Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was thinking about putting some earthworms in a dendro terrarium to help turn waste into compost and aid the substrate in plant growth.Would having the worms in there harm the frogs at all?

You really don't need earthworms in a dart vivarium, since a nice biological balance will establish very well without them. While they aren't harmful to the frogs, they do multiply and may possibly disrupt certain plant roots in a small space. I've never heard of them being recommended as a part of initial set-ups.

I do have one large paludarium that contains earthworms--introduced unintentionally. While I've never personally observed a significant problem with them disrupting plants, or even notice that they are there except when one drowns in the aquarium section, the plants I have in there are mostly shallow rooted ferns, epiphytes, and vining plants--no delicate stuff their burrowing could harm.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
5 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

I had another thought after I posted the above. Most substrates will grow the plants just fine without any additional nutrients--even milled cocoanut fiber. You really don't want nitrogen rich worm castings for growth enhancement, as you will eventually be cutting back excess growth rather than wanting to encourage plant growth in a vivarium situation. Try it without the earthworms first. You may be surprised at how well appropirate tropicals thrive with adequate light and only the nourishment provided by the slow break down of the substrate and frog droppings.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
5 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

ok cool. ill probally hold off on the worm idea then. how often should i clean the terrarium? Do i have to spot clean and remove and feces i see immeadtly like i do with my other reptiles? OR will the feces naturally degrade into the substrate?

with my darts i just wipe off the glass every day. the frogs themselves don't really make a mess, but it seems like the fruit flies do, they crap on the plants. so about every month i wipe off the plants. misting every day helps A LOT with cleaning though. if you do this there is even less maintnence. plus there are snails that just seem to appear than also eat the poop.

ahh i see. how did snails get into your setup??

i honestly have no idea, they just seemed to pop up one day. i'de had the tank for about 5 months and monitored it very closely and one day there was a microscopic white snail in the tank, it is now much bigger and brown, i think there are three of them now. i just found an earthworm in that tank today, no idea how that got there either, because i've had the tank for about a year and a half now. it's really neat to watch the tank develop, there is now little moss shoots and little green things sticking up from the sheet moss. i'de always read about how this happens, but didn't really see how it could. humidity is the key. there are also little whitish maggots/worms. my imitator eats them so it's not a problem, it poops it out and the snails eat it, then the snails poop and the worm decomposes it, kinda neat. good luck with your tanks!

haha wow. nature is crazy.

No, Nature is natural. Those of us who imagine we are not a part of Nature ourselves, are crazy.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
5 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

I just read that snails and slugs are a bad idea because they like to munch on the plants and reproduce so fast. Might want to check up on that before they get out of control!