European Green Tree Frog Greenhouse and Pond

[adamanuran]

Well A long time in the making, but here it is, finally a pic of their pond etc.



This picture illustrates the greenhouse itself to give a sense of proportion. The greenhouse measures 8'x6' and the pond fills over 2/3 of the greenhouse and is 3" deep at the deepest point.



This picture shows it in relation to my small area of enclosures. The furthest housing Salamandra ssp. The one on the left is for Pelobates fuscus and Alytes. The greenhouse contains Rana lessonae and H. arborea.

Please excuse the lack of plants, as spring progresses the enclosures and greenhouse now come to life with vines etc.

Hope this helps, Adam

[willj]

wow great set up you have there! i'm guessing that salamandra, pelobates and alytes aren't good climbers!

i hope it won't be long before i can come to visit!

[phil]

superb enclosures adam. what is the greenhouse pool made out of?

[colin]

Nice piccs Adam.My only worry is that you may cause problems housing those two species together.I always found the Pool Frogs very voracious.They might fancy the tadpoles and young Treefrogs.Have you considered Bombina?

[Killian]

have you added the animals yet? keep the pics coming they are great!

[adamanuran]

Colin: All spawn is taken to my rearing unit so only adults of both species are kept in there.



All anuran eggs and larvae are reared on this rack until either distributed to other people or kept in various aquaria/ vivaria for growng on.

Phil: Cheers for comments, the pool is made from concrete (as are the pools in the 2 other enclosures) this is then sealed with G23? designed for use with concrete koi ponds.

Will: Cheers, and you are welcome anytime.

Killian this is the second spring my little greenhouse has been occupied and seems to be doing well. I admit it is not ideal as it doesn't receive much sunlight, so breeding in there usually starts later in the year. I have however managed to rear young podarcis in there last year, so the light mustn't be too much of a problem.

Cheers, Adam

[Killian]

Where do you find the animals tend to "hang out" in the greenhouse? have you any pics of the animals in the greenhouse?

[adamanuran]

Killian: It changes with the time of year. As most of you will appreciate, one always tries to make the best conditions for the animals in the first instance yet after observing their behaviour you always find more and more ways to improve things for them. The lessonae are relatively territorial and each frog has its own plant pot/ stone/ crevice etc to hide under. On sunny days the frogs then move out to the closest spot on the pond edge to bask and jump into the water when disturbed. I always throw crickets into the pond (where they can climb out onto pots and up the branches etc) to encourage the frogs to come out so i can check that they are all ok etc. I shall post one pic of an easily accessible frog later. I don't tend to disturb my animals at all but this one hides right next to the door.

Arborea: these chaps either stick to the glass sides of the greenhouse or even perch on the branches above the pond. As the vines grow they tend to hide amongst them, but the vines are trained to grow over their branches etc anyway.

Hope this helps.

[adamanuran]

Before I forget, could anyone post some ideas on what they think I could do to improve my rearing setup. I usually work on the principle if it's not broken don't fix it and I have had decent results so far. Although I do try and "upgrade each year" ps. I hope Andrew from Pollywog replies to this as I would like to pick his brains!!!

[willj]

looks to me like you've got a tidy little amphibian factory there! what is in the glass tank on the shelf?

[Pollywog]

If you are finding good results with your current meothod of rearing then carry on as you are, it's difficult to give advice on how to improve a setup without knowing your routine.

[adamanuran]

Cheers for the comments,
will: that is my marmoratus tank, very simplistic compared to the crested tanks but really easy to clean.
Andrew: cheers, as you may have noticed, i don't use air pumps for rearing larvae as they tend to "eat" the small bubbles and float around. I have tried many ways of providing air circulation but in the end have just stuck to aquatic plants. The small containers on the silver rack start off with 20-30 eggs and are then divided up as and when needed to help combat cannibalism.

What air circulators do you use and how effective are they with small larvae?

[Pollywog]

I would normally put the open end of the airline into the water with no air stone so the air comes out as individual large bubbles.
In large bodies of water I use Interpet sponge filters set on an angle so the outlet is under water this helps to airate the water as well as provide a small amount of filtration.

[adamanuran]

I have tried the large air bubble trick and it seems ok, the problem though is that i need an air pump that can run all of my aquaria and rearing tubs etc. I know most aquarium shops run their tanks from one pump, do you know what models are available for such a big job and also where i can obtain one.

[Killian]

Try e-bay