"Critter Cages"

Does anybody know if Critter Cages by All Glass Aquarium (the tanks with built in sliding screens) will hold water? I have two African clawed frogs and I want to move them into their own tank, but the only spare tank I have is a 10 gallon Critter Cage. For whatever reason I always thought they weren't meant to hold water, but I'm not sure where that came from! Their website has turtles listed as an appropriate animal for this type of cage, but who knows what that means. I just don't want to have another leaking aquarium disaster :disbelief

I THINK you should be able to put a few inches of water in it. That shouldn't be too heavy to stress the seams. They're not designed to hold a full tank of water like a fish-tank, though.


Best thing to do, since you already have it...is set it someplace where a leak won't matter...and test it with the amount of water you would need for the frogs.

Yeah, they're not really built to hold water... like Judy said, maybe a little, but it's not an aquarium. They're much lighter built because they're meant as a viv. So I'd be kinda wary about putting a lot of water in.

Ok, thanks guys. I thought they were built lighter but I couldn't remember if I read that somewhere or dreamed it up on my own. Figures I just get rid of like, five aquariums and now I need one! Poor planning on my part, oh well. I'll figure something out.

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Originally Posted by invadertoast

Ok, thanks guys. I thought they were built lighter but I couldn't remember if I read that somewhere or dreamed it up on my own. Figures I just get rid of like, five aquariums and now I need one! Poor planning on my part, oh well. I'll figure something out.

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Which is why I never get rid of anything. Ever. :P

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Originally Posted by JLC

Which is why I never get rid of anything. Ever. :P

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That was my philosophy until mom decided to put our house on the market, lol. It felt great to get rid of all this stuff we'd all been hanging on to, but I didn't really want to get rid of the aquariums. Too bad they take up so much space! Oh well, lol

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Originally Posted by invadertoast

That was my philosophy until mom decided to put our house on the market, lol. It felt great to get rid of all this stuff we'd all been hanging on to, but I didn't really want to get rid of the aquariums. Too bad they take up so much space! Oh well, lol

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Hehe...I hear ya. We do actually get rid of lots of stuff each time we move...but somehow seem to accumulate even more the instant we settle into a new home. I swear it's as bad as trying to lose weight! :P

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Originally Posted by JLC

Which is why I never get rid of anything. Ever. :P

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I hear ya! I have two un-used tanks (20 gal, 10 gal) that aren't going anywhere. I'm sure in my future I'll be getting lizards or amphibians.

If you're gonna test the Critter thing, do it in a plastic tub. ;)

We've never moved before, my parents have lived here since the seventies and I've been in this house all my life... during all that time we never really got rid of ANYTHING! It was time... lol. I might be able to steal back a tank from a friend or something, if I can remember who has what!

Don't the "critter" cages actually have a hole on the bottom? I know the 40 breeder sized critter cages do.

I have 10, 15, and 20 gal cages....and none of those have holes.

Hey, they hold water fine, in my experience. I have one that's an "old trooper" from years and years ago that had housed salamanders, dwarf frogs, a betta, feeder fish, goldfish fry, and finally clawed frogs (before they went into my 125g tank.) I now use it as a rat retainer tank for cleaning-cage time, as it's so scratched up that it'd be an ugly display tank ;)
Just avoid the obvious pitfall of scrubbing them clean with a "scrubbie" sponge (like I did, lol) as the plastic scratches.

EDIT!! EDIT!!
Are you talking about the plastic, one-piece molded ones, or the glass ones with the slidey lid? If it is the latter, I would not recommend using it with more than, say, a third of the tank's depth of water in it. They aren't framed as good as regular tanks.
Why not get an r-maid for the frogs? Cheap and effective :)

Yes, I'm talking about the glass ones with a sliding top. A rubbermaid is a good idea... why didn't I think of that, lol.

On a side note, I had a 20L and a 40 breeder, both "Critter Cages" and the 20L had a hole in the bottom, the 40 did not. I think the hole is a more recent thing as I got the 40 gal for like my 8th birthday (12 years ago) and I got the 20L only a couple of years ago.

You're remembering the "Doesn't hold water" thing from the manufacturer; there's a manufacturer's warning sticker on the bottom of our Critter Cage tanks (just saw it last night).

But I agree with Judy et. al - do a "water" test. I'm guessing a couple of inches would be fine. =)

Hey, Lindsay, ACFs are awesome by the way.. I gotta post pics of mine (2.2.) :)

I love Clawed Frogs, they are just so funny. I had a huge albino male, but he met his demise when he hopped out of the tank he was in(no lid unfortunately) and was found about 5 hours later under my bed, covered in fluff. I think that amount of time out of water just did him in, or he wasn't able to handle the stress. He sure was a sweety though. I loved handfeeding him and watching him chase those Rosy Reds.

I hope to eventually get some from here: www.xenopus.com They are a nice lab company that breeds them for research. I really want an albino reticulated, they are awesome looking.

I love ACF's, they're just too funny/cute. I know it's a "no-no" to house them with certain types of fish but I've seen it done before, they were in with my small jewel cichlids (under close supervision, and the frogs were there first) with no problems at all, but now I'm worried about the fish getting (partially) eaten by the frogs (even though the frogs are smaller!) The jewels are suprisingly not territorial (yet, I guess) but there's been alot of "frog chasing fish" behavior going on so it's time to move these guys. I'd planned on putting them in their own tank when they got bigger, I just didn't figure it would be this soon.

The first one I had (I was maybe 7) was traumatizing because I got three neon tetras at the same time and didn't know any better. By the time I got home I had two neon tetras, one fat ACF, and one tiny fish head in the bag. He lived for a long time, but met his fate when he escaped and hopped down the stairs :(

Aww; that must've been bad :(
Let me take a few pics of our guys...