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 #2079383


Brandnew.
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 Fire salamander and tree frogs.

hi, my name is ed. im now to this forum but iv been on repticzone for years.

basically im doing a degree in animal behaviour and welfare, and for my next assignment i have to carry out an investigative project. my topic is species co-habitation in captive environments.

i am considering mixing the two species, fire salamander and european green tree frogs. i hae mixed species before when younger (anoles, hyla cin, skinks) and i had great success.

currently i have a fire sal. from france (a friend collected it when he was out there, kinda bad but i didnt ask him to) he has been in captivity for almost a year now, monitored and quarenteened. he is 100% healthy and currently about 5"long.
he is in a 4ftx12"x12" glass tank, well planted with moss sub. i shall get some photos up soon, there is also another glass tank unside down at one end on top of the tank becuase the plants were a bit too tall for the tank lol.

basically its a very large tank with only a small sal. in it.
for my investigative project i will be adding a pair or trio of hyla aborea to this setup. i will then be monitoring their behaviour (im gonna have some late nights watching nocturnal critters) and to determine if the two species are compatable.
their natural ranges overlap greatly and both live in different sections on the vivarium ( terrestrial sal and aboreal tree frogs). so i cant see many problems occuring.

the only thing that botheres me is pathogen cross over and the toxins present on both species. the hyla aborea were not toxic to anoles or takydromus sexlineus. its the fire sal. im mainly concered about.

they do possess toxins, but these are only excreated when aggitated correct? the main area where they could become contaminated would be the water bowl. so regular changing of this would hopfully resuve this. i may also add a small air powered carbon filter to remove toxins.

so long as both species are well fed and the frogs are large enough not to be swallowed there shouldnt be a prblem with predation correct?

i may even record the environment with a camera.

can anyone think of anything else that could go wrong?
id like to know how you think this project will go.
if the species are not compatable i will not lose any marks. infact it will give me more to write about. but i jsut dont want any harm to come to the animals.

species mixing can work for animal with the same care requirements. i house my 4 map turtles with a shovle nosed catfish and a indonesian snake neck turtle.

i have a selection of turtles i rescued that live together, yelow bellies, maps, european pond turtles, red bellies, musks etc. only used get the odd tail nipped, then after some observation i found it was one map turtle biting all the others, so he was removed.



10/02/09  08:42am

 #2079717


Dane_Zoo
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  Message To: Brandnew.   In reference to Message Id: 2079383


 Fire salamander and tree frogs.

treefrogs and sals are a horrible idea, they usually have different temp ranges, sals liking it on the cooler side, and treefrogs liking it on the warmer side, salamanders are very intolerant to warmer temps

and you mentioned the toxins, those can provide death to treefrogs

check this out
Link, although I dont think they speak of any treefrogs but mixing newts/sals with other animals usually dosn’t work



10/03/09  12:54am

 #2079786


Brandnew.
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  Message To: Dane_Zoo   In reference to Message Id: 2079717


 Fire salamander and tree frogs.

i have already read that web site in great detail. pretty much all of those disasters where becuase people were mixing species that were simply not compatable or people adding small potential prey items -like snails etc.

true most salamanders prefer cooler temps than free frogs. however the temp requirements of these two species overlap and the vivarium is large enough to create a thermal gradient. that way both species wil lhave their own temps.
fire salamanders should be kept anywhere between 16 and 22c (62-72 f)
european green tree frogs should be kept around 22c, nothing higher than 24c.
so the two species could in theory be kept in the temp temp range.

the only issue im having atm is finding a supplier of adult egtr’s as most are young. they have to be adults.

thank you for your opion, i agree that mixing species usualy doesnt work. but that becuase most species mixing is done by people who are putting little thought into it.
long term things can go wrong, however the two species will only be housed together for several months.

the toxins i think i can get over by carbon filtering the water bowl and changing daily.
im ight provide an elevated water bowl for the frogs to cut down the chances of contamination further.



10/03/09  10:22am

 #2127079


Crotus
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  Message To: Brandnew.   In reference to Message Id: 2079383


 Fire salamander and tree frogs.

The two come from the same geographic area, so it may not be a bad idea in my opinion-- also, they occupy different niches in the terrarium. Therefore, in my opinion, as long as each has its requirements met, they be OK.

By the way, I have discovered that fire sallies are crazy about nightcrawlers!



02/25/10  04:22pm


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