housing baby RETF

[ADEE]

this weekend we *might* be bringing home a RETF.. chances are it will be a small captive bred/born animal. i have spoken to the supplier and he said they were cbb in vietnam and then shipped over. thats the closest i have gotten to cbb, at least they arent wild cought though.. anyway. should i be housing it in a medium size critter/herp house or move it right into a 10 or 20 gal tank? I dont want it to get overwhelmed and die because of being in an enclosure too big for it.. thoughts????

[mlededee]

i feel a little leary of the whole bred in vietnam and shipped here thing. why can't the supplier get them in the U.S.? there a few breeders in florida that produce large numbers of them.

anyhow, i think starting with a 10 gallon tank is fine and won't cause stress--they are different than ball pythons and crested geckos in that respect. if it is a really tiny baby you could start it in a medium kritter keeper if you want to, but you don't have to.

[ADEE]

I thought it sounded kinda shadey too.. his name is mark lucas (?) hes all over kingsnake for selling them, his website is listed too. perhaps i should run a boi on him and see what i can scrape up. what breeders do you know of down here that perhaps i can get ahold of.. were going to keep a look out this weekend and see what they have at the expo/show.. as always thank you emily your awesome.

thanks for the info on the enclosure size too!

[mlededee]

well shoot, there was one breeder in particular that i was going to recommend but i can't find his info. he used to advertise on kingsnake all the time and a friend of mine got frogs from him several times and highly recommended him. if i can track him down i'll pass along how to get in touch with him.

[ADEE]

shucks lol.. doesnt it always happen that way, if you think of it do let me know

[ADEE]

set up.. trial and error. i was going to do something similar for the cresties, only bigger not till they get bigger though


mark lucas, thats the gentleman i spoke to who had the farm raised" RETF... here is what BOI said, not bad http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ght=mark+lucas

[mlededee]

wow that enclosure is really nice--good luck finding a frog in that!

[ADEE]

lol Emily, yeah I figured it would be tough but I would rather have difficulty finding a frog and it be happy than stressed out Aside from the fact its empty I actually like looking at the enclosure in general

Thank you for the compliment, do you think it looks ok for a RETF?

[mlededee]

i think it looks perfect for a red eye, just needs a shallow dish or something that will be the water source but you probably plan on adding that when you add the frog.

you might also consider training the frog to eat out of a cup since there is a lot of foilage in there to have to find food in (although they are pretty good at it). you can put crickets, roaches and whatever other insects you feed into a cup and put that in the enclosure and the frog will learn to eat out of it. that also eliminates you having to find and dig out anything that doesn't get eaten overnight.

[ADEE]

thats a great idea..

any suggestions as to how i should do that lol. i do have a shallow (its a reptile food thing) dish made out of rock i planned on putting in there, i saw a frog drown at the petstore not long ago and it broke my heart so i refuse to put one in there very deep.. scares the tar out of me!

Bowl/dish feeding is a good idea and I would be able to see it more often too if i put it near the front of the tank, how do you keep the crickets INSIDE the cup? I have heard of plucking their legs off but isnt that time consuming? How many crickets do the frogs eat a daily typically.. its not a big deal since i have cricket eating machines in the house (canon and nikon) but i would like to know since im meeting with craig today to get more for the girls. I do know handling is an absolute no-no. Should I stick to just one red eye or two? I have read they do better in pairs/groups, is that true? i was thinking i should get one and see if i can keep it alive first.. I know its a small enclosure, especially considering its long and not tall but we do plan to move up when it gets bigger if nessesary, as far as i know we will be getting a cbb baby, not a WC juvinile/adult.

Also, is there a night bulb I could use over the tank so I can see the frog at night, one that wouldnt disturb it. I know beardies are sensative to that stuff but wasnt sure about the frogs. Should I be using a light for the live plant (it says indirect light on the tabby thing) or will it be fine if i just open the blinds on it.. I wasnt sure if the frog would be bothered by THAT light, similar to the cresties