No other heaters. I live in a cool climate, but try to keep the house temperatures above 65, and not less than 60 at night, which seems to work fine. I have more problems keeping some of the tanks cool in summer than heating them up, because I don't have air conditioning. Many of the frogs can actually tolerate rather lower night temperatures. (This is anecdotal, but a poster once told us that his auratus regularly get down into the upper 50's at night, and although they didn't move much until they warm up, they have tolerated this for years. Some of the smaller guys might be more particular, however.) One thing to consider is that both the substrate and water features will take up heat during the day and release it more slowly at night, so this actually moderates the changes. I also received my first pair of azureus in an overnight pack that felt extremely cold when I opened it, and the frogs were not moving at all. (I was too concerned with the frogs to measure the temperature of the insulated box, but would have guessed it at about 45 degrees just from the feel.) I thought they might be dead. I was nearly in a panic, but put them in the nursery tank and let them warm up. Gradually they warmed up, began moving, and within two hours, were eating like pigs. They had no further problems and are still going after three years. When I talked to the breeder about this, he reminded me that air cargo isn't heated--they are flying at 30,000 feet or so, and it's pretty cold up there. this is not something I would want to subject them to on a daily basis, however.



A word about the reptile heating mats for frogs: With the first few tanks I built I put them under the tank, and unless one has an open screen type rack, this is a bad mistake. There is no external or adjustable thermostat to control the temperatures, and apparently the internal ones aren't very reliable, can and do overheat. These mats actually scorched both one wood stand and another of a kitchen counter top material. I've tried a couple on the backs of the backgrounds of cork bark, etc., on the outside. This may warm the glass a bit, but is a waste of energy, because most of it is dispersed into the air. These are not safe to put inside under water or wet soil. I finally just unplugged or removed them all, and do quite well without them. There are, or at least used to be, grow mats that one could put right in the soil under cold frames outdoors to start early seedlings. I used to use them long ago in a quasi nursery business. They were reliable and had external thermostat controls. They were also expensive as hell, and I haven't seen them around for years. You don't want to use any kind of internal heat rock, etc. for frogs. They don't bask like reptiles.



These are just my own experiences--not gospel.
-----
Patty

Pahsimeroi, Idaho



Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

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