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Thread: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

  1. #1

    Default Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Hello! I am new here and am currently in the process of piecing together a red eyed tree frog habitat and I have a few questions. I have had dart frogs in the past.

    I am planning on doing a natural bio active vivarium and was wondering on good plants that are safe for red eyes.

    I was wondering about captive bred vs wild caught as I currently can’t find any captive bred ones, even online.

    How often to feed and what size crickets. I gut load my crickets and was also wondering about dusting.

    Do they need a UVB light?

    Good temperature and humidity levels? (Online I have gathered 72-80 degrees fahrenheit, 70-80% humidity)

    Thanks in advance for your input!


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    100+ Post Member daybr4ke's Avatar
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Good plants for red eyes would include Dieffenbachia, heart leaf philodendron, peperomia species. All those have species in south America, as well. I'll add more later.
    1 Male Giant African Bullfrog
    2 Woodhouse's Toads
    11 Pacific Treefrogs
    1 Dubia Roach Colony
    2 Australian Green Treefrogs

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  5. #3

    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Quote Originally Posted by daybr4ke View Post
    Good plants for red eyes would include Dieffenbachia, heart leaf philodendron, peperomia species. All those have species in south America, as well. I'll add more later.
    Thanks! Any other answers? Lol


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    100+ Post Member daybr4ke's Avatar
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Aaargh, I forgot to answer the other questions...
    First, the plants: in addition to those, the common pothos plant(epipremnum Aureum) is an easy choice. Ferns are a good choice, as well. I haven't used a lot of them myself, only an austral gem fern(Bird's nest fern).
    UV lighting isn't a necessity. UV lighting provides vitamin D3 which is necessary for frogs, but calcium supplements often include D3 in addition to calcium so that UV lighting is unnecessary. Some people suggest uv might be good for the plants of the vivarium, but I dont know about that either way.
    Captive-bred is always preferable to wild caught. They start life in captivity and it makes them much more used to it. LLL Reptiles and Josh's Frogs are good online resources for frogs, but they might not have RedEyes right now. I'll check their stock after this.
    A general rule of thumb for food item size is to choose insects no wider than the distance between the frog's eyes.
    I think your temperature and humidity sound fine.
    1 Male Giant African Bullfrog
    2 Woodhouse's Toads
    11 Pacific Treefrogs
    1 Dubia Roach Colony
    2 Australian Green Treefrogs

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  8. #5
    Junior Member xxlegislationxx's Avatar
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    I haven't used any UVB light for my RETFS in the past 4 years.

    Feed around 6 every 2-3 days for my 3 RETFS (so around 2 big crickets per frog every feeding no longer than space between eyes). I find that if I feed more they can't finish, mine don't seem to be large eaters for some reason.

    I don't find them difficult to keep as sometimes my humidity (HK is pretty humid) is very low in winter and they have been fine. I've kept them in temps between 18-31 degrees celcius, sometimes turning on a basic fan in the room or room heater when the temps are borderline touching their min-max range.
    Frogs owned:
    3 red eyed tree
    3 amazon milk
    3 fringe
    1 malayan leaf
    1 bushveld rain frog
    2 tripirion petasatus
    2 honey white's tree

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    2 waxy monkey tree
    3 anotheca spinosa
    2 fringe
    3 cruziohyla calcifer
    9 mutant pacman frogs
    1 african bullfrog

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  10. #6

    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Quote Originally Posted by daybr4ke View Post
    Aaargh, I forgot to answer the other questions...
    First, the plants: in addition to those, the common pothos plant(epipremnum Aureum) is an easy choice. Ferns are a good choice, as well. I haven't used a lot of them myself, only an austral gem fern(Bird's nest fern).
    UV lighting isn't a necessity. UV lighting provides vitamin D3 which is necessary for frogs, but calcium supplements often include D3 in addition to calcium so that UV lighting is unnecessary. Some people suggest uv might be good for the plants of the vivarium, but I dont know about that either way.
    Captive-bred is always preferable to wild caught. They start life in captivity and it makes them much more used to it. LLL Reptiles and Josh's Frogs are good online resources for frogs, but they might not have RedEyes right now. I'll check their stock after this.
    A general rule of thumb for food item size is to choose insects no wider than the distance between the frog's eyes.
    I think your temperature and humidity sound fine.
    Thanks! Lots of useful information!


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  11. #7

    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Quote Originally Posted by xxlegislationxx View Post
    I haven't used any UVB light for my RETFS in the past 4 years.

    Feed around 6 every 2-3 days for my 3 RETFS (so around 2 big crickets per frog every feeding no longer than space between eyes). I find that if I feed more they can't finish, mine don't seem to be large eaters for some reason.

    I don't find them difficult to keep as sometimes my humidity (HK is pretty humid) is very low in winter and they have been fine. I've kept them in temps between 18-31 degrees celcius, sometimes turning on a basic fan in the room or room heater when the temps are borderline touching their min-max range.
    Thanks!


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  12. #8
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Completely depends on if you aim to keep them in the best way or merely adequate enough to keep them alive. Best care would definitely include providing UVB as oral d3 supplements are impossible to dose correctly and natural sunlight spectrums are always going to have far more benefit than inadequate artificial lighting for any living creature. Likewise for keeping them within the correct temperature range that they would experience in the wild.

    Here's a decent care sheet:


    Captive Care of the Red Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas)


    Below is a brief summary of the techniques used to ensure your Red Eyed Tree Frog leads a healthy and happy life under your care.

    Purchase:
    The first and arguably most important step! It is absolutely VITAL that you ensure the frog you are buying has been captive bred. There are many breeders of this wonderful amphibian and purchasing a captive bred animal will mean you have a frog who is used to living in a vivarium all it’s life and will fare far better than one that has been removed from the wild (during it’s breeding season!), shoved in a box and shipped from one dealer to the next to get to you. Wild caught frogs die in huge numbers during shipment, carry all manner of diseases and parasites (which will spread among captive collections) and the trade is now quite unnecessary when there are so many quality captive bred examples available. If the supplier of your frog doesn’t know for sure that it was captive bred, don’t buy it!

    Housing:
    Bigger is better! If we base sizes on the popular Exo Terra glass vivarium, while a 30x30x45 cm is fine for juveniles, they will quickly outgrow it. A Red Eyed Tree Frog can be approaching adult size as quickly as 6-8 months of age. The 45x45x60 is suitable for an adult pair or trio. These are very active frogs!
    The decoration of the interior is important. Ideally we are looking to recreate as closely as possible the habitat in which these animals live in the wild, there are no plastic plants there! While we might be convinced a fake plant looks authentic, there’s no fooling a tree frog. These creatures have evolved a close relationship with plants over millions of years, they sleep firmly attached to the underside of leaves forming a moisture-saving posture with their thin-skinned undersides in contact with the leaf. There is evidence that this helps the frog maintain it’s hydration and even that there is some gaseous exchange of oxygen and CO2. Red Eyed Tree Frogs need real live plants! Broad leaf vines such as Pothos and Philodendron are ideal and can be purchased from specialist suppliers to ensure they are free of pesticides and fertilisers etc. They can also be bought from garden centres but great care must be taken to thoroughly wash the leaves and soil to remove all traces of contaminants.
    As far as substrate is concerned, I prefer a natural, bio-active approach. Basically, a drainage layer is topped with soil and orchid bark, living in this are creatures such as springtails and woodlice which dine on any waste and mould keeping the vivarium clean. There are now specialist companies that supply substrate in the bio-active philosophy and much information can be found online.
    Add to this some clean branches and you have a natural environment for your frogs that beyond some basic spot cleaning is largely low maintenance meaning you can leave you frogs to get on with their natural behaviour with minimum disturbance. Handling frogs causes them great stress and should be kept to the absolute minimum!

    Heat, Light and Humidity:
    Ideal temperatures are 26-28C during the day and 23-24C at night, this can be provided by bulbs, ceramics, vertical heat mats or heat cable on the outside or simply a temperature controlled room.
    UVB of around 5% should be provided. Frogs need vitamin D3 in order to absorb calcium, this is best supplied in the way they get it in the wild, from sunlight. Bulbs which emit the same UVB as sunlight are available and should be used, despite these frogs being strictly nocturnal, they sleep out in daylight and as a consequence receive sunlight and therefore UVB. Without calcium and vitamin D3 frogs develop nasty conditions such as Metabolic Bone Disease and without UVB their behaviour is noticeably less natural and their colours less vibrant.
    Humidity should be maintained between 60-70%. Using moist natural substrate and live plants does most of this work for you, a light misting of treated or distilled water twice a day will keep the levels right. One of the biggest mistakes people make with this species is keeping them too wet. Plastic plants and sterile housing encourages people to close off ventilation and constantly spray the enclosure to keep up the humidity, the resulting large amounts of sitting water encourages bacteria to grow and bacteria kills frogs. There should not be streaming condensation on the walls of the enclosure, good ventilation is required and if anything err on the side of dryer rather than wetter if in doubt.

    Food and water:
    Red Eyed Tree Frogs will take a variety of fast moving prey, the best staples are crickets and locusts. All prey items should be gut loaded and dusted with calcium/vitamin preparations. Various gut loading fruit and veg can be used, I always include kale (high in calcium!) and carrot, with various others depending on what I have, but always organic to be sure of no pesticides. I also use a dry staple such as ‘bug grub’, the bran that crickets and locusts come packaged with is not a suitable gut loader.
    A water bowl needs to be provided and the water changed EVERY DAY with fresh, treated tap or rain water, a product such as ‘Reptisafe’ is a good water treatment. Tree frogs drink by sitting in water and often it’s the first thing they do every night when they wake up. If the water is contaminated with fecal matter, dead crickets etc., the frogs will take this bacteria-loaded water into their bodies with disastrous results.

    In conclusion....The Red Eyed Tree Frog is a wonderful and beautiful amphibian to keep, and only needs to be given the right conditions in captivity to thrive. Enjoy!
    Find me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011064331624

    Trachycephalus resinifictrix - Trachycephalus nigromaculatus - Agalychnis callidryas - Agalychnis spurelli - Phyllomedusa sauvagii - Phyllomedusa bicolor - Phyllomedusa vaillanti - Phyllomedusa tomopterna - Gastrotheca riobambae - Anotheca spinosa - Cruziohyla craspedopus - Cruziohyla calcarifer - Hyla arborea - Litoria caerulea.

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  14. #9

    Default Re: Red eyed tree frogs questions.

    Quote Originally Posted by Diver View Post
    Completely depends on if you aim to keep them in the best way or merely adequate enough to keep them alive. Best care would definitely include providing UVB as oral d3 supplements are impossible to dose correctly and natural sunlight spectrums are always going to have far more benefit than inadequate artificial lighting for any living creature. Likewise for keeping them within the correct temperature range that they would experience in the wild.

    Here's a decent care sheet:


    Captive Care of the Red Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas)


    Below is a brief summary of the techniques used to ensure your Red Eyed Tree Frog leads a healthy and happy life under your care.

    Purchase:
    The first and arguably most important step! It is absolutely VITAL that you ensure the frog you are buying has been captive bred. There are many breeders of this wonderful amphibian and purchasing a captive bred animal will mean you have a frog who is used to living in a vivarium all it’s life and will fare far better than one that has been removed from the wild (during it’s breeding season!), shoved in a box and shipped from one dealer to the next to get to you. Wild caught frogs die in huge numbers during shipment, carry all manner of diseases and parasites (which will spread among captive collections) and the trade is now quite unnecessary when there are so many quality captive bred examples available. If the supplier of your frog doesn’t know for sure that it was captive bred, don’t buy it!

    Housing:
    Bigger is better! If we base sizes on the popular Exo Terra glass vivarium, while a 30x30x45 cm is fine for juveniles, they will quickly outgrow it. A Red Eyed Tree Frog can be approaching adult size as quickly as 6-8 months of age. The 45x45x60 is suitable for an adult pair or trio. These are very active frogs!
    The decoration of the interior is important. Ideally we are looking to recreate as closely as possible the habitat in which these animals live in the wild, there are no plastic plants there! While we might be convinced a fake plant looks authentic, there’s no fooling a tree frog. These creatures have evolved a close relationship with plants over millions of years, they sleep firmly attached to the underside of leaves forming a moisture-saving posture with their thin-skinned undersides in contact with the leaf. There is evidence that this helps the frog maintain it’s hydration and even that there is some gaseous exchange of oxygen and CO2. Red Eyed Tree Frogs need real live plants! Broad leaf vines such as Pothos and Philodendron are ideal and can be purchased from specialist suppliers to ensure they are free of pesticides and fertilisers etc. They can also be bought from garden centres but great care must be taken to thoroughly wash the leaves and soil to remove all traces of contaminants.
    As far as substrate is concerned, I prefer a natural, bio-active approach. Basically, a drainage layer is topped with soil and orchid bark, living in this are creatures such as springtails and woodlice which dine on any waste and mould keeping the vivarium clean. There are now specialist companies that supply substrate in the bio-active philosophy and much information can be found online.
    Add to this some clean branches and you have a natural environment for your frogs that beyond some basic spot cleaning is largely low maintenance meaning you can leave you frogs to get on with their natural behaviour with minimum disturbance. Handling frogs causes them great stress and should be kept to the absolute minimum!

    Heat, Light and Humidity:
    Ideal temperatures are 26-28C during the day and 23-24C at night, this can be provided by bulbs, ceramics, vertical heat mats or heat cable on the outside or simply a temperature controlled room.
    UVB of around 5% should be provided. Frogs need vitamin D3 in order to absorb calcium, this is best supplied in the way they get it in the wild, from sunlight. Bulbs which emit the same UVB as sunlight are available and should be used, despite these frogs being strictly nocturnal, they sleep out in daylight and as a consequence receive sunlight and therefore UVB. Without calcium and vitamin D3 frogs develop nasty conditions such as Metabolic Bone Disease and without UVB their behaviour is noticeably less natural and their colours less vibrant.
    Humidity should be maintained between 60-70%. Using moist natural substrate and live plants does most of this work for you, a light misting of treated or distilled water twice a day will keep the levels right. One of the biggest mistakes people make with this species is keeping them too wet. Plastic plants and sterile housing encourages people to close off ventilation and constantly spray the enclosure to keep up the humidity, the resulting large amounts of sitting water encourages bacteria to grow and bacteria kills frogs. There should not be streaming condensation on the walls of the enclosure, good ventilation is required and if anything err on the side of dryer rather than wetter if in doubt.

    Food and water:
    Red Eyed Tree Frogs will take a variety of fast moving prey, the best staples are crickets and locusts. All prey items should be gut loaded and dusted with calcium/vitamin preparations. Various gut loading fruit and veg can be used, I always include kale (high in calcium!) and carrot, with various others depending on what I have, but always organic to be sure of no pesticides. I also use a dry staple such as ‘bug grub’, the bran that crickets and locusts come packaged with is not a suitable gut loader.
    A water bowl needs to be provided and the water changed EVERY DAY with fresh, treated tap or rain water, a product such as ‘Reptisafe’ is a good water treatment. Tree frogs drink by sitting in water and often it’s the first thing they do every night when they wake up. If the water is contaminated with fecal matter, dead crickets etc., the frogs will take this bacteria-loaded water into their bodies with disastrous results.

    In conclusion....The Red Eyed Tree Frog is a wonderful and beautiful amphibian to keep, and only needs to be given the right conditions in captivity to thrive. Enjoy!
    Thank you!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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