A mantella Q

[GTPman4]

I am going to be taking another wack at these little guys(I'll probably try yellow mantellas this time). My first attempt didn't quite go as planned. I was only like 12 so I didn't really know what I was doing anyway, but now i'm a bit older(16), more knowledgable, and have been reading into things a lot more before I jump in. I read that the rubber foam used in upholstery is a good choice for the bottom of the cage for health and cleanliness issues. IYO, is this a good choice for the terrarium and if so, do you know of any places I can purchase it from?

[ortega]

what kinda setup or you going to have? Are there going to be live plants inside? or fake plants? I don;t know about the upholstery foam, it may work but why not just use paper towel? I'm planning on getting a few manteelas soon myself and have set up a vivarium with coco fiber substrate and live plants. It looks really cool and will hold humidity and is a self cleaning system.

[GTPman4]

What do you mean by "self-cleaning system?" I was going to use the same type of setup, but I read that it becomes a pain to clean.

[ortega]

using a soil type substrate with plants and mistings, the system will clean itself. Everything(poop and dead crickets) gets turned into food for the plants. Its a vivarium.

[ortega]

check out the vivaria section on this fourm and take a look at www.dendroboard.com for tons of info on dart frogs and mantellas.

[ortega]

"Synthetic rubber foam used in upholstery is excellent" (The Mantella FAQ by Marc S Staniszewski). Just read this at http://www.amphibian.co.uk/mantella.html#Acquistion%20&%20Initial%20Care.