Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I've been researching PDFs for a while now, mostly on this forum.

I have an open 20 gallon long and would like to put 2-4 Leucs (bumblebees) in there. I'll have a duetto 100 which will act as a waterfall into a small pool on one side of the tank. I also want to put a fern back wall on it and attach plants and moss and try to have it be a living wall.

My big concern (and basically my only concern) is the fruit flies. I live with 2 guys that would absolutely hate it if the frut flies escaped into the house.

I plan to have a fitted glass/plexi top with screening in the back porton where the light will go..so that the frogs can get the UVB and UVA rays.

Can someone please seriously be honest here?

Do the fruit flies escape?

I know they climb the glass and the glue and the living wall I woudl have and could make their way through the screen in the lid and climb past the light.

I CAN NOT have fruit flies coming out of the tank...My roommates would not have it. Is this not the right pet for me? I also have a baby veiled chameleon. Could leucs eat small (1/4" crickets only or can they really only have pinheads?

The only remedy I can think of...is have the living wall 2" below the top of the tank....and then use vasoline to put a 1" smear all across the tank... Would that work well (coudl the flies get up that?) and how often woudl I have to add more?
-----
1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter

You can do everything you mentioned, and there will unevitably be some escapes. As far as feeding the 1/4" crix, those would be a bit too big for an adult leucomelas.
But if you are set on using the 20L tank, then I don't think leucs would be the best choice anyway. Leucs do like to climb a bit, and giving them some more vertical height would be best. But to potentially solve both problems (food and cage), I would look into P. terribilis. They are very bold frogs who prefer to use the terrestrial space (20L would be perfect), and they will take very large prey items (1/4" crix may be fine when they are full size, but you will still need to feed flies when they are young). They are readily available, and reasonably priced for the mint morph, but orange and yellow morphs are a bit more $$. But just a note, your veiled won't be small for long, and 1/4" crix won't satisfy his appetite either, so you are going to have to buy special feeders no matter how you look at it.
-----
Frogs - D. leucomelas, D. tinctorius, D. azureus, D. auratus, P. vittatus, P. bicolor
Chams - Werner's, Panthers, Veiled
Geckos - Cresteds, Gargoyles
Rough Scaled Sand Boa

The fruit flies for frog feeding are flightless, so it's not as if escapees are buzzing around, but I have to admit my house is pretty full of them, as I have over 30 cultures going at once of both D. melanogaster and D. hydeii, and some escape from the cultures and feeding process, as well as from the tanks. They even get into the computer keys. (My now rather stale joke is that I use a lot of pepper on salads, so nobody knows the difference.) I find the crickets, which also escape, to be more conspicuous, and far more difficult to raise in sufficient numbers. (The cats catch the larger escapees.) Fruit flies don't bite or transmit diseases. If you drink wine or beer, they will tend to collect and drown in your glass. If you drink beer from a can, you won't even notice. We like to think of them as a bit of protein with our alcohol. I'd rather drink a fruit fly than a cricket any day. What makes your room mates so particular? All my room mates in college were complete slobs that never even picked up their own underware or socks. Times have changed.

As far as 4 leucs in a 20 gallon, I agree that they do go all over and like to climb, especially if they have a neat background with bromes, so 4 might eventually be a bit crowded in a 20. When they are young, they will climb glass, but rarely if ever do it when they get big and fat. The general rule of 5 gallons per dart frog is really a minimum. But you can try it, and see how they do. They do get along with each other rather well, as do the P. terribilis. The latter, as they mature, seem to stay pretty much on the ground like statues waiting for food, but occasionally still wander up into the upper reaches.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

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