But what about the animals?

[fearlessgecko_109]

I made a naturalistic viv for my FBTs. How long do I have to wait for the ecosystem to get established before I add the toads?

 

[wyatt003]

They say about two to three weeks. But FBT are very hearty animals so they should be fine sooner than that. Check out vivariumforums.com and talk to some of their users. Froggsong has kept FBTs in the past and is very helpful on this subject.

 

[viktor]

What do you mean by "established"? Are you talking about establishing the nitrogen cycle in the water and/or the soil? I wouldn't worry about it too much with FBTs, I think they can handle the ammonia spike no problem. If you are concerned, you can buy Stability or a similar product and add it to the water to speed up the process. But unless you have a source of nitrogen (e.g., frog poop) in the water already, the bacteria will not become established. With Stability, the ammonia spike will done with in a few days.

The only other thing that may be a concern may be pesticides on the plants, if you bought them from a mass supplier. This may only be a problem if crickets chew on the leaves and the frogs eat the crickets. I usually give plants a quick spray-down before putting them in.