help with humidity & lighting

[arushi]

hi guys so i actually haven’t gotten my two whites tree frogs yet but i’ve been monitoring humidity and temperature to make sure everything works fine for my upcoming frogs. now for the lighting, i ended up getting a nano light on accident so it barely does anything, people have said a 25w works but i can also go up to 60w. should i? and heat pad or no heat pad. i also have just got a reptifogger today, works well but the humidity barely stays up. i have moss in my enclosure too. what should i do to maintain a healty temperature and humidity for my upcoming frogs? i put a picture of my enclosure for reference. (ps: adding more plants once the horizontal ladder i’m adding arrives tomorrow. also, is it normal for the humidity to be higher towards the bottom of the cage?

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[Zoodulcis]

Nice looking set-up. More plants will definitely help the humidity. It is very normal for the humidity to be higher at the bottom of the enclosure if the tank has a screened top. I presume this one does, although the angle of the camera makes it hard to be certain. Experiment with the humidity by throwing a piece of cardboard over the top for a few hours, and then measuring the vertical zones again. I think you will find it to be much more uniform. If you do, then you may want to consider closing off a small portion of the screen (not the whole thing, definitely not) to keep the humidity up near the top to keep your froggies most comfortable. They will spend a lot of time at the top, so this detail is important.

They don’t need a lot of light, so 25W should be fine. What is the ambient temperature at the top and the bottom? Does that change with the top partially covered?

Be sure to check out the care guide for White’s Tree frogs on this site for some additional tips and advice on their care and feeding.

[arushi]

thank you! yes, the enclosure is a screen top with a hexagonal shape. 20 gallons. i tried your experiment and covered half of the tank before doing my usual 2 mins of misting. after misting i was at a spike humudity of 81 and a temp of around 73 up top. the bottom had a really high humidity of 89 & a temp of 70. after 3 hrs, i was at a humidity of 70 & a temp of 77, and the bottom had a humidity of 62 & a temp of 73. my worry is the humidity and temperature getting way too low or high when i’m out, especially since school is starting up again soon. i would get an automatic system, but it’s quite expensive. and the hydrotherm is discontinued for the reptifogger :(( for the 25w, i meant the heat. The temperatures do get quite low at night, and I’m afraid they’ll get TOO low. should I invest in a heat pad or night-specific bulb? I have a 25w uvb bulb for lighting already.

[Zoodulcis]

If you think the nighttime temps might regularly get below 65F then I think a heating pad might be needed. It seldom gets that cool in their native habitat (tropical forests). These guys are pretty hardy, but regularly being chilled may lower their immune systems. A heating pad on a timer that keeps the temps more or less around 70 at night will make them happiest.

[arushi]

thank you! i will look into one. for the humidity, would keeping one side of the enclosure top covered in carboard be fine? it worked out really well.

[Zoodulcis]

Yes! Cover only 1/2. It’s a delicate dance between keeping humidity up and permitting good air circulation. Poor circulation can lead to respiratory infections.

[arushi]

thank you so much for the information! one last question, is there any way to keep a reptifogger on a timer? i cannot afford an automatic mister 🙁

[Zoodulcis]

That goes beyond my techy experience at this point. Sorry.

[arushi]

All good! Found a solution. Can’t wait to get my frogs 🙂 Im naming them Mango & Melon.

[ABMoore22]

Also, Id get a plant called a Pothos. They grow great in humidity, reptiles love them and they help keep up your humidity.

[ABMoore22]

Here is a good outlet timer. I use it for my misting system and fogger.

[arushi]

thank you!! ill look into it. can you resend the link? or maybe i just dont know how to view it im not familiar with this website haha

[ABMoore22]

Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes the links just dont post on here. Go to amazon and type this in. “NICREW 7 Days Digital Outlet Timer, Indoor 24 Hours Programmable Plug-in Timer, Energy-Saving Timer, 15A / 1800W”. Itll be the first thing that pops up.

[arushi]

Thank you! Does it work for the reptifogger though? Since it has a knob to control the amount of fog I assume you can only have it work for the minimum right?

[ABMoore22]

It should. All it does it stop the electrical current going to whatever you have plugged in. I’d turn the fogger on to whatever setting you want then plug it in and while its on, unplug it for a second, then plug it back in. If it turns back on to the setting you last had it on, the timer should work the same way as plugging the fogger in and unplugging it.

[arushi]

Ah yes it does do that. I’ll definitely look into it. I dont need it at the moment since covid keeps me inside anyways.

[ABMoore22]

Awesome. You’ll be good then. I will add that this timer is in military time. So youll need to either already know it, learn it, or use a military time converter online when you set it. Its not hard to understand though, honestly.

[arushi]

Thanks for letting me know! Getting my frogs this week i’m so excited 🙂

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