Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all.

It's been a little over ten years since I've kept dart frogs and I was wondering how much substrates have changed/improved. I used to set up the ol' terrarium set up with a layer of gravel, a layer of peat moss, a layer of carbon, a layer of sphagnum moss, and a layer of orchid root mix with living moss patches on top. I had great success and even produced little ones.

Should I go ahead with that set up, or is there something better/easier to deal with?

Thanks in advance, Quinton.

That would still work, of course, but you can also consider mixing in some cocoanut fiber, deleting the peat, substituting organic compost, but retaining the brown sphagnum, and using some oak leaf or magnolia leaf litter on top. You can also get fancier with "false bottoms" drip walls, circulating waterways, ponds and falls, or even paludariums of both aquatic plants and fish as well as terrestrial life, if you have a large enough tank. While things have gotten more decorative and more pretenderlike rain-forest, what worked for you before, will still do so now. I just think the set-ups have gotten more inventive and fun, although the basic concept is still the same--to maintain the proper temperatures and humidity and sustain a biologically sound system that doesn't require regular dumping out and cleaning.

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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.