Is she stressed?

[Fae]

I'm far from being new to frogs, but I have never had a stressed frog before. She is eating well and moving around, but her color is worrying me. When I got her from the pet store she was light green a little on the pale side, but I thought with a little TLC her color would improve, now she is dark green almost brown. I added some green paper to the back of the tank to make her feel safer. The temperature in the tank is around 75 F (Room temp) and the humidity is about 55%. I used Sphagnum peat moss for a substrate with a drainage layer of Zoo Med Hydro Balls. There are 2 water bowls with fresh filtered water that has also been left in the sun for 2 days. There are plenty of places to hide and climb around in the tank. There are 2 frogs in the tank. My Cope's Gray Tree Frog is doing well in the tank. He sings and eats and acts like a happy little frog. I've been feeding them gutloaded crickets, flightless fruit flies, and small meal worms. I'm planning on getting them a taller/bigger tank with more climbing room soon. Let me know if I forgot to mention anything. Thanks in advance for your help!

[bshmerlie]

Well...a.couple of things I see. First, I always use black paper to surround their enclosure....its less stark. Second, the plants you have it the tank have too small of leaves to adequately support the weight of the frog...that's why he is sleeping on the glass. I would get more large leafed plants and bunch them closer together. Which frog is looking weird?

[Fae]

The American Green TF female is looking weird. I'll have to get more plants, do you have any suggestions on plants?? I had pothos but I heard it's poisonous to GTF so I removed it. I'm having trouble finding plants to buy. Thanks for your help!

[Leefrogs]

mixing species in this tank, correct?

[bshmerlie]

Pothos is not going to harm your frog and my frogs love it. Besides its very easy to grow and impossible to kill.

[UncleChester]

I've never heard of pothos being poisonous to any frog. I've been using it for a couple of years with my Grey treefrogs and for 5 months or so with my Green treefrog (as long as I've had him and he's probably logged about 2 months of time on the Pothos). Pothos is sooo very common as a vivarium plant that I would be shocked to have not heard about problems with frogs by now. However, it is supposedly bad for cats (and maybe other pets) to eat, so maybe someone decided to expand this thought to include frogs?

You'll find most people here frown on multi-species tanks, and will suggest separate abodes for your frogs. However, as 3rd party anecdotal evidence I have seen a few reports of Greys and Greens being housed together successfully for many years. The decision is ultimately yours. (Note- mine are seperate as I don't feel I have the experience to tell if this is causing trouble). A definite worry though is their size- are yours close in size and all able to get their share of food?

Is there a water source they can sit in if needed?

How high is your tank? You mention getting a taller tank soon so that's good news. I've found my green to stay at or near the top of the tank even more than my grays.

Finally, I don't find the colour disturbing. I have some pictures of mine in my album and the same frog will range from a very dark brown to a pale light green to a bright almost lime green. It pretty regularly changes from one to the other and as far as I know isn't any sign of distress.

[Fae]

mixing species in this tank, correct?

Yes, American GTF and Cope's Gray Tree Frog

[Fae]

I've never heard of pothos being poisonous to any frog. I've been using it for a couple of years with my Grey treefrogs and for 5 months or so with my Green treefrog (as long as I've had him and he's probably logged about 2 months of time on the Pothos). Pothos is sooo very common as a vivarium plant that I would be shocked to have not heard about problems with frogs by now. However, it is supposedly bad for cats (and maybe other pets) to eat, so maybe someone decided to expand this thought to include frogs?

You'll find most people here frown on multi-species tanks, and will suggest separate abodes for your frogs. However, as 3rd party anecdotal evidence I have seen a few reports of Greys and Greens being housed together successfully for many years. The decision is ultimately yours. (Note- mine are seperate as I don't feel I have the experience to tell if this is causing trouble). A definite worry though is their size- are yours close in size and all able to get their share of food?

Is there a water source they can sit in if needed?

How high is your tank? You mention getting a taller tank soon so that's good news. I've found my green to stay at or near the top of the tank even more than my grays.

Finally, I don't find the colour disturbing. I have some pictures of mine in my album and the same frog will range from a very dark brown to a pale light green to a bright almost lime green. It pretty regularly changes from one to the other and as far as I know isn't any sign of distress.

Thank you for your advice. I can't separate them at this time but they seem to like each other And are the same size. I will reintroduce the pothos, thanks for assuring me that it's not toxic. They are both eating well, I know sometimes a gray TF will gobble up all of the food, but I have been carefully monitoring their eating habits.

[Fae]

Also my tank is only 10 inches high at this time but I plan on getting a vertical.

[bshmerlie]

Yeah...put the pothos back in. It really is one of the best tree frog plants.

[Fae]

Ok, Pothos back in. I tried to put it back in there without disturbing my frogs. Please let me know if you have any more suggestions. I really want my frogs to be happy and healthy. Is it normal for tree frogs to snuggle together? I caught them snuggling the other day, and it seemed kind of odd. They don't seem to be having problems together other than snuggling. I thought it was kind of cute, but still wondering if thats normal. They both have a healthy appetite and move around the enclosure a lot. I haven't seen them get into the water bowls ( I have 2) in a while, but there is always fresh substrate in there whenever I change the water everyday, so I know they are getting in there. And again, thanks for all the fast replies. I really appreciate it!

[UncleChester]

10" is too short, but you're getting a higher one so that's good. You can also look around here for some ideas on how to convert your existing tank to a vertical one.

It's unlikely your frogs like each other. Or hate each other. Or feel anything at all for each other aside from a source of competition for food (no problem as they each are getting their share), someone to have a one night stand with, and possibly something to sit on from time to time. My Grays really don't interact at all, except when Waldo wants to spend some 'quality time' with his tankmate (he promises to call her in the morning but still gets totally ignored). My Grays are decidedly non-communal frogs. So don't let that be a reason to not separate them if you are leaning in that direction.

The snuggling is most likely one frog arriving at a favored perch and noticing that it now has a fat 'lump' on it. Oh well, just sit on the lump. Unless the 'snuggling' is attempted amplexus?

[Tony]

Pothos, like most Aroids, is considered toxic because the plant tissues contain calcium oxalate crystals. Depending on the concentration they can cause symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to death when eaten, but pothos is definitely on the lower end of that range. My cats eat it every time they can manage to grab some. The vast majority of toxic plants do not cause issues for frogs because the frogs are not consuming them, the only one I avoid is Dieffenbachia because the concentration of calcium oxalate in the sap is high enough that it can cause skin irritation on contact.

[bshmerlie]

Tony.. I've just got to know...to you Super Froggers do these names like Dieffenbachia just roll off the tongue or do you have to look them up? I wont be able to spell that name ten minutes from now.

[Fae]

10" is too short, but you're getting a higher one so that's good. You can also look around here for some ideas on how to convert your existing tank to a vertical one.

It's unlikely your frogs like each other. Or hate each other. Or feel anything at all for each other aside from a source of competition for food (no problem as they each are getting their share), someone to have a one night stand with, and possibly something to sit on from time to time. My Grays really don't interact at all, except when Waldo wants to spend some 'quality time' with his tankmate (he promises to call her in the morning but still gets totally ignored). My Grays are decidedly non-communal frogs. So don't let that be a reason to not separate them if you are leaning in that direction.

The snuggling is most likely one frog arriving at a favored perch and noticing that it now has a fat 'lump' on it. Oh well, just sit on the lump. Unless the 'snuggling' is attempted amplexus?

Thanks for the idea, I am going to convert my tank to a vertical as soon as my pay day comes around.

[Tony]

Tony.. I've just got to know...to you Super Froggers do these names like Dieffenbachia just roll off the tongue or do you have to look them up? I wont be able to spell that name ten minutes from now.

I've been a science nerd all my life, sometimes I think Latin is my native language.