas

[kelsey 0]

hi there, i’ve just gotten two green and gold bell frogs, does anyone have any good places to buy live crickets and frog food in NZ? also any good videos for setting up the tank :) 

thanks ! 

[livingart 449]

https://inzectdirect.co.nz/

Trademe haS lots of insects at the moment

[livingart 449]

An article in here on a build

https://issuu.com/fnzasaw/docs/aw_2021_66_1/s/12038622