# reed frogs



## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Hi all, 
would like some advice on keeping reed frogs. I have a 18x18x24 glass viv set up with a mixture of live and fake plants with a slow running waterfall. Would this be suitable for reed frogs and if so how many do you think I could keep in there?
Cheers
Chris


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

The viv sounds good- is the 24 width or height? It should work either way, I'm just curious. How are you heating and lighting? A pic would be useful, if you have one. 

Others may disagree, but from my experience I would say you could house 4 to 6 reed frogs in there quite comfortably. They tend to like to roost quite high up during the day, either on the glass or on leaves, but can be very active at night at all levels, leaping and swinging like acrobats. You might want to think about using a blue LED for night viewing.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Ron Magpie said:


> The viv sounds good- is the 24 width or height? It should work either way, I'm just curious. How are you heating and lighting? A pic would be useful, if you have one.
> 
> Others may disagree, but from my experience I would say you could house 4 to 6 reed frogs in there quite comfortably. They tend to like to roost quite high up during the day, either on the glass or on leaves, but can be very active at night at all levels, leaping and swinging like acrobats. You might want to think about using a blue LED for night viewing.


as above really, 5-6 in there would be nice, depending on species.

They are awesome things and some of my favorite frogs. 

they do prefer a teamp of around 25c or there about so thi9nk aboput how you will heat it. They like to dig down and hide at times so make sure there are loads of hiding places. 

jay


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks for that advice, I have stripped the tank to re plant it and move the waterfall. I was thinking of using a 5% uv tube to light it and a heat mat with stat to heat it. 
Cheers
Chris


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## UrolithicTitan (Sep 12, 2010)

chrisperrins78 said:


> Thanks for that advice, I have stripped the tank to re plant it and move the waterfall. I was thinking of using a 5% uv tube to light it and a heat mat with stat to heat it.
> Cheers
> Chris


That would be fine. But if you've got the extra funds, I would highly recommend that you buy an Arcadia tropical grow bulb, as it really will improve the speed of growth, colour and size of the plants.

A little tip, when using a heat mat to boost air temps, if you are using an Exo terra terrarium, then place the heat mat over one of the mesh screen pieces still under thermostatic control. This way, air temperatures within the enclosure can be boosted sufficiently without one one of the glass sides of the enclosure getting too hot and possibly causing damage to the frogs.


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Cheers for all the advice, the tank is now set up. It is an all glass tank with a mesh ventalation strip on the top, so I am heating it with a heat mat attached to one side on the bottom half of the tank. The heat mat is run off a stat set to 26 degrees and this temp is holding in the hot side. The cool side of the tank is at around 22 degrees, this side is where the waterfall is. Are these temps ok and do I need to drop it at night?
I will try to post some pice tomorrow, when pb decides to let me upload.
Cheers again
Chris


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I am going to disagree with you there, an Arcadia original tropical wont give any faster growth than a 6,500k 865 daylight bulb, or even an Arcadia D3 UV bulb. All it will give is a nasty pink light. :lol2: If you really really want pink light then a Sylvania Grolux is a lot cheaper.

That said, Arcadia D3 6% T5HOs and Arcadia Freshwater Pro T5HOs are excellent tubes, if a little expensive, and will indeed give excellent plant growth, as well as excellent colour rendition in both plants and animals.

I wrote a comparison of Arcadia tubes here Arcadia T5 Range.

I also went on to try a combination of a D3 6% and an Original Tropical Pro (24 watt T5HOs) over a 60cm deep planted viv. I actually found that plant growth was noticeably slower than in the same viv using a D3 6% with a Freshwater pro, or even a standar 865 tube.

I am also getting excellent results in both growth and plant colours using ZooMed UltraSun T5HOs, and again colour rendition is excellent with these.

Ade



UrolithicTitan said:


> That would be fine. But if you've got the extra funds, I would highly recommend that you buy an Arcadia tropical grow bulb, as it really will improve the speed of growth, colour and size of the plants.
> 
> A little tip, when using a heat mat to boost air temps, if you are using an Exo terra terrarium, then place the heat mat over one of the mesh screen pieces still under thermostatic control. This way, air temperatures within the enclosure can be boosted sufficiently without one one of the glass sides of the enclosure getting too hot and possibly causing damage to the frogs.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

chrisperrins78 said:


> Cheers for all the advice, the tank is now set up. It is an all glass tank with a mesh ventalation strip on the top, so I am heating it with a heat mat attached to one side on the bottom half of the tank. The heat mat is run off a stat set to 26 degrees and this temp is holding in the hot side. The cool side of the tank is at around 22 degrees, this side is where the waterfall is. Are these temps ok and do I need to drop it at night?
> I will try to post some pice tomorrow, when pb decides to let me upload.
> Cheers again
> Chris


the temperatures for this are perfect, personally i remove all heat from reeds at night. just let it drop to room temp, unless you room is under 11c

Jay


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I'm seriously considering getting some more reeds.


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Hopefuly getting some reed frogs this weekend. Here are some pics of the set up. It has been running for a week and a half and the temps are a steady 25 degrees on the warm side and 21 on the cool side. The big piece of bogwood is a waterfall and all the plants apart from the vine are living. Any comments (including criticism) would be most welcome.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

looks good to be, looking forward to seeing pics of the froggies when you get them. 

jay


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

The only place that seems to have them near to me at the moment is Wharf aquatics. They have Mitchells reed frogs and then they also have mixed west african reed frogs on their list. I am thinking of having a look at the mixed ones and seeing what takes my fancy.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

chrisperrins78 said:


> The only place that seems to have them near to me at the moment is Wharf aquatics. They have Mitchells reed frogs and then they also have mixed west African reed frogs on their list. I am thinking of having a look at the mixed ones and seeing what takes my fancy.


they often come in and up on lists as mixed reed frogs. most are normally hyperlious species and not to hard to ID if you know what to looking for. Remember most will be WC. 

Neil at junglepugs/living jungle has some for sale last time we spoke. 

Jay


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

I will have a look at junglebugs. I was going to pick 4-5 that looked similar.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

As I mentioned I'm thinking about getting some (probably a pair, given the size of the available viv) as well. I've set up a planted Exo, but it's only a 30 by 30 by 45cm, so a pair is probably best. I'm not in a hurry, in any case, as it is a brand new set-up, and I want the woodlice and springtails to get established, and the plants to either succeed or be replaced, if necessary.

Chris, your viv is very nice indeed! :2thumb:

The only negative I'd mention is that you seem to have a Dieffenbachia in the lower right-hand side- I never use those because of their toxicity- their common name of 'Dumb cane' is well-deserved! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieffenbachia


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

What plant would you suggest? I have a couple of ferns I could use.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Ron Magpie said:


> As I mentioned I'm thinking about getting some (probably a pair, given the size of the available viv) as well. I've set up a planted Exo, but it's only a 30 by 30 by 45cm, so a pair is probably best. I'm not in a hurry, in any case, as it is a brand new set-up, and I want the woodlice and springtails to get established, and the plants to either succeed or be replaced, if necessary.
> 
> Chris, your viv is very nice indeed! :2thumb:
> 
> The only negative I'd mention is that you seem to have a Dieffenbachia in the lower right-hand side- I never use those because of their toxicity- their common name of 'Dumb cane' is well-deserved! Dieffenbachia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


You could get a group of four happily in a viv that size ron if you wanted. Depending on species if you go for some of the smaller hyperlious you could have a few more.


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

I have taken the dumb cane out and binned it. I have replaced it with a birds nest fern. It looks better as the fern is lower and you can see more of the waterfall


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Spikebrit said:


> You could get a group of four happily in a viv that size ron if you wanted. Depending on species if you go for some of the smaller hyperlious you could have a few more.


 Yeah, I was probably being too conservative (with a *small* 'c', I hasten to add!). Another point is that in my experience, wholesalers very rarely have any particular race or species consistantly, so if I changed my mind later, I probably wouldn't be able to get the same ones.


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## ronnyjodes (Apr 29, 2011)

This is going to sound like a newbie question and in a way, as far as reeds are concerned anyway, it probably is but what is the stance on species mixing within reeds. I know there are hundreds of varieties but are they sepearte species or just different locales? Is it a similar case to darts where, despite the care requirements being generally the same that mixing varieties is a major no no or is it something that can be done but is spoken about in hushed circles where everybody wears a hooded robe?


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Ron Magpie said:


> Yeah, I was probably being too conservative (with a *small* 'c', I hasten to add!). Another point is that in my experience, wholesalers very rarely have any particular race or species consistantly, so if I changed my mind later, I probably wouldn't be able to get the same ones.


They come in in mixed bags often. these are often colelcted from the same area so it is best to get a few at once to make sure you get the same species. 



ronnyjodes said:


> This is going to sound like a newbie question and in a way, as far as reeds are concerned anyway, it probably is but what is the stance on species mixing within reeds. I know there are hundreds of varieties but are they sepearte species or just different locales? Is it a similar case to darts where, despite the care requirements being generally the same that mixing varieties is a major no no or is it something that can be done but is spoken about in hushed circles where everybody wears a hooded robe?


There are 800 species of reed frog. Most common are Hyperlious from east Africa. Most of these species dont interbred (some are closely related and will) much like darts really. There are not many people that can separate all the species, though common ones are easier. Dart people (generalise ation here) are really fussy about maintaining strict locals/morphs/species but you also get those with reed frog keepers. 

personally i keep mixed species of reeds, as a personal preference. 

Jay


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## ronnyjodes (Apr 29, 2011)

Spikebrit said:


> There are 800 species of reed frog. Most common are Hyperlious from east Africa. Most of these species dont interbred (some are closely related and will) much like darts really. There are not many people that can separate all the species, though common ones are easier. Dart people (generalise ation here) are really fussy about maintaining strict locals/morphs/species but you also get those with reed frog keepers.
> 
> personally i keep mixed species of reeds, as a personal preference.
> 
> Jay


Cheers for that Jay. It was something that always interested me because with that many species it must be hard to tell some of them apart so they must turn up unknowingly in mixed bags. Reeds have always interested me, they're on my wish list for the future so it's good to know that all hell won't break loose if they were to mix.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

ronnyjodes said:


> Cheers for that Jay. It was something that always interested me because with that many species it must be hard to tell some of them apart so they must turn up unknowingly in mixed bags. Reeds have always interested me, they're on my wish list for the future so it's good to know that all hell won't break loose if they were to mix.


They are awesomeeeeeeeeeee

jay


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Spikebrit said:


> They come in in mixed bags often. these are often colelcted from the same area so it is best to get a few at once to make sure you get the same species.


 I know. Another problem is that there tend to be a predominance of males, as they are most conspicuous when they are calling, so easier to collect.


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## vikki_john (Jul 16, 2007)

800 species?

I love reed frogs. They aren't too hard to ID if you know what country they have come from. Certain species show very little inter specific variation however.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Just a side note, really, on the viv I set up; I noticed last night that although the heat mat appeared to be functioning fine, the tank itself was a bit too cool. As most people know (and certainly, not all agree!) I favour putting mats underneath tanks, especially Exos, since that is what the space in the base of those is designed for. What I forgot, in my buzz of setting up, was the piece of poly, cut to size, to put in so that the mat is sandwiched between that and the glass- so this time, the mat was left to try and heat some empty space. :blush:

Poly in, temps up, job done! :2thumb:


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## mispentyouth (Jul 4, 2007)

just to add to the confusion males and females of the same species usually look totaly different


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Got my Reedfrogs today. Captive breed Mitchell's Reedfrogs (Hyperolius mitchelli). Will put some pics later


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

chrisperrins78 said:


> Got my Reedfrogs today. Captive breed Mitchell's Reedfrogs (Hyperolius mitchelli). Will put some pics later


Kewl- looking forward to seeing them! :2thumb:


EDIT: Just googled some pics- what a gorgeous little frog.


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## chrisperrins78 (Nov 2, 2011)

Here are a couple of pics of one of my new reed frogs chilling in a brom. There are 8 of them in there somewhere, the most I have seen out at once is 6.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

chrisperrins78 said:


> Here are a couple of pics of one of my new reed frogs chilling in a brom. There are 8 of them in there somewhere, the most I have seen out at once is 6.
> 
> image
> 
> image


:flrt::flrt::flrt:


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