Slice of Life Vivariums

Imagine, the sound of a waterfalls and a variety of gorgeous tropical plants and flashy little animals interacting with their environment. 

A vivarium can be whatever you imagine it to be, it can have a theme, it can have all mosses or rare plants, it can have water features, or it can have region specific plants. 

Our vivariums are functional with some rarer plants but mainly just designed to suit the frogs needs.

With or without rare plants or water features, a vivarium makes a beautiful home to plants and animals.

Living in Canada can mean some pretty long winters and nothing makes us happier than having a room that is full of green mosses, plants, animals, and the calling of frogs. 

Even in the winter we still have frogs that continue to call even though we cut back the misting and drain the water features so the frogs will be less inclined to breed.

It is still a wonderful sound in the dead of winter when everything feels so cold and dreary. Check out our Photo Gallery or Sales Page for pictures and information on our dart frogs.

Our vivariums always have something interesting or surprising going on. These adorable little mushrooms pop up for a couple of days and then disappear for a week or two. Random mosses, different mushrooms, and tiny plants pop up frequently.

The most fun is when a surprise froglet shows up out of nowhere. Usually it is a pumilio or thumbnail baby but we have had auratus, galacs and tincs all raise babies in the ponds in their vivariums.

The most fun is finding new clutches of eggs. Especially clutches from frogs we have been waiting to mature. 

The choice becomes rather to let frogs raise their babies or to increase the chances of survival by pulling out the eggs/tadpoles and raising them by hand. 

We pull what clutches we need to rebuild our supply of. We leave clutches with the parents for any frogs that we don't need more froglets from.

Some clutches left with parents are successful but far less than when we raise them by hand.

The exception are Oophaga, they do far better being raised by their mom.

Dart frogs, also known as Poison Dart Frogs, are diurnal (active in the daytime) which makes them a very interesting pet. Most other frogs are nocturnal. 

Captive bred dart frogs aren't poisonous but they do retain the bright colouring and flashy markings that, when in the wild, warn predators they are dangerous.

Their skin is delicate and they absorb impurities through their skin, which makes them a pet that is far better off being watched and not handled.

If you need to handle them, try wearing gloves or make sure your hands are very well washed, rinsed and wet. 

Poison dart frogs do best in a natural vivarium.  

This means using live plants, a substrate (generally coco based) for plants to grow in, a drainage layer for the extra water to drain into (so it doesn't soak the substate), and a drainage barrier to keep the substrate out of the drainage layer. 

Sphagnum moss makes for a nice layer on top of the substrate and dry leaf litter is essential for a lot of dart frogs to hunt and hide in.

Lighting is required for the growth of the plants. 

Dart frogs don't require special lighting, as long as they have the proper supplements. Of course, both lighting and supplements are a topic of debate in the hobby.

Humidity is very important for dart frogs.

Humidity for most dart frogs should be kept over 70%. After misting it will be closer to 100%. 

Some dart frogs require the leaf litter to dry between misting. Substrate should never stay saturated or it will cause dangerous bacteria to grow.

Temperature should optimally stay between 22-27 C in the daytime and drop a few degrees at night. Some dart frogs will prefer it slightly cooler (eg. terribilis) and some will prefer it slightly warmer (eg. pumilio).

Temperatures should never go/stay below 18C or above 29C.

Hand mist or automatic mist a couple of times a day or more. A hygrometer will help determine how often it's required.

Covering or replacing screen lids with glass or acrylic will help keep in humidity. Leaving small gaps in the lid helps ventilation. Fans can be used, if necessary, to help circulate air, cool down, or dry the vivarium if it gets too wet. 

Dart frogs require supplements when in captivity because they cannot get what they need as captive animals.

Supplements prevent all kinds of deficiencies (eg. skeletal deformities, seizures, short tongue syndrome etc.).

Products are improving but picking out the best supplement, or combination, is challenging, 

There are many different supplements and tons of opinions. Some people swear by Rep-Cal with vitamin D (phosphate free), and Herptivite. Others swear by Repashy products (Calcium Plus, Supervite, Vitamin A Plus). There is also Dendrocare which is commonly used. Ranarium products are fairly new and have a great reputation so far.

Whatever you decide to use, make sure to research what is safe and effective.

Currently we are trying Ranarium but have used all of the listed products.

The biggest challenge to caring for dart frogs is their diet.

Dart frogs require live food and their primary diet, in captivity, is fruit flies. They will also eat pinhead crickets or other small feeder insects (ie bean beetles).

If the tank is seeded with springtails and isopods, dart frogs will snack on those as well.

Feeding froglets should be done daily. Adults can generally be fed 3 times a week. 

We check to see if there are lots of fruit flies left in the tanks, if there are we skip the day's feeding but if the flies are gone early we make sure to feed extra. 

Putting a piece of banana or some media in the vivarium, preferably in the same area each time, makes a feeding station. Having a feeding station makes it a quick check to see how many flies are still in the tank AND helps to keep the flies in the tank.