Mantella frog exhibit suggestions?

[cherylgilman]

I'm trying to come up with a better exhibit plan for our mantella frogs. Currently they are being housed with a giant day gecko and a couple of reed frogs. Ok, one reed frog, the other is in the hospital because he "mysteriously" got his top jaw taken off. Our mantellas never come out of their hiding spots, so I'm going to seperate them from the gecko. I would also like to get a successful breeding program started and I was hoping for some suggestions.

 

[foz]

Several sugestions depending on budget and space:

1. the common glass-fronted tank enclosure with solid back walls and keep acess form the back. the mantella frogs should be adequately provided for with a small rockery (porviding hiding spaces) logs, moss, vegetation and water area.
2.The tank could be a cylindrical shape with the frog's floor starting from around waist height. the glass curls around an exhibit complete with small waterfall, rocks and logs etc. the vegatation could be encouraged to grow higher as the tank should be floor to ceiling. A small standoff barrier could be provided to prevent smearing fingers. small netted holes near the top of the enclosure could be provided to stop the tank becoming to humid and steaming up (although this means the area around the tank would also have to be of the same humidity (I'm not entirely sure if these holes would work )
3. the final and most extravegant. A WHOLE BUILDING devoted to these wonderful and ednagered frogs. the exhibit is a large building and as the visitors enter the dark building they view a nocturnal glass fornted enclosure to their side, containing aye-aye and malagasy jumping giant rat. entering into a second hall (far larger than the hall containing aye-aye) there is an open enclosure for radiated torotise with waist height glass walls, a house in the centre, complete with rocks, logs and vegetation. to the saide of this enclosure (in the middle of the hall) is a large enclosure for nile crocodiles. the visiotrs view them looking down from a wooden platform (the crocodile enclosure is sunk) the enclosure has a cascading waterfall and large pool. to the side of the crocodile enclosure (and charing a floor) is a netted avairy for night heron and hammerkop (these could have outdoor avairies also). to the other side of the torotise enclosure is glass fronted tank enclosures for madagascan tree boa, panther chameleon. finally a third hall is enetred (still the same buidling) with huge tanks dedicated to mantellas. a Huge plastic mantella statues is in the corner along with a life size one next to it. the enclosure is rectangle shape with glass fronts. telescopes inject into the glass at intervals so visitors can peer in for a close up of the mantellas. the enclosure features a rockery, logs, life size trees/bushes. Off show and to the side of the enclosure is breeding facilities and keeper area. Large signs next to the enclosure provide the public with information and give pratcial advice on how to help protect mantellas. Dead specimens are provided showing the mantellas and a diagram of the mantella biology (organs skeletons) with a real skeleton exhibited. potentially the mantellas could be mixed with madagascan geckos.
- I know this one is a bit extravagent but it would make for an amazing mantella exhibit.

 

[European Fauna]

If you really wish to showcase these precious amphibians , you should consider a small exhibit away from your herp building.The objective would be that visitors would view the mantellas while in the open air (the visitors , not the mantellas).You would be absolutely amazed at the different attitude that visitors have to herps if they can view them without needing to enter a herp building.Visitors subconsciously feel the need to keep moving when they are in a regular reptile house.It probably comes down to an unwillingness to monopolize the view of an exhibit , and give other visitors a chance.Plus the fact that in a regular herp building there is generally vivarium after vivarium and after about the first five , the majority of visitors are beginning to pay less and less attention , and begin moving faster.If you have a special exhibit for these creatures , that in itself gives them a particular significance , and visitors will stop before the exhibit in the open air , and devote minutes , rather than seconds to the mantellas.Obviously, some kind of sliding panel would be drawn across the viewing panel in the evening to prevent heat fluctuations at night.And here´s a neat little trick - have lots of signs pointing to the "mantellas" , never to the "mantella frogs". 99.99% of visitors won´t have a clue what a "mantella" is , their curiosity will be provoked , and they will make a priority visit to this exhibit.Trust me , I have seen this trick work time after time.Best of luck with the exhibit , and further down the road , please provide a report with photos.

 

[gentle lemur]

I presume you've done your Google searches and looked at Marc Staniszewski's books and website.
The most effective display of mantellas that I have seen is at Manchester Museum, it is small but it combines golden mantellas with neon day geckos (P. klemmeri) - there are a couple of my photos of the animals in the Gallery. These very small geckos are much closer to the miniature scale of the frogs than your giant day gecko.

Alan

 

[cherylgilman]

Mantella suggestions

Thank you everybody for your suggestions so far. Keep em coming!! I'm working on getting some pictures of my zoo and I'll be sure to include the exhibit as it is now, during transition and at completion. Today I started to put together the new exhibit for the giant day gecko that is currently housed with the mantellas. After I get him moved I'll be starting on my frogs.

The area that this exhibit is located is at our Island Lost in Time section. Here we have a Radiated tortoise exhibit that is quite large but in need of redesigning. That is on my "to do" list after the mantellas. Then we have a red ruffed lemur island with a moat surrounding it that is being refurnished as we speak. The island has a viewing shelter where we have madagascan reptiles and amphibians and a large screen TV that shows a film on madagascar reptiles. We really need a new film to show also, that one is getting really old. The shelter is open aired with 4 glass front exhibits. We also have black and white ruffed lemurs and ringtails.

Maybe this will give you somewhat of an idea of what I'm working with. Thank you so very much again for the suggestions so far.

 

[Zoovolunteer]

If you are showing Radiated tortoises, were you aware that the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation has introduced some to Round island (along with Aldabra tortoises) as ecological replacements for the extinct native tortoises? I should think you could make an interesting exhibit about ecological reconstruction - the MWAF website is very informative.