Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have some very tiny tiny gaps in my tank. about the width of a dime if not smaller. could an imitator get through a gap of that size?

"They" say that anything that a fruit fly can get through, so can a small dart. I didn't believe this until I came home from a short vacation and had someone caring for my frogs. She had inadvertently left the glass top just slightly cocked open--truly about a dime size--and there was a mummified D. fantasticus on the floor. Even as small as they are, I didn't know how the heck he managed to do it, but he did. So just to be on the safe side, I would tape the gaps. If you can't use silicone because it might interfere with opening, clear shipping tape helps. They can also lift the plastic back flaps that are on some of the hinged glass lids. I've learned the hard, expensive way, "better safe than sorry."
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

wow thats really nuts. i cant believe they can squeeze through a gap that small.

Neither could I. I have one galactonotus that has escaped three times through a hole made in the back plastic flap for the filter cord. Each time she was rescued in time, and I kept sealing things more and more until one day I actually caught her as she was escaping and found her route. It was at the far end of the aquarium section and she had to swim to get there, climb the glass and cord and squish herself to lift the plastic. This was six years after the tank had been set up, so naturally, I thought it was escape-proof by then.

If the dime width size crack is stiff enough, i.e. solid glass, they probably couldn't get through it. I'm just particularly neurotic about it because my major losses have all been from escapes where I never believed it could happen.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

Dang Patty, that small? That's insane.

Did I tell you? The glass moved back together some how. Something must have expanded and contracted. I'm scared.

Cool--Seal it now before it changes its mind again. If the window stuff doesn't work, at least put a bead of silicon on the inside.

I have a "ghost" named Herbie that turns on the radio at weird hours, stomps around, breaks dishes on occasion, opens and slams doors and turns lights on and off, so odd stuff like that never surprises me. I don't believe in "ghosts" or poltergeists in the least bit, but "Herbie" which my kids named this phenomenon when they were little, has been doing strange things for 50 years that we have never explained. Old house shifting? Bad wiring?

Whatever it is, a number of people have witnessed the antics.

Is there anything at all that could be heating up or cooling this tank to any degree?
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

Other than the constant weather shifts here in SoCal, not that I know of. The only thing I could think of is some one left the back door open and it cooled via wind, but we havn't had huge temperature fluctuations lately. As soon as I can find the sealent I think i'll just move it to my room. The 3 heated cages in there keep the room a constant 72.

maybe, just seal it with silicone.

Depends upon where it is and if it is in a space that may need to be opened on occasion for maintenance, the tape is less of a problem to strip off and replace.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

Patty is Queen, what she says goes.

Must..get..frogs..

Oh no, no, Andrew, not the Queen. Lovely, perhaps, a beautiful princess, but never a Queen. Queens don't kiss toads for 73 years, hoping to turn one into a prince. Queens inherit their jobs. A princess really has to work at it.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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

Or knock someone off to get it...

I would cite my references, but they no longer seem to be in the phone book.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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