Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello friends

My name is Scott Simmons, and I work for the biology dept at Tennessee Tech University. We are working on a new project, a large vivarium with waterfall, misting system etc... Our frog tanks are doing fine, but I figured I would ask the folks with the most knowledge on humid vivariums. We are dealing with a endagered lizard species, that needs the same type environment as dart/arrow frogs, however, numerous CLIMING BRANCHES AND WOOD TO CLIMB ON AND LAY FLAT ON are needed. The tank will have 75%-90% humidity. The dilemma with the branches and wood is we need pieces that are roughly 25-36 inches long and we do not WANT THEM TO BREAK DOWN, ROT, OR MOLD . So heres what we need help with, wood types that would do good in this environment, artificial wood or branching ideas, suppliers, etc... We have questioned if dried bamboo would work and most artificial branching we find is too short. Please give any ideas or thoughts that you might have. Thanks so much

cypress and ghostwood should do well.
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1.0 Baby Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter

If you can find cork bark or a similar thing (doesn't break down easily, flexible depending on thickness) in thin sheets (or cutting it to thin sheets), soak it so it becomes flexible. Set up PVC pipes in the cage, in various thicknesses, that would serve the purposes you need. Then remove the pipes, and using an adhesive (I used a type of silicone), take the thin strips of cork bark, smear silicone on the pipe and warp it around the PVC. The only hard thing about this is finding the cork bark in thin sheets. I got a bunch of it at an expo once, and it worked wonderfully. I used PVC, but you could use whatever to make suitable for your reptile, as long as it is sealed well (even if water got in, the cork or PVC wouldnt break down, using a non-bio degrateable product with this can be done, but it must be sealed from water extra well). Tell me if this works for you, it worked for me and I havn't really recommended it to anyone before.
-Sean
ps: what kind of species is it?

woops: using a bio degrateable product with this can be done, but it must be sealed from water extra well)

I have heard cedar works good too. Don't you have a lot of cedar in tennessee?
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

Cedar is a conifer, which means it has resins. Wouldn't this be bad for such an enclosure? I've been told to avoid all resins.
-Sean

Cedar is resinous and toxic for frogs, but I don't know about lizards. However, the anchor roots of the bald cypress, Taxodium distichum and the pond cypress, T. ascendens are commonly used for all manner of vivariums, as they apparently don't contain the resins and resist decay in high humidity and water.
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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

Aparently my mind must have confused cypress with cedar. I stand corrected (thank goodness I have never used it!).
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Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com

You weren't wrong, Josh. The taxonomy is just confusing. The bald cypress is in the family Taxodiaceae (which also includes redwoods) and the others, sometimes called cypress too, are Cupressaceae, "the Cypress or Cedar family." It's proably just the supporting or anchoring roots of the bald cypress that doesn't have any resins that might be toxic to frogs. Otherwise, they are all conifers that we tend to avoid.

As an aside, I also use Mountain Hemlock roots in a couple of vivariums. (Tsuga Mertensiana) We collected these probably 50 years ago in the Sierras (Nevada) just before the ski trails were being cleared for Slide Mountain ski resort. They had been blown over and the roots exposed to wind sand blasting for many years. They were beautiful gnarled roots and made great decoration. I kept some over the years and eventually used some smaller pieces in a couple of terrariums, and others as coat racks and mantle decorations. They do not rot. But the roots are now extremely rare to find in that condition. The tree bark itself contains a lot of tannin, but is also resinous, so nothing but the exposed roots would be safe to use.
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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

Stay away from Cedar.
web

first, if your honestly with the bio department, you should
know about molds and how they work. you should also know that hardwoods are best like oaks. it takes about 4 weeks for the molds to eat the sugars, then if you have a real nitrogen cycle
started, everything will be fine as long as you have an air exchange. this can be done many ways. you will need moving air
in the vivarium.

Deven | Terra5Designs
web

Im a finishing my Masters and Thesis in Wildlife Biology this semester (and teach anatomay and physiology for my scholarship), my emphasis is in waterfowl, sorry we dont worry about mold on ducks or on humans. Secondly, yes hardwoods work best, but unless you have an oven big enough for us to dry them in we cant use them, and last under 80-100% humidity, with a 4 time a day misting system, regardless of denitrification and nitrification, standard wood unless subject to wet environments naturally will breakdown and we are looking for something that we wont have to replace every few months. Thanks for your input

Scott

Sorry, I incorrectly typed anatomy. I didnt want you to wonder if I am who I say I am!

Well sorry for being behind in this corrospondance.

if it's a wet environment, i'd use oak. leagally collected for course! and solid. not old felled but newer. Maple or citrus work good too, just be sure it's old wood, not freshly cut.
not that i'm a tree huger but i feel bad when i see a vivarium
that has "green" wood in it.

i'd use eucaliptus (sp) if well aged onLY, in dry habitats
or again oak, maple or cypress (fast decomposer).