anybody ever heard of anybody using a false bottom setup for tree frogs?

[scorpio1]

i want to set up a false bottom setup for my Hyla cinerea(american green tree frogs), because at the moment i have to spray the tank 2 times a day but when i go back to work i wont be able to do this, and my heat comes from below the tank, there is no heat matt on the tank i just place them ontop of another tank and they get the warmth from that, and at night the lights go off in the tank that i use to heat the frog tank causing a temperature drop for the night period,........so to sum up i have no actual heating on the tank, and the way i heat the tank is from below using the heat from another tank, so can i use a false bottom setup?

 

[DrJ]

A lot of people use false bottom set-ups on their cages, though you may want to provide some sort of supplementary heat, as a false bottom produces a thick barrier if the heat comes from beneath. But, I'm not too familiar with frog needs, so I'll provide some links for you to look at what other people have done:

http://www.froglet.us/Hobby/terrarium_setup.html

http://www.balinka.com/pdfsetup.htm (I personally LOVE this one!)

http://www.frognet.org/gallery/False-Bottom-and-Waterfall-Assembly (directions don't seem very clear here, but will help give you ideas on doing a false bottom)

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/amphibians/250705-how-build-dart-frog-viv.html#post3323093

http://www.vivariaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150

 

[scorpio1]

thankyou for your input and the links, the second one is very kwl, i will just have to try it and moniter the temps as the heat matt that i could of used on the back of the tank is beiing used to incubate leopard gecko eggs, and i am not working at the moment so dont have enought money to buy another heat matt, i no how to set it up i just wasnt sure myself if the temps would be affected or weather the tank would become too humid as the heat is directly below the tank

 

[DrJ]

Well, here's a care guide on your frogs:
http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/caresheets/greentreefrog.html

Depending on your cage set-up, I would recommend a small ceramic heat emitter to keep the temps between 72-80 degrees F. Kinda depends on how cold your house it, as they seems to tolerate temps below 65. A ceramic heat emitter, depending on size, will cost anywhere from $20-30. You could also use a lamp on them...and use a 60 watt light during the day, and turn it off at night...that ought to get the daytime temps up a bit and they shouldn't drop below 65 at night...but that depends on your house and size of tank.

 

[scorpio1]

all temps were fine, but thanks for the suggestions, i may have to use one of those methods depending on weather the temps stay the same, now ive use the false bottom setup, i have thought about using a heat lamp but i hav a exo terra faunarium, which has a plastic lid, so a heat lamp wouldnt realli work, but as i said im a bit low on cash at the moment so couldnt even afford to make a lid that would work, but in the future i do plan on moving the frogs to a bigger tank a much bigger one(40"lx12"wx18"d) when the bearrdie that is in there outgrows the tank, i keep a lot of snakes and lizards and a few scorps and frogs so my room is nice and warm, day temps are mid 70's and at knight high 60's (f)

 

[DrJ]

If the room itself stays that warm, the frogs should be fine. Go ahead and do the false-bottom set-up.

I have exo-terra cages, and use ceramic heat emitters on top of those and have never had any issues...but, it may depend on the size you have. I have the ones that are 18" square floor space, and 24" tall. The 18" square, with one plastic piece running through the center allows you to put a wire clamp lamp right on the screen with a 150w ceramic heater with no problems. Any smaller and I don't think one would fit...but you may be able to hang it? I don't know. At either rate, it looks like the room temp should be fine.

 

[scorpio1]

ryt thank for all your help and advice, the frog tank 14"lx8"wx8"d but like i said i should be moving them to a bigger tank soon, and then i will be getting sum more of the frogs and hopefully breeding them, i have a male and a female now i think but cant recreate perfect breeding conditions within such a small tank, as they breed in water and i only have a small water dish in there which isnt bigenogh for them to breed in