Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here for Dragon Serpents
Click for ZooMed
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

Is a top necessary?

MonarchzMan1 Mar 15, 2006 05:08 PM

A lot of the care sheets that I've read about Horned Frogs says to have a screened top for the cage. Is it really necessary? I would think that it would to keep prey, like crickets, from escaping, but since I'm primarily feeding pinkies and goldfish, I have no prey that can escape, and I don't see how the frog could escape. She can't jump out, and I highly doubt that she could climb out. So is a top really necessary? I ask pretty much because I've got live plants in with her, and having the top on limits the light that can get in.

The only other thing I can think that would require a top would be to help keep the humidity up, but between having moist Bed-a-Beast, a water dish, and daily spraying, I don't think that moisture will be a problem...

Replies (2)

joossa Mar 15, 2006 07:19 PM

No, a top is not necessary. But it is highly reccomended becuase:
-It helps keep the humidity up.
-It helps keep crix inside.
-It helps keep heat inside.
-It prevents things from falling into the cage and hurting your frog.
-It helps keep in odors from the tank.

Also, you mentioned that you only feed him worms. You may want to really consider crix. and a vitamin supplement. Lighting is not required for a Pacman because they live in the bottom of the forest and almost never get direct sunlight. So, heat is the concern here. If your plants block your heat light from reaching the floor of the cage, then your cage may not be hot enough. And you may end up cooking your frog with a heat lamp. So you may also consider using an undertank heater instead of a light.

tegu24 Mar 15, 2006 11:09 PM

the other person that responded seems to be a little confused, since i don't remember you mentioning feeding your frog only worms nor do i see anything related to a heat light.
the main reason for keeping a screen on a cage, which won't really help hold in humidity, unless it is a really fine mesh like window screening, is to keep your pet in and keep foreign objects out. if you have children or other lose pets like cats that can get into the cage, then i would suggest putting a screen on. whether you need screen or not also depends on the height of the tank and the plants as well as the size of your frog. just because pacmans are fat with stubby legs doesn't mean the are incapiable of climbing large leaf plants or jumping short distances, or a combo of both. if the space between the top of the soil and the top of the tank is less than 6 inches and/or you have strong, broad leafed plants near corners in the tank, then i would suggest considering a screen top or different, smaller plants. as for feeding pinkies and fish, pinkies are high in fat and should be primarily used as an occasional treat, once every 4-6 weeks at the most. if your frog is not large enough to take fuzzy, hopper or small adult mice, then i would hold off until he/she is large enough. fish are also more of a treat food then a dietary staple and should be fed as so, such as once every 2-3 weeks. crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, earthworms, cockroaches, etc. should consist of your frogs main diet until he/she is large enough to move onto larger mice than pinkies, and should be fed even after mice make up the staple of the diet.

In case you planned to ask at another time:
as for heat, i do not recommend heat lamps for frogs, but rather under the tank heaters, just make sure that the frog cannot touch the glass directly where the heater is located, for this area can be warm enough to burn, if you don't have a false bottom style tank put down some landscaping fabric or other heat resistant non toxic barrier to keep the frog away from direct contact. if this is too much and you would prefer to use a light, get a 25 watt or smaller flood bulb and keep it at least 6" above your frog, AT LEAST 6 INCHES!! 40 watt can be used if it is a flood and kept 10" or higher or spot and kept 12" or higher. UV lighting should be provided for your pacman as well as for your plants, just because an animal lives on the forest floor, which not all species live under the canopy, (many can be found in pools or inlets from rivers in tropical savannahs), doesn't mean it doesn't get light or need light in the wild or in captivity. a flourscent blub, like a repti-glo 5.0 would be sufficient.
hope this answers your questions and then some, feel free to ask more and you should get responsible answer in return from most people.

Site Tools