Grey tree frogs in amplexus....what??

[LilyPad]

I turned on the light on my grey tree frog tank this morning to find this....






I have never cycled these guys to breed. I do drop the temps slightly during the winter, as well as shorten the lighting schedule to match our normal daylight and less feedings. I did not do that with my male yet this year because he was still so small at the start of winter. In the last two months he's done a lot of growing and reached his full size finally.

Is there a possibility that she is gravid without cycling, or is it common to find them in amplexus? I have never had this happen with my greys before.

[LilyPad]

Oy, doing research to try to figure this out just gives me more questions.

If she is gravid, and I do not move them to a breeding tub (I really have no clue what I'm going to do with a ton of grey tree froglets) can she get eggbound? Or will she reabsorb them? Paddy is my favorite frog and I do not want to risk her health in any way.

ETA: I was terrified that Paddy was going to try to eat Atlas when I first moved him in with the girls. I didn't expect this!

[kueluck]

There is always a chance of becoming egg bound, that's how I lost Rosie (Fowler's Toad) a few years back. But I wouldn't worry about it, most frog reabsorb the eggs. My neighbors Cope's do this all year long. Her big female Bess drags the male all over the viv. It's funny to watch.

[LilyPad]

In all the reading I've done so far today, I've read some say the egg bound thing in amphibians is a myth created by the reptile world, and others that say they've lost their amphibians due to being egg bound. So it leaves me unsure if it's worth the risk. I will see if they're still in amplexus when I get home and think about what to do there. I honestly didn't think it was possible for her to get gravid without putting her through a true winter cycle. One of the reasons I love owning greys is because it's so easy to control their breeding. Here in WI, I cannot sell greys, nor can I keep more than 5. I'm not even sure I would find FREE homes for all the babies I could potentially have. I am not set up to have tads, yet I would hate to kill all the eggs if she does lay.

[Frogman1031]

Sounds like a tough situation. Is the water area big? If not, maybe they won't lay the eggs in the water. I've heard of frogs in amplexus for no reason. Hopefully this is the case.

[LilyPad]

There is not enough water in there for them to lay eggs. They are still in amplexus this afternoon. If I put them in a rain chamber tonight, would it be appropriate to released the eggs into a pond behind my house? All my frogs were WC from the area, (not by me) and Atlas actually very likely came from that pond. This is given that she is actually gravid. She's always been a fairly large and sometimes overweight frog, so it's hard for me to tell. I was honestly worried recently that she was getting overweight again, especially with my kids exclaiming how fat she is last week.

[Frogman1031]

Disturbing amplexus may frighten them enough that egg laying won't happen. You could put a bigger water dish in there and increase the humidity. It is your call. I think that raising tads would be a fun project for you and your kids though . They take a few days to hatch so thats plenty of time to gather supplies. If you do raise them i recommend releasing the froglets in a few different pond to kind of increase the gene pool.
I know what your going through. Angus has been croaking ALOT lately and has developed nuptial pads. I love him but he does have a handicap which i don't want getting passed down. Plus they're both too young to mate safely and ill probably end up killing the tads.

[LilyPad]

Tad care is a big fear for me. We had toad tads once several years back and ended up re-releasing them when they started dying off quickly. I had no idea how to care for them then though, and have a pretty good idea now. I'm just a serious planner/researcher and anything that catches me off guard with my frogs makes me panic lol.

[Frogman1031]

I know, tad care is the hardest part of anything frog! Its SO rewarding though. They never all make it.


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[kueluck]

If they stay in amplexus set up a plastic tote bin with tight lid on it with a few inches of frog save water along with a few rocks or logs for them to rest on. If nothing happens in the next 24 hours and they separate just put them back in their original viv. You can always put the eggs in a local pond, this way you don't have to worry about raising tads (which is easy). Also frogs/toads can become egg bound. I lost my Rosie to this and it was definitely egg bound since I cut her open and even emailed the photo to my vet to confirm. Or just leave them be. My neighbors go into amplexus all the time, some times for a few days, other times for a few hours.

[LilyPad]

They were still in amplexus when I moved them to the tote bin I set up tonight. Then they both completely freaked out. Jumping all over the place, in the water, out of the water, puffed out, trying to climb the sides and slipping down... Atlas held on as long as he could but Paddy wasn't having any of it. I moved them back into their regular viv with an extra large water dish filled with branches. I'll see what I find in the morning, right now I think they both just need to calm down. That was kind of a disaster.