Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got these taken of an enclosure I built from the ground up, the stand, hood and even the glass tank. It has a waterfall near the wood that runs from the top to the bootm of the wood and into a stream bed. This is housing blue legs, goldens and a couple green backs. the size is 4'H x 4'W x 2'D
the bamboo has been taken out, don't know it was in there in the first place.
I'm hope to house some brookesia and such, It has P. klemmeri in it too, almost forgot.

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Thnx,

Deven

I would be concerned about the P. klemmeri eating the smaller mantellas, like the goldens.

Also, any eggs or tadpoles you find should probably be culled, since all mantellas have the capacity to interbreed with each other.

Stephanie

the P.k. wouldn't feed on the mans since they aren't in their diet naturally. I haven't in my expereince ever seen any displays like that with multi-species habitats. thnx for the concern though, and yeah, about the hybrids, hmm... 8-0
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Thnx,

Deven

That is a beautiful set-up, Deven.

Are Mantellas territorial in general, or does this depend upon the species, as it does with darts?
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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

That is a beautiful set-up, Deven.

Are Mantellas territorial in general, or does this depend upon the species, as it does with darts?
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Patty

Thanks Patty, the Mans are to a small degree but since it's designed with that in mind, there isn't much interaction between the species. due to the plants and they niches ( under the wood and such), I can't say that I've ever seen any displays at all...and I do watch, lol.
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Thnx,

Deven

thats a really awsome viv. I would actually recommend keeping the bamboo in their for the klemmeri. They really love hollow bamboo and will use it to hide sleep and even lay eggs. It also provides a nice basking branch for them. What kind of uvb lights are you using?

By "bamboo," I wonder if Deven isn't referring to the Dracaena ("lucky bamboo" in the waterway of the right hand tank.

It's nice to see a real Mantella discussion going here. I've asked the moderator if she could move the discussion that began in January up to the present so more people will be likely to read glowdogsk's recent comments.

Patty
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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

I thought of something else you may want to check on.....the temperature down where the mantellas will be living. Since your lizards will need basking lamps and heat you want to make sure the temps in the lower level of the viv are low enough for mantellas. Generally low 70's is acceptable for them. There is also a fairly significant size difference between goldens and expectata, so I would watch carefully for "bullying" and stressed frogs. I have never kept multiple species of mantellas together, but negative interactions are possible, especially with different sized animals.

Your viv looks beautiful, by the way.

Stephanie

I have the temps set just right, no worries there but thanks. I've built about a ton of these. the compacts and tubes at the top keep it warmer up there, the misting lowers it by 10 per misting (twice a day), and the water feature collects warmth along with the plants leaving a lower area temp about 10-15 cooler then the higher areas. a lot of this is basic convection work.
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Thnx,

Deven

That bamboo is ugly, all horizontal like that. i'd be affraid of growing larger real bamboo as it might just break the enclosure! LOL.

thanks for the commments, I'm glad there are mantella fans here!
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Thnx,

Deven

I'm curious to know how things are working out with the mixed viv.....

It's great that you can have one that large with all the temperature gradations and room to have some nice larger plants.

If you don't mind my asking, how much did materials to build something like that cost you?

Stephanie

it's what i do for a living for material costs were lower then for most. i think someone could try it for about 1500
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Thnx,

Deven

Humm I think I have seen Terra5Designs here in the bay area! I love your work man. I wish I could afford to have you build me one, but that would also take away some of the fun. I buy plants for a nursery, so feel free to drop me an email if you are looking for something you can't find.
Nick

LOL, Thanks Nick. you should see our smaller enclosrues, and yeah, most of the fun is in the build, the rest in watching it come to life. stop over some time! what nursery?
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Thnx,

Deven

I would like to stop by and see your stuff sometime. The Nursery is Yamagami's in Cupertino
Nick

Here is a photo of the Phelsum and the Mantella.

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Thnx,

Deven

argh, wrong photo. sorry...

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Thnx,

Deven

In This image, you can see the stream in the front. It was built with vivarium mortar, about 50lb of the stuff but it was worth it.

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Thnx,

Deven

I love your work. The designs are truly superior.
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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

Thanks but i don't know about superior, not by any means. I do have years of building vivarium professionally and have to that, learned from mistakes but superior, nope.
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Thnx,

Deven