Renovation old greenhouse

P1070375.JPGLast winter we renovated our old tropical greenhouse (12m²), (not our poison dart frog greenhouse). Here we had still single glass, so we spent a lot on heating and during the winter months we did not get the temperature much higher as 15º. We have floor heating, but the lizards preferred higher located spots. First we had to catch all the animals, than we took all the plants out of the greenhouse, we pull down the pond and cascade and the rest of the greenhouse, at least the glass en wooden structure. The wall side at the neighbour’s side remained. Eurokas delivered the new greenhouse. With double glass we hope to control the temperature better. In the old greenhouse we had during the summer sometimes temperatures of 40-45º, if the sun stood all day at the greenhouse. Now the temperature did not get below 19º during the first months of this year, but mostly the temperature was between 20-21º and now with this hotP1070321.JPG weather about 30º.
In March we had decorated the greenhouse again, so first our bombina orientalis and lizards (Asian long tailed lizard, green anole, blue tailed skink) went in the greenhouse. Then we thought this would be probably also a nice home for our red eye tree frog. Above our largest pond we have a split leaf philodendron, and 2 small ponds under banana trees. After a couple of days they had their first egg clutch at a spit leaf just above the pond, they had not had egg clutches since several months. So they liked their new home. They are doing great in the tropical greenhouse, they awake much earlier and are more active. They are often already awake at the beginning of the evening. And now we roodogie copy.jpghave one egg clutch after another. We have 4 males and 2 females. Before we just had every now and then an egg clutch, mostly these were bad egg clutches, sometimes they grew mouldy or the larva’s just died after a couple of days. A few times it looked like we had good tadpoles, but after they finally came ashore, they had spindly leg syndrome. It did not matter if we left the egg clutch in the terrarium or that we got it outside and took care of it as good as possible. Now we do nothing and the largest pond is full with tadpoles, in 4 different stadiums. 2 ‘classes’ already came ashore well and 2 other egg clutches are at the point of falling into the pond. The tadpoles develop a little faster as we were used in the terrarium. One day the front roodogie2 copy.jpglegs are coming out the next day you can find them already through whole the greenhouse. The most young ones we see, we catch out and put them in a terrarium full with nourishment. But we left a few ones in the greenhouse. It is nice to see that they grow as fast as their brothers and sisters in the terrariums.
A few weeks ago we started to catch the bombina’s out of the greenhouse, after 2 days in the greenhouse all ponds had already tadpoles, they breed 10 times faster as rabbits. Soon over hundred young bombina’s were jumping around. We still catch several young ones. basti copy.jpgOtherwise there will be too much nourishment competition for the young red eyes and for the poison dart frogs.
2 Months ago we put a group almost adult tricolors in the greenhouse (meanwhile they have as well their first tadpoles and another eggclutch), followed by some leucomelas, bastimentos and yellow trivittatus.
There is much more ‘action’ in this tropical greenhouse as in the poison dart frog greenhouse. Especially the Asian long tailed lizard and green anole are very active, the Asian long tailed lizard you see poke about the whole greenhouse and the green anole jumps from leave to leave, from plant to plant. But also the frogs are quite active and whistle all day through, especially the trivittatus. Sometimes your ears are really buzzing. Just the leucomalas are a bit quiet, except for one quarrelsome fellow, who does not allow anybody around, even the trivitatus is often worsted. The most avoid him, but sometimes, all of a sudden he is there and P1070472.JPGhe jumps above an other frog and a struggle begins, until the other runs off.
Meanwhile we also have a couple phyllomedusa hypochondrialis in the greenhouse, these are also real beauties, we still are looking for a few more.
The most plants grow quite fast, spots cover faster the wall as thin the poison dart frog greenhouse, you notice they get here more sunlight. In March we had bought 2 little banana trees, 60 cm high, now they reach already the ceiling and the ridge is 3m high. We had to cut off already many leafs.