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Post by garry1965 on Apr 29, 2009 22:30:18 GMT
At one of last years I.H.S. shows I bought four subadult Hyla Arborea. The chap who sold them to me said they were U.K. captive bred in an outdoor vivarium. I am currently undecided about either keeping them in a greenhouse or building a purpose built outdoor vivarium with a wooden frame and fine mesh so they can get natural sunlight. I would like to hear from anybody who has kept these outdoors before and what they recommend. Also, I would like advice about hibernation. Is it better to bring them in for the winter or leave them outside to hibernate naturally amongst refugia/hibernaculums? Any advice from experience appreciated.
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phil
Full Member
Posts: 233
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Post by phil on Apr 30, 2009 20:56:21 GMT
hi garry, i have kept hyla arborea in outdoor enclosures using a mixture of mesh and glass. if you decide to use a greenhouse i would recommend removing some of the glass panes and meshing them to allow unfiltered sunlight through. this appears to be beneficial to most herptiles. it also helps to regulate the temperature inside. remember greenhouses can become dangerously hot in sunny weather, and after all arborea are a central to northern european amphibian, and are quite happy in typical british weather. hibernating outside is fine as long as they are able to get deep enough to be out of frost
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Post by garry1965 on Apr 30, 2009 22:48:39 GMT
Thanks for the advice, Phil. I'll post photos on here of the finished outdoor vivarium.
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robv
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by robv on May 1, 2009 6:36:48 GMT
Hi Garry, I picked up some arborea last year as sub adults and kept them in a flexarium inside my greenhouse. For the winter I filled the bottom of the cage with about 6 inches of damp leaves and just left them to it. It got very cold here in the south west but all four have come through no problem. I have moved the terraria to an outdoor spot as i was told that male arborea need to feel rain on their heads to stimulate breeding. Naturally we have therefore had very little rain so far this year!
They should be getting reasonable UV levels but I will probably move them back into the greenhouse for the winter. I know they are pretty tough as I have found them up in the Gredos Mountains at pretty high altitude where the weather can get really rough!
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Post by garry1965 on May 1, 2009 21:18:57 GMT
Thanks for the advice guys. Another thing, several weeks ago I moved my four frogs to a temporary outdoor vivarium and since then they have been croaking incessantly night and day. It is incredibly loud. There are three definate males and the noise they are making has to be heard to be believed. I am obviously worried about possible complaints from neighbours that may arise. As the frogs are congregating in the pool I am hoping it is just a mating call. Please tell me this racket isn't going to last all summer or I may have to bring them indoors to avoid upsetting a lot of people. Advice please.
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phil
Full Member
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Post by phil on May 1, 2009 22:32:33 GMT
it may last for quite a while garry, as they can have quite an extended breeding season. i know it can be annoying after a while. apparently they have the loudest call (per body size) of any european amphibian, although my midwife toads can also be a nuisance at times
good luck with the neighbours
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Post by garry1965 on May 2, 2009 20:12:20 GMT
 Maybe this is why they are so noisy. There are three males to one female.  |
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Post by garry1965 on May 3, 2009 10:32:12 GMT
Here they are in action at night...   |
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phil
Full Member
Posts: 233
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Post by phil on May 3, 2009 12:31:01 GMT
nice shots garry. maybe supplying your neighbours with a set of ear defenders each might smooth it over for you for a few months ;D
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morbid
Full Member
"Assumption is the Mother of all f**kups.."
Posts: 183
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Post by morbid on May 5, 2009 11:52:16 GMT
Another alternative is to sell one of your males to me.. I have a group of 6 animals, and only one male.. No matings. The reason, I think, is that there is no competition among males..
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Post by Iowarth on May 10, 2009 21:22:20 GMT
Hi Garry. All of my Hyla arborea live in a greenhouse with a single mesh panel but also some UV transmitting acrylic panels all the year round. The greenhouse is quite heavily vegetated with a good depth of soil so allows natural hibernation with no problems. Breeding is a regular event and the only limit to the success is predation by other species in there. Your ratio of 3:1 is probably quite good. Certainly most calling amphibians seem to need at least two males as competition to get them going. So far as the duration of calling goes, you probably don;t want to know this but mine started in mid-April and typically continue through to August or even September.
Chris
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Post by drew121 on May 13, 2009 20:12:11 GMT
Hi , my Tree Frogs live all year in an outdoor enclosure and do great. unfortunately I have eeded to get them into a heated tank to encourage mating , which I have not had any success with recently as spawn is deposited on land . I sold most of my animals as was going to stop keeping them and now have only 1 male and 1 female .
My neighbours reckon the calls reminded them of being on holiday
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