Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I just typed up this whole LONG post and submited it and it didn't work and erased everything i had typed......so here gos again

This is what my tank consists of: 1.2 phantasticus, 16 gal lizard lounge, coco fiber bedding(eco earth), 4 plants(live) in pots, a small corkbark, and a small piece of wood. The tank stays 68-74 in the day and probably stays 68-70 at night. Humidity via a cheep hygrometer stays areound 60-80.

Some questions:
1) What can I do to make this environment as perfect as i can for them for them?
2) Are you supposed to keep the plants in pots, or do you plant the directly into the tank?
3) No breeding behavior has been witnessed as of yet, but they havn't been together too long either. 1.1 has been together for maybe 3-4 weeks and the other females was introduced maybe a week ago (because when i recieved her she was skinny and weak, but now she is great). So anything i can do to help get them in the mood?lol.
4)Are the plants I have in there any good? I just picked up the only good house/tropical plants i could find at a local store.
5) This is a question that i REALLY want to know....How often do you clean this type of set-up? I just spot cleaned the poop today.

Here are a couple pics of my tank. You can maybe see a gecko or 2.

And here is my male a while ago before i had recieved my females. This is when he was kept in an artificial 10 gal set-up.

THANKS!
JOHN

A good start, but there are a few things you need to change.

First, add some branches for the little guys to climb about on. I personally like manzanita as climbing branches-it doesn't rot in moist or even downright wet environments. avoid grapevine as it rots in high humidity.

Secondly, you need a drainage layer under all that eco-earth. I'm afraid you really need take it all out, and put down a layer of drainage media. Pea gravel works ok, but there are better materials out there, like expanded clay aggregate (very porous clay balls, available at hydroponics gardening stores and vivarium stores like Blackjungle.com). Put a 1/2" PVC tube with a few holes drilled in the bottom in one corner so you can siphon the excess drainage water away later. Place a layer of needle point screen (get that at a crafts store) over the drainage layer cut a hole out in the corner for the siphon pipe, and add the soil back on top. You may also want to add some orchid bark to the soil to help it drain better. Many phantasticus keepers also like to put some oak leaf litter on top of the soil, just make sure you collect it from an area free of pest/herbicides, and find the kind of leaves without pointy tips or serrated edges.

Get a digital combination humidity and temperature gauge from Wall Mart, Target, or Kmart. I like the Acurite brand.

Go ahead and plant the plants right in the tank once you've added a drainage layer. I hope you washed the plants before introducing them to the vivarium however, as store bought tropicals are usually covered with pesticides. I use Fit Produce wash, but a diluted solution of dish soap will work, then rinse well. Take the plant out of its container, shake off all the excess potting-soil off the roots, and plant it right in your tank. You will be constantly trimming the plants in that size enclosure, but that's fine (as long as you have the time and inclination).

Finally, as for cleaning... in a properly setup and maintained vivarium you should not have to "clean." This is because a naturalistic vivarium is a living ecosystem which has detrivorous (decomposing) insects and microorganisms living in and on the soil. This may sound gross, but it works! but it only works if you have those natural organisms present, which is why leaf litter can help. check out groups.yahoo.com/thenaturalisticvivarium.com for more info on living vivariums.

Hope that novel helps.

Jared
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With great power, comes great responsibility.
-Ben Parker

My only suggestion would to get some more branches in there. Try and get stuff more toward the top to the cage too insted of toward the bottom. I clean my setups about once a month. I would leave the plants in the pots just because it makes cleaning easier. As for breeding, Uroplatus natural breeding period is ending right about now so I wouldn't be expecting any eggs but who knows. Many people agree that cycling uroplatus can help induce breeding. This means that you should keep yours not as wet, warm or well fed as you normally do for about 3 months then warm the up again, increase the humidity and start heavily feeding. I personally cycle my uroplatus and have had great success.
-Matt