# My Greenhouse



## marcuswinner1

Hello all,

Not been on for ages as I moved house in Jan and have been really busy with DIY and work. Anyway once I got all the normal DIY done I decided that now I have a decent Garden I would finally get myself a Greenhouse sorted. Toyed with doing a build thread but to be honest didn't have the time so here is the (Nearly) finished thing!!:












Its got two ponds, logs, underground rubble with small access holes for hibernation and is in the shadiest corner of my garden to avoid over heating. So far it has Yellow bellied Toads, Alpine Newts and Pygmy Marbled Newts. The plan is once it is secure enough that my European Green Tree Frogs will go in too


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Not been on for ages as I moved house in Jan and have been really busy with DIY and work. Anyway once I got all the normal DIY done I decided that now I have a decent Garden I would finally get myself a Greenhouse sorted. Toyed with doing a build thread but to be honest didn't have the time so here is the (Nearly) finished thing!!:
> 
> image


Majorly cool! :2thumb: What will you be keeping in there?


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## marcuswinner1

You commented before I updated the post with that bit mate! :whistling2:


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## rob-stl-07

Wow really nice mate! Thinking of doing this myself - all the species you mentioned are able to survive year round?


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## marcuswinner1

YBT's and Alpines deffinately, I'm hoping that the Pygmy Marbled Newts do ok, Cant see why they wouldn't though.

Some more pics:










Main pond:









This is where the main Hibernation site is burried:










Pygmy Marms, Just released:


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> You commented before I updated the post with that bit mate! :whistling2:


Do try and keep up... :whistling2:


:lol2:


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## marcuswinner1

Ron Magpie said:


> Do try and keep up... :whistling2:
> 
> 
> :lol2:


Sorry Ron.....As I said I've been off the forum for a while :blush:


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## Ron Magpie

In any case, it's a cool project!


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## GECKO MICK

Sweet Lookin project buddy.nice.:2thumb:


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## marcuswinner1

Oh yeah...The best bit is that other than about fifteen quids worth of plants and the decking boards used for the anti-climbing overhang on the wall, pretty much everything else was free


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## colinm

Its looking good,but a few tips for Treefrogs.

Before you put the Treefrogs in there I would suggest that you need some talller plants.Be careful if you have a sliding door they will hide in the runners.Lastly they will make a lot of noise,so be careful with the neighbours.


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## REDDEV1L

Sweet !!

I've been given the option of using our greenhouse, as the old lady doesn't bother growing stuff in it anymore.
The one thing that is worrying me is the hibernation. How did you go about it ??
(bearing in mind in way up north where I don't know of anyone else who has outdoor 'vivaria' I may well need industrial strength hibernacula :lol2

I was thinking euro treefs too, but they've proven difficult to get at all over the past few years nevermind in large enough numbers (and different bloodlines) to create a decent colony !! :bash:


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## colinm

If you dig out put plenty of rubble in the borders with earth so that the frogs and toads can burrow down ,there will not be a proble,If you keep species that hibernate in the water ensure that the water doesn`t freeze to its full depth.Most of these species are very hardty and some can live in uncovered vivaria.

My concern would be more about greenhouses getting too hot in the summer.


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## morg

Excellent greenhouse mate.
I would love to find room in my garden for a greenhouse, but as you have seen when you have visited, I only have a small garden, and that already has a fire salamander enclosure,3 ponds, and a toad shed in it:whistling2:


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## ronnyjodes

morg said:


> Excellent greenhouse mate.
> I would love to find room in my garden for a greenhouse, but as you have seen when you have visited, I only have a small garden, and that already has a fire salamander enclosure,3 ponds, and a toad shed in it:whistling2:


I can say I've been in Morg's garden and it's bloody awesome. Mate, you don't need a greenhouse in there, you've got the perfect natural environment for native newts and frogs. In fact, you should get some pics up if you haven't already as it might inspire a few folk.


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## marcuswinner1

ronnyjodes said:


> I can say I've been in Morg's garden and it's bloody awesome. Mate, you don't need a greenhouse in there, you've got the perfect natural environment for native newts and frogs. In fact, you should get some pics up if you haven't already as it might inspire a few folk.


I was just thinking the same, I have done a greenhouse cos I wouldn't get away with turning the whole garden into one massive Phib enclosure like you have Morg!!


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## marcuswinner1

colinm said:


> Its looking good,but a few tips for Treefrogs.
> 
> Before you put the Treefrogs in there I would suggest that you need some talller plants.Be careful if you have a sliding door they will hide in the runners.Lastly they will make a lot of noise,so be careful with the neighbours.


The reason Ive not got the door on yet Colin is cos I dont trust the Treefrogs with a standard door, Going to try to convert it somehow but not sussed it yet!

Was thinking about putting some Brambles in there as Treefrogs always seem to be pictured on them in books and they grow quick, just unsure about the dagers of them being so spikey. Then again I'm sure there are no people following Treefrogs around in the wild warning them to be careful of sharp objects!


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## Patto96

I would not put brambles in there, they will outcompete your other plants and are a pain to remove. Perhaps a bamboo of some kind?


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## marcuswinner1

REDDEV1L said:


> The one thing that is worrying me is the hibernation. How did you go about it ??


I followed a guide that I found somewhere on the net. I dug out a couple of area's and filled them with broken bricks, slabs and tiles to create underground spaces:










then used upside down turf to cover it before adding a layer of soil and bark chips. I put a large log over one and a log pile over the other. I also put a couple of old slate tiles at angles with gaps under them that lead to the chambers below before adding the soil.


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## colinm

I have seen friends greenhouses and what they often do is put a woulden frame with mesh in the door opening that can easily be lifted out.It will give some ventilation too.

When I kept Treefrogs in a green house I used to have Morning Glory and Passionflowers in there.I would not use Bramble for the reasons Patto said.You can grow some nice flowering plants with a little support.


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## marcuswinner1

colinm said:


> I have seen friends greenhouses and what they often do is put a woulden frame with mesh in the door opening that can easily be lifted out.It will give some ventilation too.


That may be the answer then Colin, I was already thinking of something similar but was trying to get my head around attaching it to the metal frame with hinges. A lift out option would be loads easier. :2thumb:


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## Meefloaf

This is genius, may have to do this, especially living in Cornwall. 

Be ace to get some vine going on, maybe a palm or two


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## ukgeckos

I have Passion flower and honeysuckle in mine and also grape vines. All grow quick and provide deep cover,
I only planted them this year and there already going well.
The treefrogs love them.
I'm hoping to get some euro green toads this year to add to it


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## Ron Magpie

It may be too obvious to mention, but you'll need to screen the roof vents as well, if you have treefrogs- as somebody mentioned, you *will* need ventilation in warm weather. If you have the spare dosh, I'd seriously consider one of those temperature-linked automatic openers.

EDIT: Just checked back, and it was Colin who talked about high temperatures. Don't underestimate the risk; I've lost animals in greenhouses in the past, when an unexpected over-warm morning made it too hot. it was many years ago, but I've never forgotten (or forgiven myself!).


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## richie.b

Hi Marcus nice work with the greenhouse. Few things you will need to watch with glass greenhouses is if its in direct sun it will get very hot as Ron and Colin have pointed out. I paint mine with the greenhouse white out stuff in the summer to help stop this, plus stops the scorching affect on plants.
Also ive got a bramble in mine but its a thornless blackberry one that are now available, ive also got a grape . Both need pruning occasionally though.

Im actually in the process of stripping mine out as i want to change a few things and catch up the pool frogs as theyre now huge. Also need to check its totally secure as ive got some nice European wall lizards coming soon.
Ive also got a wooden framed mess door inside the sliding door so i can leave the sliding door open in the summer.

Richie


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## colinm

You really will need a secure greenhouse for Wall Lizards Richie.You could try other species like Green Lizards,they are not as lively.Dont forget the u.v.b. though for lizards.


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## marcuswinner1

Right, I have made a tight fitting wooden frame that fits in the door hole. The runners for the sliding door have been removed.

Next thing is to get some suitably small mesh. 

I am planning on meshing some of the roof soon but as the Treefrogs are not in yet the roof window is open for now.

Richie/Ron, The Greenhouse avoids too much direct sun for most of the day as it is covered to the south and west by an enormous shed in my neighbours garden and a 6ft fence directly behind it at the back of my garden.


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## Meefloaf

where i work we do a mesh called "fine shading" an example here Apollo Fine Shading with 2mm Mesh: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors it's what i'm going to use to divide the substrate in my viv


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## marcuswinner1

Meefloaf said:


> where i work we do a mesh called "fine shading" an example here Apollo Fine Shading with 2mm Mesh: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors it's what i'm going to use to divide the substrate in my viv


Looks very good but I'm hoping to spend less than 92 quid :2thumb:.

(I assume smaller quantities are available)


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## soundstounite

Hey Mucker,
good to see you about Marcus,oh :welcome: to phibs:Na_Na_Na_Na:.

Mate great work and particularly interesting to me,although my eventual leanings might be somewhat more tropical. Anyways another thought on mesh.Have a look at what these guys do:2thumb:

The Mesh Company: Online Shop for Woven, Knitted and Perforated Mesh for Art, Craft, Floristry, Modelling and Engineering

good luck with it mate Oh kiddo a mate from way back,used to grow ginger in his GH,an amazing looking plant,do some searches

Stu


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## Meefloaf

yeah, they sell it by the foot or metre usually, comes 1 metre wide i do believe


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## marcuswinner1

soundstounite said:


> Hey Mucker,
> good to see you about Marcus,oh :welcome: to phibs:Na_Na_Na_Na:.
> 
> Mate great work and particularly interesting to me,although my eventual leanings might be somewhat more tropical. Anyways another thought on mesh.Have a look at what these guys do:2thumb:
> 
> The Mesh Company: Online Shop for Woven, Knitted and Perforated Mesh for Art, Craft, Floristry, Modelling and Engineering
> 
> good luck with it mate Oh kiddo a mate from way back,used to grow ginger in his GH,an amazing looking plant,do some searches
> 
> Stu


Hello mate!

Yes I'm back, Not saying I will be on every day as I'm stupidly busy these days but thought this would be of interest to a few people.

Less of the "welcome" Stu! (I'm an Ultra Citizen don't you know!)

Shall take a look at the link.

I'm trying to get closer to having a low maintenance collection. Just had a look out there with the torch and there are spiders and slugs mooching about in there. You dont get that in a viv without adding stuff!

Also a pair of the Yellow bellies have been in amplexus all day with no release calls from the Female. Considering that they were put in there last night, they seem to be happy. :2thumb:


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## soundstounite

marcuswinner1 said:


> Hello mate!
> 
> Yes I'm back, Not saying I will be on every day as I'm stupidly busy these days but thought this would be of interest to a few people.
> 
> Less of the "welcome" Stu! (I'm an Ultra Citizen don't you know!)
> 
> Shall take a look at the link.
> 
> I'm trying to get closer to having a low maintenance collection. Just had a look out there with the torch and there are spiders and slugs mooching about in there. You dont get that in a viv without adding stuff!
> 
> Also a pair of the Yellow bellies have been in amplexus all day with no release calls from the Female. Considering that they were put in there last night, they seem to be happy. :2thumb:


The mesh company have been great with what we've used them for Marcus,it's a really useful link to stash anyway,whether you use them or not in this instance.
Sorry for the :welcome:,how could I resist.:lol2:
Marcus I really hope that the yellow bellied pr go well for you,we'd like some pics please mate. I hope you do find some euro greens mate,I've always adored them,I always wanted as a kid. 
You hit the nail on the head with these types of enclosures me thinks,the variety of grub,must help the inhabitants emensely
good
work kiddo

Stu


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## Patto96

marcuswinner1 said:


> Richie/Ron, The Greenhouse avoids too much direct sun for most of the day as it is covered to the south and west by an enormous shed in my neighbours garden and a 6ft fence directly behind it at the back of my garden.


Perhaps you should measure the temperature for a few weeks (morning, midday and night), then see if you do need to take action. You only need to do it on sunny days. But it can be deceptively warm as greenhouses are designed to trap heat.


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## marcuswinner1

Got squillions (good word!) of young out of the Yellow bellies last summer mate when they lived in a little tank in the kitchen and had crickets three times a week so quietly confident that they will do well in the greenhouse full of wild grub and all that space!

European Green Treefrogs are in a tank in the house so will be good to go once I get the door secure! 

Will have to go through all the plants sugested to see what I can squeeze in for em :2thumb:

Marcus.


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## marcuswinner1

colinm said:


> When I kept Treefrogs in a green house I used to have Morning Glory


:gasp: Just reading through and this made me laugh!

I'm quite excited about the idea too but I wouldn't go that far Colin!!:2thumb:


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## ukgeckos

I heard my American green tree frogs calling this morning from the greenhouse. I think they may be old enough to breed this year so I have my fingers crossed!!!
I bought my mesh from ebay and it came with Velcro that I simply sewed onto the mesh and glued the other bit to the window surround to allow me to open the windows during the summer.
Worth a look


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## marcuswinner1

ukgeckos said:


> I heard my American green tree frogs calling this morning from the greenhouse. I think they may be old enough to breed this year so I have my fingers crossed!!!
> I bought my mesh from ebay and it came with Velcro that I simply sewed onto the mesh and glued the other bit to the window surround to allow me to open the windows during the summer.
> Worth a look


Sounds like a clever idea for the roof window. I shall look into this :2thumb:

I've been out there tonight and seen Yellow bellies (Including some babies), Alpines and two Pygmy Marms. Not seeing as many of the Alpines as on the first and second night but sure that they are hiding somewhere!


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## marcuswinner1

Update...I was away last night but have had a look tonight and the Yellow bellies have spawned already:2thumb: they bred much later in the year indoors last year.

Even better, I put some young Alpines that were still aquatic in one pond and the Toads have spawned in the other one, so minimal predation :2thumb:


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## marcuswinner1

For Stu:

Yellow Bellied Toads in Amplexus


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> Update...I was away last night but have had a look tonight and the Yellow bellies have spawned already:2thumb: they bred much later in the year indoors last year.
> 
> *Even better, I put some young Alpines that were still aquatic in one pond and the Toads have spawned in the other one, so minimal predation *:2thumb:[/QUOTE
> You're going to leave them in situ then? I like the idea, but in my experience (mostly with orientals) the biggest predator on both tadpoles and young morphs are adult toads.


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## marcuswinner1

[/QUOTE
You're going to leave them in situ then? I like the idea, but in my experience (mostly with orientals) the biggest predator on both tadpoles and young morphs are adult toads.[/QUOTE]

They have only laid a bit Ron, Assuming there will be some more yet and I was only thinking earlier I better take a few eggs/tads to one side at some point to ensure I have some survive. Suppose it will be a bit of both and see how it goes.

I put some of the CB12's in at the same time as I released the adults and one got nommed briefly, kicked a bit and then spat out!!!:gasp:

Will be nice to see how the population settles, on the plus side I saw a CB12 today looking positively chubby after a few days out there :2thumb:

Marcus


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> [/QUOTE
> You're going to leave them in situ then? I like the idea, but in my experience (mostly with orientals) the biggest predator on both tadpoles and young morphs are adult toads.


They have only laid a bit Ron, Assuming there will be some more yet and I was only thinking earlier I better take a few eggs/tads to one side at some point to ensure I have some survive. Suppose it will be a bit of both and see how it goes.

I put some of the CB12's in at the same time as I released the adults and one got nommed briefly, kicked a bit and then spat out!!!:gasp:

Will be nice to see how the population settles, on the plus side I saw a CB12 today looking positively chubby after a few days out there :2thumb:

Marcus[/QUOTE]
It was a question, not a judgement, lol.


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## Mr cyclone

*greenhouse*

Cracking idea im going to try something similar next year and disguise it and pretend im going to grow tomatoes n stuff lol


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## marcuswinner1

Update:

There seem to be loads of mozzie larvae in the ponds so the few still aquatic Alpines from last year should be having a good feed.

I have put a willow trellis in today and put some Blue Rock Bindweed in that will hopefully climb up it but have some morning glory seeds too if it doesn't.

Also picked up some mesh for the door so should all be sorted for the treefrogs by the weekend :2thumb:

Marcus.


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## gazz

By the look of the species you have your doing a euro set up. What about a couple of fire salamanders. And if you know anyone in the Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire see if they can track you down a pair of Feral Midwife toads. Nice green house set up:2thumb:.


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## marcuswinner1

gazz said:


> By the look of the species you have your doing a euro set up. What about a couple of fire salamanders. And if you know anyone in the Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire see if they can track you down a pair of Feral Midwife toads. Nice green house set up:2thumb:.


 
It's still quite a small greenhouse as they go so I'm reluctant to put too much in, although I would seriously consider a couple of midwife toads if I could get hold of some.


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> It's still quite a small greenhouse as they go so I'm reluctant to put too much in, although I would seriously consider a couple of midwife toads if I could get hold of some.


You're giving your animals a pretty decent space- apart from midwives :mf_dribble:I take your point on the limits.


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## marcuswinner1

Ron Magpie said:


> You're giving your animals a pretty decent space- apart from midwives :mf_dribble:I take your point on the limits.


Im just concious that just because its loads bigger than a viv, the floor space is still tiny compared to the wild and the animals are still all going to be living in each others pockets. Dont want to overload it...............(once I have some Midwives).


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## marcuswinner1

Found the adult male Yellow belly toad paired up with the other female the other day and have found some more spawn today :2thumb:

Also it looks like the first batch of spawn laid is hatching (it's taken lots longer than when indoors last yr)


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> Found the adult male Yellow belly toad paired up with the other female the other day and have found some more spawn today :2thumb:
> *
> Also it looks like the first batch of spawn laid is hatching (it's taken lots longer than when indoors last yr*)


I'll tell you something I'd be interested in; the sex ratio of the resulting toads. As you probably know, one of my pet theories is that at least part of the reason for the preponderance of male Oriental FBTs in captivity is that most are laid and raised indoors. Much like we *know* temperature affects sex during reptile development, I feel very strongly that it does in FBTs, too. I have no actual *proof *whatsover, of course! :lol2:


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## marcuswinner1

Ron Magpie said:


> I'll tell you something I'd be interested in; the sex ratio of the resulting toads. As you probably know, one of my pet theories is that at least part of the reason for the preponderance of male Oriental FBTs in captivity is that most are laid and raised indoors. Much like we *know* temperature affects sex during reptile development, I feel very strongly that it does in FBTs, too. I have no actual *proof *whatsover, of course! :lol2:


Interesting and understandable theory Ron.

Assuming any survive I shall let you know in a couple of years :2thumb:

Bare with....


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> Interesting and understandable theory Ron.
> 
> Assuming any survive I shall let you know in a couple of years :2thumb:
> 
> Bare with....


I will do my best to control my impatience...

Actually, just read something similar mooted for mossy frogs- so I may be on to something.


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## marcuswinner1

found them laying more spawn last night!

I'm going to be over run with Yellow Bellied Toads!!:gasp:


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## REDDEV1L

If you get overwhelmed I may be persuaded to buy some spawn from you Marcus :Na_Na_Na_Na:

(Same goes for you Ron ... I have a greenhouse of my own to plan!! :lol2


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## marcuswinner1

^^^ Only just seen this...I will have pleanty of tads/ toadlets available soon. 

It's taken a while but I am very close to having the thing treefrog proof now (the mesh door is done, just a few gaps high up to seal). Have also got some trellis and climbing plants looking good in there.

At work at the mo but will try to get some pics later.


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## marcuswinner1

Right.....at last...... Treefrogs!!










Put five youngsters in earlier now that I'm pretty sure its escape proof :whistling2:

Also....Look how nice its getting after a few weeks...










Thats a grape vine in the bottom left and heres the trellis for the treefrogs with a clematis at the top of it already...










Also note the thick cover below...The Treefrogs all dissapeared into that lot when I released them.


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## marcuswinner1

Heres a snap from through the window at ground level.....










And the Yellow Bellies in their pond as usual!!


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## plasma234

i love this. :no1:


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## Ron Magpie

Wow!

That is all.


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## Meefloaf

This is awesome and deffo on the to do list in a few years


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## marcuswinner1

Thanks all.

Had a quick look after work tonight and can only see two treefrogs but to be fair two out of three that I couldn't see spend a lot of time brown compared to the others so they dont stand out as much. The two I could see are more blue than green.

Out of the Specis that I have put in there so far, I would say that Yellow Bellied Toads are a must for anyone thinking of doing this as they are always out and about splashing about in the ponds:2thumb:

Marcus


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## marcuswinner1

Just gone out at 22.15 (a few minutes after dark this time of year) and found them all climbing about...



















Well chuffed :2thumb:


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## ip3kid

This is awesome, fair play mate. I always wanted to do something similar but I'm still under my parents roof haha, soooon!


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## marcuswinner1

Got too many yellow belly tads now so have decided to sell a few before they morph to thin out the numbers!


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## vukic

marcuswinner1 said:


> found them laying more spawn last night!
> 
> I'm going to be over run with Yellow Bellied Toads!!:gasp:










marcuswinner1 said:


> Got too many yellow belly tads now so have decided to sell a few before they morph to thin out the numbers!


I'm definitely interested.. Where are you... By the way great work.. Looks awesome.. Tempted to try it myself.. 

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## marcuswinner1

Update - I now have this years Yellow belly toadlets climbing out of the water to join the adults and the CB12's and some Alpine Newts in the water that are getting to a good size too. They still have gills but to be fair there are some CB12 Alpines in the ponds too that decided to stay aquatic and so still have theirs too.

I also saw a Pygmy Marm the other day that was loads bigger than when I last saw him/her :2thumb:.

Treefrogs are lovin the sunshine too.....


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## marcuswinner1

Also the plants seem to be liking it too.....



















Loads easier to get them to grow than in a viv:whistling2:

Marcus


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## Ron Magpie

Dude, this continues to be a really aspirational (in the *ideas* sense, not the tory sense, lol) project- space and time, that's all I need... :2thumb::no1::2thumb:





Oh, and a Tardis.


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## marcuswinner1

Ron Magpie said:


> Dude, this continues to be a really aspirational (in the *ideas* sense, not the tory sense, lol) project- space and time, that's all I need... :2thumb::no1::2thumb:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and a Tardis.


Lol,

You know what mate, I've tried all that stuff that Stu does and struggled to get my vivs looking right, keeping them looking right if they get there and really had probs gettin any darts to breed other than my Tri's but this has been a walk in the park by comparison. Build greenhouse.....plant plants.....dig holes....fill with water.....let phibs go......chuck flies and crickets in every few days...done :no1:

(....I may have slightly over simplified to make the point)


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## Ron Magpie

marcuswinner1 said:


> Lol,
> 
> You know what mate, I've tried all that stuff that Stu does and struggled to get my vivs looking right, keeping them looking right if they get there and really had probs gettin any darts to breed other than my Tri's but this has been a walk in the park by comparison. Build greenhouse.....plant plants.....dig holes....fill with water.....let phibs go......chuck flies and crickets in every few days...done :no1:
> 
> (....I may have slightly over simplified to make the point)


What you have here, though, is very different from a dart viv- effectively, you have a (relatively) large habitat with (relatively) hardy 'phibs- which makes it sound easy, but it's really not- you have more space to make a balance, but more balance to make per space- take some credit for making a real success out of this, where an aweful lot of wannabes have failed miserably! :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## ronnyjodes

Despite the fact you beat me to buying those Euorpean tree frogs I've got to say they look awesome in there Marcus. You've done a belting job and the plants look great too although it's not a greenhouse unless there's tomatoes in it somewhere . Multifunctional veg patch/ viv anybody?


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## EuroHerp

We have the odd veg plant in ours and also have herbs mixed into the foliage.

I find myself standing in the doorway watching ours for ages.

Love seeing pics for more ideas and love the euro green tree frogs. I'm picking some up in three weeks and can't wait


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## Meefloaf

dartfrog have got quite a selection of european frogs atm


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## johnc79

How did they get on during the winter just gone? Looks great by the way. Hoping to start mine once I've relaid the turf!!


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## marcuswinner1

Sorry, I seem to be a year late with my reply to this! 

After two winters however I can report that there are 15 adult Alpine Newts, some young Alpines on land, I've just taken 16 young Alpines out of the ponds to feed up til they morph. There only seems to be one Pygmy Marm (now an adult Male), both Female YBT's (the male died randomly last spring) and four out of five of the Euro Green Treefrogs. One looked poorly when I introduced them and didn't last long. 

There is also a Male Firebelly that I put in last year to breed with the Yellow bellies (so they didn't pop!). Didn't rear any young though. He has overwintered in there too without issue.

Marcus


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## marcuswinner1

Picture update.....

Summer 2014, there are ponds and animals in there somewhere!


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## Stupot1610

marcuswinner1 said:


> Sorry, I seem to be a year late with my reply to this!
> 
> After two winters however I can report that there are 15 adult Alpine Newts, some young Alpines on land, I've just taken 16 young Alpines out of the ponds to feed up til they morph. There only seems to be one Pygmy Marm (now an adult Male), both Female YBT's (the male died randomly last spring) and four out of five of the Euro Green Treefrogs. One looked poorly when I introduced them and didn't last long.
> 
> There is also a Male Firebelly that I put in last year to breed with the Yellow bellies (so they didn't pop!). Didn't rear any young though. He has overwintered in there too without issue.
> 
> Marcus


So did the fire belly breed with the yellow bellies?? There seem to be a lot of variegata x bombina hybrids in the wild where they overlap.


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## marcuswinner1

Stupot1610 said:


> So did the fire belly breed with the yellow bellies?? There seem to be a lot of variegata x bombina hybrids in the wild where they overlap.


Yes, quite readily.

all viable eggs too but didn't raise them. I wasn't sure if there would be any way of re-homing them all. and if I did then there's no way of knowing if people will breed them again and pass them off as FBT's or YBT's.

He is an oriental FB too.

(I might rear myself a couple one day to see what they're like)

Marcus


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## soundstounite

But dude Ron was right ya did a hell of a job there mate and even though you are busy it IS still there,pretty cool this Marcus,ok very cool indeed:whistling2:

I dunno what to say about the cross,I'll leave that to others,just wanted to stop by,say hey man and grats

Stu


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## marcuswinner1

Thanks Stu, good to hear from you. I like the fact that the big garden viv method gives me a few months off in the winter and then its like getting everything new again when they all appear in Spring! A few more pics.....


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## soundstounite

Marcus it's lovely to see you back posting about this,sorry mate I should have stated that in the last message:bash: Actually with Stuart's recent thread about Hyla aborea,I have to ask have yours shown any sign of breeding? 

Ha I take your point about the winter and then a brilliant new start each spring,that is somewhat appealing,best bit mate is you have already done all the graft,so now its sit back and watch the magic happen .

All credit bro and cheers for stopping by to show us all this,it's very cool mate: I've really enjoyed reading and staring:2thumb:

Stu


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## Stupot1610

Are some of your arborea the blue morph? One of the pictures shows a tree frog that is very blue. If it is the blue morph, I'd love to buy some juveniles from you later in the year if they breed for you, or im sure we could organise a swap if you're interested - have a look at my signature and see if there's anything you fancy.


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## marcuswinner1

soundstounite said:


> Marcus it's lovely to see you back posting about this,sorry mate I should have stated that in the last message:bash: Actually with Stuart's recent thread about Hyla aborea,I have to ask have yours shown any sign of breeding?
> 
> 
> Stu


Thanks Stu, I had calling last summer (I find it best to act as confused as the neighbours about what that strange noise was last night......"yes it was awful wasn't it!"). I'm hoping that if any of the four are girls then they may show some interest this year but nothing came of all the noise last year.



> Are some of your arborea the blue morph? One of the pictures shows a tree frog that is very blue. If it is the blue morph, I'd love to buy some juveniles from you later in the year if they breed for you, or im sure we could organise a swap if you're interested


 Hi Stupot, one of them is quite bluish sometimes but they change a bit as you know, Will get some up to date pics of them when they are all out at once when the weather settles on warm! If they do breed for me then I'm sure we can sort something, I might look to find an additional Female (or two) this summer to help with the plan. I think the chap I got them from said that some blue ones where thrown out by his group.

Marcus


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## creepycrawlies

What species of amphibians do you keep in here? What breeding success have you had?

Do you have a list of plant species?

Looks great!


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## marcuswinner1

creepycrawlies said:


> What species of amphibians do you keep in here? What breeding success have you had?
> 
> Do you have a list of plant species?
> 
> Looks great!


 Thanks,

There are 15 Adult Alpine Newts, 2 Yellow Belly Toads, 4 European Green Treefrogs, one Pygmy Marbled Newt and one Fire Belly Toad at the moment.

The Alpines breed like mad, the Yellow bellies did but the Male died for some reason and the Treefrogs started calling last summer but no eggs, hoping they may manage it this year.

I know some of the plants but not al. Various ferns (both bought from Wilkos and wild) seem to love it in there though.

Marcus


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