Red Eyed Tree Frogs in New Mexico!

I was surprised when I found my RETFs at Petco too. The Petco here in KY had 5 and I bought 2 and put them in a 12x12x18 ExoTerra. Like you, I plan on upgrading the tank in the near future. I'm planning the upgrade around Christmas time. I might go with the 18x18x24. I hope they will be okay in the smaller tank for now. Good luck!

for substrate i would suggest paper towels for a little while at first. also send some fecals to dr frye to make sure everything is ok with them. the humidity does not need to be at 80 and the temperature does not need to be 80 or above. i dont even use a light for my red eyes and neither do a lot of other sucessful red eye keepers. the only light that is helpful is used only for daylight, not heat. i keep them about the temperature of my house. today they were at about 78 all day and now dropped to about 72. the humidity in my room stays about 60 and then i mist them once or twice a day.

keep us updated on the one that sleeps on the floor. i always get really paranoid and lose sleep when one of mine do that. it doesnt happen any more but it didnt stop me from freaking out when it did.

i guess the moss is fine since its covered but bowl feeding is a great thing for them to learn. since they lunge for their food, sometimes they get a mouth full of substrate. Moss is a BIG no no for them to get a mouthfull of. but with a bowl, they wont get a mouthfull of anything. you can also count the crickets being eaten and put as many as you want in there. and you wont have dead crickets lying everywhere. plenty of good reasons to start on a bowl.

a 12x12x18 is kind of small. not too much bigger than a 10 gallon vert if im correct. the rule is pretty much 10 gallons per frog. a 18x18x24 would be perfect for them and they are $79.99 at petsmart right now.

Originally Posted by mrzoggs

for substrate i would suggest paper towels for a little while at first. also send some fecals to dr frye to make sure everything is ok with them. the humidity does not need to be at 80 and the temperature does not need to be 80 or above. i dont even use a light for my red eyes and neither do a lot of other sucessful red eye keepers. the only light that is helpful is used only for daylight, not heat. i keep them about the temperature of my house. today they were at about 78 all day and now dropped to about 72. the humidity in my room stays about 60 and then i mist them once or twice a day.

keep us updated on the one that sleeps on the floor. i always get really paranoid and lose sleep when one of mine do that. it doesnt happen any more but it didnt stop me from freaking out when it did.

i guess the moss is fine since its covered but bowl feeding is a great thing for them to learn. since they lunge for their food, sometimes they get a mouth full of substrate. Moss is a BIG no no for them to get a mouthfull of. but with a bowl, they wont get a mouthfull of anything. you can also count the crickets being eaten and put as many as you want in there. and you wont have dead crickets lying everywhere. plenty of good reasons to start on a bowl.

a 12x12x18 is kind of small. not too much bigger than a 10 gallon vert if im correct. the rule is pretty much 10 gallons per frog. a 18x18x24 would be perfect for them and they are $79.99 at petsmart right now.

Hi there,
Thans so much for your adivce! I think I will change out the substrate to paper towels, I like that idea a lot. Should I get the brown non-bleached? Or is regular white ok?
Just to clarify about the moss, I am perfectly aware of the danger moss in an enclosure pses, that's why I put it on the bottom layer with no exposure to the frogs themselves.
And about the temp and humidity. I read in several places the humidity should be 80% or higher? This is not correct? What is the proper range? 60-80%?
And the temp I read should be up to 85 degrees during the day and about 75 at night? I do need some heat as I'm in the mountains and we are cooler than in most regions. What would you suggest for heat? Without a heat source the enclosure will be about 65 day and night...
Do the red eyes require UVB? Or is natural light ok?

I tried bowl feeding last night, and all the crickets were there in the morning. Not one was eaten. Do they need some time to get used to it? My white's is such a big eater, I'm not sure what is normal for a red eye.
Also, though both the frogs moved around at night, this morning both were on the floor. I'm starting to get concerned. What would cause this?

And, I do realize an 12x12x18 is a little small, but they are really small still (about quarter size), as I said, I will upgrade when I have the funds. I will probably upgrade in a few months.
I am not a newbie to frogs themselves, but yes to Red Eyes. I appreciate your kind advice.
Thanks!
Thanks for all of your help...

Originally Posted by Bolisnide

Hi there,
Thans so much for your adivce! I think I will change out the substrate to paper towels, I like that idea a lot. Should I get the brown non-bleached? Or is regular white ok?
Just to clarify about the moss, I am perfectly aware of the danger moss in an enclosure pses, that's why I put it on the bottom layer with no exposure to the frogs themselves.
And about the temp and humidity. I read in several places the humidity should be 80% or higher? This is not correct? What is the proper range? 60-80%?
And the temp I read should be up to 85 degrees during the day and about 75 at night? I do need some heat as I'm in the mountains and we are cooler than in most regions. What would you suggest for heat? Without a heat source the enclosure will be about 65 day and night...
Do the red eyes require UVB? Or is natural light ok?

I tried bowl feeding last night, and all the crickets were there in the morning. Not one was eaten. Do they need some time to get used to it? My white's is such a big eater, I'm not sure what is normal for a red eye.
Also, though both the frogs moved around at night, this morning both were on the floor. I'm starting to get concerned. What would cause this?

And, I do realize an 12x12x18 is a little small, but they are really small still (about quarter size), as I said, I will upgrade when I have the funds. I will probably upgrade in a few months.
I am not a newbie to frogs themselves, but yes to Red Eyes. I appreciate your kind advice.
Thanks!
Thanks for all of your help...

i use white paper towels. not the ones with flowers and stuff all over them. its easier for me to clean and easier for me to check for poop. once i get them perfect and healthy for a while i will probably change it up to a more natural looking habitat. i havent heard any bad reviews on the non bleached paper towels either. i just wouldnt get ones that smell or have pictures all over them.

Temperature

Day: 26-28 °C (78-82 °F); Night: 22-24 °C (71-75 °F)

i would definitely not go above 82 degrees for them for prolonged periods of time. mine do fine at the lower ends of that scale. 71 at night, 78 during the day. dont let it drop below 68 for long periods of time either.

as for the lights, just enough to bring your temperature up. no specific kind. its basically only for temperature. i use no light on them at all at night. they like complete darkness at night

to teach them to bowl feed i suggest having some outside the bowl and also inside the bowl. until they learn that there is crickets inside the bowl.

them both on the floor is not a good thing. but they could be on the floor trying to escape the heat or because of humidity reasons. also it could be that something was wrong with them when you bought them. that enclosure i guess is fine for now since they are small but i would definitely look into upgrading.

sorry id get more into detail but im in a rush. just wanted to give you some tips before i ran off for a little while. ill check on this thread when i get back.

Thanks for your time in getting back with me.
Dimmed the day lamp way down, temp is now 74. I'll watch the temp to get it at about 78 and make sure it doesn't get much higher...
I never use light at night for my white's and would never use one at night for the reds. They are all in complete darkness at night. Last night temp was 68.
Humidity is at 60%.
The frogs ate last night, about 5 small crickets between the two. And are now both asleep up high on the snake plant.
Sooo, I think they're a bit happier now.
This weekend I'll change out their substrate, and wait for some fecals to send to Dr. Frye.
Thanks for your help

ah im very excited for you. it might of been the heat bothering them and thats why they got on the floor. no telling though. im happy they ate and are up high like theyre supposed to be. if it were me, i wouldnt let the temp get above 80 during the day or below 70 at night if you can. in the wild its not like they have those ideal temps 100% of the time but prolonged exposure to crazy temperatures will cause problems. since they are both housed together i would just grab about 3 fecals and send them off. do you know how to collect them? if not you can read this.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/gen...amination.html

pretty simple.

just let them know you only need 1 fecal examination done because the frogs are house together. i sent them 4 poops from the same enclosure and they thought i wanted a examination done on each poop which was $72 total lol. i had to make it clear that they all came from the same enclosure so i only needed one done.

id get some paper towels in there asap lol. they will be pooping soon and you can collect it if you need to keep the humidity a little higher you can cover up some of the open area. maybe plastic wrap or something. ive never had an exo terra so i dont know what works. they really just like it to be moist in there. not soaking wet. mine have never had issues with humidity so im not sure.

Bad news, I came home last night to one dead frog . It was the one that was on the floor when I brought them home.
I'm taking him back to petco today.
I've changed out the substrate to paper towels and cleaned the tank and all it's accessories with boiling water.
The remaining frog has a worn snout that I didn't notice before. Doesn't look infected. Next step?
Also, should I replace the frog that passed, or let the remaining one be solo?
Any thoughts and/or advice welcome.
Also, humidity was at 60%, temp was at 78 when I came home. Temp too high? Humidity not right?

the temperature was fine. and i dont think that humidity is low enough to kill them. mine stays around that until i mist. then it will go up for a little while. im sorry to hear about your frog and if it was my guess...it was not your fault. if you want to get a second frog that is fine. just remember. frogs dont get lonely so it wont make a difference lol. there are a couple threads on here about the same thing happening with other red eyes from petco.

as for the snout, you can put neosporin on it. im sure as you might know already DO NOT USE PAIN RELIEVER NEOSPORIN or you will have 2 dead frogs on your hands. worn snout on the nose can be from it being kept in too small of an enclosure. my female red eye (who is the biggest red eye ive seen) was kept in a 12x12x12 when i got her. she was in it for a year which was horrible. thats like 5 gallons... and she has a scar on her nose.

i would hurry up and get a fecal done, and/or email dr frye.

just dont beat yourself up about it. these things happen more often then one might think. especially from chain pet stores. (nothing against them, just stating what ive seen)

you might have a easier time with your frog if you get it from a reputable dealer. or get one a little older.

I'm so bummed... I feel very defeated at the moment, and very much over my head. I'm surprised that there are not more people commenting/helping out on this thread.
I went to petco yesterday and explained the situation. The manager said that out of the 5 they got, 3 have died, and the one left was not looking good. I opted out of bringing home another red eye that may be sick as I already have one that may or may not be on the edge. I refunded my money and buried the poor babe that died.
As far as the one I have left, has a worn nose that requires attention, and I need to upgrade to a larger enclosure. This frog stilll has not pooped, and may or may not of eaten since I brought him/her home on Sat. Definitely didn't eat last night. At least it is resting up high on the snake plant and I have a handle on it's environment.
I will post pictures soon, don't want to disturb the already stressed red eye I have left.
I have applied non-pain relief neosporin to the worn snout, but it's tricky... I don't want to stress further nor do I want to clog the nose with the neosporin. And the frog is soooo little and fragile.
Anyone with more advice, thoughts, etc. please chime in.
Lynn? Heather?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by mrzoggs

ah im very excited for you. it might of been the heat bothering them and thats why they got on the floor. no telling though. im happy they ate and are up high like theyre supposed to be. if it were me, i wouldnt let the temp get above 80 during the day or below 70 at night if you can. in the wild its not like they have those ideal temps 100% of the time but prolonged exposure to crazy temperatures will cause problems. since they are both housed together i would just grab about 3 fecals and send them off. do you know how to collect them? if not you can read this.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/gen...amination.html

pretty simple.

just let them know you only need 1 fecal examination done because the frogs are house together. i sent them 4 poops from the same enclosure and they thought i wanted a examination done on each poop which was $72 total lol. i had to make it clear that they all came from the same enclosure so i only needed one done.

id get some paper towels in there asap lol. they will be pooping soon and you can collect it if you need to keep the humidity a little higher you can cover up some of the open area. maybe plastic wrap or something. ive never had an exo terra so i dont know what works. they really just like it to be moist in there. not soaking wet. mine have never had issues with humidity so im not sure.

BTW, thanks so much. You have been a tremendous help and I and the frog appreciate it

Im so sorry you feel that way. Im sure this wont make you feel any better, but after i bought my first 2 red eyes, one also died within a week. It was sleeping on the floor and acting weird also. Pretty much the same thing that you went through. I took my time with the one that lived and he turned out to be doing great. Do you know how long Petco had them before you bought them? They could be going through the stress of moving to Petco, and then being quickly moved to your house could of stressed them out even more. No telling where Petco got them from either. If i had to guess, i would say the cheapest red eye dealer on the internet (same place i got my first two from). They couldve been field collected which stresses them out WAY more. It also gives them a good chance of having worms or parasites which wouldnt help the situation either. With the neosporin on the nose, i would wait until its asleep. Maybe use a q-tip and gently rub it on there. It shouldnt even wake up. Maybe you can use the tip of your finger. (wash hands or wear a glove).

If i were you, i would cover 3 sides of the enclosure. With my new red eye, i put a blanket over the enclosure at night to ensure complete darkness. If it comes down to it maybe a force feed???

Remember, it IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!!!! I cannot stress that enough. Dont beat yourself up about it. Obviously Petco isnt doing any better with their red eyes. You can take a picture while its sleeping during the day. It shouldnt even notice.

Originally Posted by frogdad

I was surprised when I found my RETFs at Petco too. The Petco here in KY had 5 and I bought 2 and put them in a 12x12x18 ExoTerra. Like you, I plan on upgrading the tank in the near future. I'm planning the upgrade around Christmas time. I might go with the 18x18x24. I hope they will be okay in the smaller tank for now. Good luck!

Just curious, how are your frogs doing?

Originally Posted by Bolisnide

BTW, thanks so much. You have been a tremendous help and I and the frog appreciate it

i will admit, one of my favorite things to do during my day is to help people with their red eyes. I dont know why. But I like to feel like I'm helping in some way. So trust me, its no problem at all.

Originally Posted by mrzoggs

Im so sorry you feel that way. Im sure this wont make you feel any better, but after i bought my first 2 red eyes, one also died within a week. It was sleeping on the floor and acting weird also. Pretty much the same thing that you went through. I took my time with the one that lived and he turned out to be doing great. Do you know how long Petco had them before you bought them? They could be going through the stress of moving to Petco, and then being quickly moved to your house could of stressed them out even more. No telling where Petco got them from either. If i had to guess, i would say the cheapest red eye dealer on the internet (same place i got my first two from). They couldve been field collected which stresses them out WAY more. It also gives them a good chance of having worms or parasites which wouldnt help the situation either. With the neosporin on the nose, i would wait until its asleep. Maybe use a q-tip and gently rub it on there. It shouldnt even wake up. Maybe you can use the tip of your finger. (wash hands or wear a glove).


If i were you, i would cover 3 sides of the enclosure. With my new red eye, i put a blanket over the enclosure at night to ensure complete darkness. If it comes down to it maybe a force feed???

Remember, it IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!!!! I cannot stress that enough. Dont beat yourself up about it. Obviously Petco isnt doing any better with their red eyes. You can take a picture while its sleeping during the day. It shouldnt even notice.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I felt so excited on Sat, like I could give them such a good home. and now I feel like a failure to these poor frogs. The pet store said they had just got the frogs in, I assumed that meant like just a couple days or so... I can see how stressed the frog is, and I feel so bad for it. I'll try bowl feeding tonight and see if he eats. I'll try that for a couple more days? And continue with neosporin until the wound heals>
Thank you

put some outside the bowl, and inside the bowl. they might not "know how" to bowl feed yet hehe. i would try covering up some sides too. just so the frog isnt as scared.

the frog ate 3 very small crickets last night (at least I think), I put 3 small crickets outside the bowl and 3 inside the bowl. The ones outside the bowl are missing. As I have papertowels for substrate, I'm pretty sure they were eaten! I'm so happy
Also, covered the sides of tank for security...

Sorry to hear you lost one If they weren't transported correctly, they could have been exposed to extreme conditions, heat, cold, circus juggling, who knows?!

You sound like a very responsible keeper-- like mrzoggs said, don't blame yourself. You don't know what they'd been through before they came into your care.

Hi
Iam a little bit lost,I don,t know if iam allowed to just post a mgs here?Iam intrested to start keeping Red-Eyed Leaf Frog I have been on my project build for 6mths,I hope to complete it by xmas,I have started to plant Bromilads+Air Plants in the Canopy,I have done a lot of reading,+got a fair idea what to aim for ie the Climate ect,My build is in our attic away from the tv,I did want to mix TF But they they say it,s a bad move.illness ect,I just want to pick up more gen about Red-Eyed Leaf Frog they look stunning,That,s why I have taken my time over getting things right for them, any advice would be welcomed atb
Ceri

Originally Posted by Shade38

Sorry to hear you lost one If they weren't transported correctly, they could have been exposed to extreme conditions, heat, cold, circus juggling, who knows?!

You sound like a very responsible keeper-- like mrzoggs said, don't blame yourself. You don't know what they'd been through before they came into your care.

Thanks Toni. Well, lessons are learned everyday, right! Will never support these big chains by purchasing another living creature from them. After reading about Heather and her red eyes she brought home from Petco, I too wonder where they're coming from and how they're transported. Not to mention how they're housed when they finally arrive at the store. Poor things.

On another note, I found poop! I'm so excited and thought I would share
(my husband thinks I'm nuts that I'm so excited about poo, but that is a very good sign things are moving along!

Also, will post a picture soon.... the viv is totally different now (still too small, but I'm really happy with how it is for now).
Paper towel substrate, lots of pothos and snake plants, and a plastic fake tree. The frog is up high in a snake plant, and seems to be more comfortable (less stressed). And it's nose seems to be healing, so yippee!