Green Tree Frog help!

[s_bennets]

Hi all

I'm looking for some advice on housing my 2 adult green tree frogs.

Current set-up is:

1 large exo terra terrarium (with the mesh top, fake background, and front-opening doors
Large pebble substrate - piled up in 1/4-1/2 of the tank to provide ground cover
Several branches all over the tank
Fake plants plus a couple of real plants from an aquarium shop
1 x UV light - on during day light hours only
2 x small aquarium heaters keeping the water at about 30 degrees C.
1 x small aquarium filter
Water level is up to the level of the door - about 15 cm. About 1/4-1/3 of the tank is at this depth, the rest is piled up with substrate.

I was told by a person who has kept reptiles for years (particularly frogs) that this set up is fine....However....I've now been told by another frog-keeper that I should include a heat lamp for when the UV light is off (i.e. overnight), mist the enclosure often to up the humidity, and drop the water temperature right down.

What do you guys think? I think he could be right at least with regards to the humidity because their skin can get rather dry.

My frogs have been living happily like this for years, however one died 2 weeks ago from a bacterial skin infection (took him to the vet but he still passed away) and now another frog is showing similar symptoms (brown blotchy skin and raised patches of skin).

Any ideas?

Would really appreciate any help as I love my little guys.

 

[JAS101]

whats the humidity level at ? what state are u in? i dont use any heat lamps for my green tree frogs , and i live in vic.
i use a small filter setup with a small tube to help splash the water around a little , and i have no issues with the humidity levels [ no misting needed] .

 

[IgotFrogs]

green tree frogs dont need alot of humidity unlike some others .... you really only need their water set to about 26/27 degrees..... i would only say if you were getting extream cold for days on end only then i'm worry about a small 15 watt heat globe ..... but as long as your not getting temptures below 9degrees for days on end they should be find and will warm their little bottoms in the warmed water

 

[sweethips12]

where i live it is very dry, so i mist my gtf's every couple of days. My water temp is at about 27-28degrees but i do have alittle tiny infra red light on them at the moment.
But these wont be what is causing your bactirical infection. Will your local petshop test the water for you? How often is the water and the tank and furnishing getting cleaned?

 

[s_bennets]

Thanks for your advice!!

I'm in Victoria, and have no heating in my house so the frog tank gets down to about 14 degrees overnight.

Humidity sits at 80-90% all the time.

I was getting concerned re the low temps so I ended up investing in a small ceramic heater (60W) and have set it up on a time 15 mins on, 45 mins off....now to minimum reading in my tank is 19 degrees (much warmed if they stick their bums in the water or hang out under the heater). I was concerned re them being burnt by the heater but I think now I've got the timer it should be okay.

Re the skin infection - the vet said the bacteria that caused the skin infection will always be present in any tank so there's not too much I can do about it. The little one that died probably did so because he had a weak immune system, but the vet couldn't tell me why that would be the case - he seemed like a robust and healthy frog the entire time I had him.

I'm doing full water changes every week or so, and a 'big clean' (remove all branches, rocks, etc) every month or so....then every 3-6 months I take the whole thing apart and clean it right up, although I've been told this can be a 'shock' to their system so maybe I'll stop doing that...

 

[s_bennets]

Oh and the heater is outside of the tank so they can't touch it to burn themselves

 

[JAS101]

i think the humidity is too high , i too live in vic and dont have any house heating [ but the room stays warm from the snake enclosures] . what water are you using when you clea the water out ? tap water , water that has been sitting in buckets for a week , tank water?

 

[Jimbobulan]

I live in vic, down in geelong and i have a water heater on all the time and uv during the day and my frogs are fine. they even bred last year. Oh i also have a mister in the tank.