Expert: Jedediah - 4/5/2005

Question
Hi Jennifer,
It is only in a kritter-keeper as it is very small (about 1cm) and  all my tanks are too large for it.

Is this ok?

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Followup To
Question -
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks very much for your reply. I currently keep one single red-eyed tree frog in one of the small kritter-keepers using a small dish of water and some sphangnum moss that covers about a third of the tank. Is this ok?

Thanks again,
Justin
Answer -
Hi,
thanks for getting back to me.
A kritter keeper is not suitable for any animal (except maybe a few crickets or mealworms). You need at least a twenty, better a thirty gallon to keep Red-Eyed Tree Frogs. Even though they don't seem to do much, they are active at night and need room to climb and jump. The enclosure needs to be tall and you should offer branches and plants for climbing and hiding. Pothos Ivy is a good choice, it grows fast and looks very nice.
Another things that's bad about kritter keepers it that you cannot keep up a high humidity while ensuring ventilation (important to avoid mold)and that they overheat very quickly. Red-Eyed Tree Frogs need at least 80% humidity, better more and a temperature of at least 67°F at night and 78-85°F during the day. It's a good idea to install a basking spot inside a wire mesh cage (so that the frogs cannot sit on it), they like to sunbathe sometimes. A normal incandescent bulb is fine for this. You might need to experiment a bit until you get the temperature and humidity just right, so I recommend setting up the enclosure and testing it for at least one week before you put the frog in.
Here you can find some more info about Red-Eyed Tree Frogs and frogs in general:
http://www.allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/redeye.html

I hope I was of some help
Jennifer


Answer
Even though the frog is still so small, I'd get a ten gallon for it - you will need one soon anyway. But it will be cheaper to get a 30 gallon and put some kind of divider in to make it smaller since the frog will need an enclosure that big when it's adult instead of getting bigger enclosures every time it has outgrown the old one.
Of course it's easier for the frog to hunt in a smaller enclosure, that's why I suggest dividing the tank. But it's impossible to provide the temperature and humidity the frog needs in a kritter keeper not to mention the room the frog needs to climb and move around. Red-Eyed Tree Frogs are quite delicate and suspectible to disease at the best of times and a kritter keeper is not suitable for them (nor for any other animal I can think of).