Adding a salamander or frog to my terrarium

It'sJames

I just set up a bigger terrarium, and although I set it up just because I like the plants, I thought maybe I could add some kind of small critter. In my last terrarium I just kept a handful of bugs and my spider, Carson (I'm not exactly sure how a spider earned himself a name...).

I was thinking maybe there would be some kind of small salamander or frog that would be comfortable in the terrarium. Even some kind of interesting bug, like a centipede or something - I'm open to anything. The terrarium is small - a 5 gallon hex, so it's tall. It has mostly mosses (a LOT of moss), and some other small plants that will grow in soon. There's a cave in the back and a lot of climbing space (2 sides are covered in tree bark and there's some sticks and stuff). The substrate is just peat moss, but most of the bottom is covered in some kind of live moss. I keep it in my room, so the temp is usually around 76*, but the light warms it up a bit while it's on. There's no water area, although I might add one if I needed to. I mist it several times a day though, and give it at least one good soak every couple days.

Anyone have any idea what I could possible put in here? I don't want to change it too much, since I set it up for the plants and mosses, but if I could add some kinda critter without any huge changes that'd be cool.

I'll post a picture later, to give you a better idea of how it's set up and stuff.

iamntbatman

What kind of spider is it? I had a lot of success with keeping Green Tree Frogs, and I think one would do just fine in that setup. If the spider was really small the frog might eat it, vice versa if the spider is really big.

If you don't have the spider anymore, just keeping the frog should be easy as pie. They have no special lighting requirements and can get by just fine on crickets. They need a daily misting and a water dish with clean water to soak in from time to time.

I'm not sure where you'd buy one, as I just caught mine sticking to the windows of my house. There might be comparable frogs for sale at a store, though.

Also, anoles are *really* easy to keep, but they really need some sort of basking lamp preferably with a UV bulb.

It'sJames

The spider is really tiny. I'd have to move him out if I choose to add a frog or salamander, because he'd quickly get eaten. I'm almost sure we used to have green tree frogs around here, but they started to disapear as more and more houses went up. I haven't seen one in years (but I'm not outside as much as I used to be either...). How large of a water dish do they need? The footprint of the tank is very small, since it's a hex and only 5 gallons. I might be able to fit something in though.

I'll do a web search and see what comes up. I like the idea of a green tree frog...

beweeb

these frogs are pretty cool
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Frog,%20...ree%20Frog.htm
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Frog,%20Pac%20Man.htm

aunt kymmie

What type of spider is Carson?

It'sJames

I really don't know... He just showed up in my first terrarium, and even though he's only about the size of a pen tip, I can always find him. He makes his web right on in the open, so he's not hard to track down. I would like to find out what species he is, but he's so small, and I really don't know how to look it up - there's a lot of spiders out there...

It'sJames

Those are both pretty awesome, Beweeb. I've checked them both out, and unfortunatly my setup is too small for them, and not the right kind of habitat. I especially love the green pacman frogs. I would love to keep them both someday, but right now I'm not aloud to have any more aquariums or terrariums.... :(

iamntbatman

Pacman frogs are awesome, but they get pretty big so 5g wouldn't be enough for them when they're full sized. I've seen videos of them eating live mice with no problem.

I think just about any size water dish would be fine. It shouldn't be very deep, just deep enough for the frog to sit in it with his head poking out. It could be as big around as a drinking glass. In something that small, since you won't be able to use any filtration or anything, you'd have to change the water every day, but it's not too much of a hassle. I actually caught three tree frogs this summer, two greens and a gray. I accidentally killed the greens when I moved them into a new terrarium and forgot the water dish. They died overnight because they didn't have access to water, so it's really important. The gray tree frog is bigger but he actually spends a lot of time away from water and even basks in the basking lamp sometimes.

Guppy Girl

Pacman frogs would be awsome, or a tree frog :D