Handling/picking up White's tree frog

[bargaviking]

Hi,

I'm a new frog owner (a few weeks). So what is the definitive deal on handling White's tree frogs? I've looked around on many many websites and have found statements regarding this ranging from "handle your frog as little as possible" to "it's ok to handle White's tree frogs regularly". So which one is it?

So far I've been handling my frog for at least a few minutes almost each day, and it seems that he's getting used to it (no longer peeing on me at least xD) but the problem seems to be that I don't know how to pick him up in a way that would be comfortable to the frog. I just kind of do it the intuitive way (after washing my hands with drinking water of course), wedging my fingers under him and then lifting, but most times he seems to not like this and tries to get away (not very far though, just out of the hand). It takes a few tries. When I do manage to get him, though, he seems to have no problem with being on a hand/arm and will hang out on my arm for pretty extensive periods of time before he gets jumpy, at which point I put him back. Is there a better technique for picking up a frog than just kinda grabbing him? I don't want to stress him out too much.

Thanks for your time,
A T

[roxngal]

Hi,

I have 4 Blue Phase Whites Tree Frogs and also have read conflicting information about handling them. I started out by holding my hand in front of the frog then gently encouraging him (from behind) to walk onto my hand. I was afraid of hurting their little bellies when picking them up. Now, when they see my hand reach into their terrarium...they all come right over and jump on! They love being out and sitting on my arm while I am on the computer, or sitting on my desk while I work. They are super tame and very friendly...absolutely love human and being held.

I figure that if they are comfortable then it is fine to hold them. Get to know your frog (it all takes time) and let your frog show you how much handling is okay. I figure that if holding them hurts their skin then they wouldn't fight over who gets only my hand/arm first to get out for some time with 'mommy'. I don't ever touch their backs, I just let them walk on my hands, they crawl up my arms and usually end up jumping onto my shirt and then sitting comfortably for quite some time. When they get moving around too much then I take them back to their home and they usually jump from my arm onto a branch. This shows me that they are wanting to go home at this time.

I do suggest not handling your frog too much, like once a day I personally think would be acceptable because they are so incredibly friendly and seem to enjoy the human contact...at least mine do.

I also have 6 Red Eyed Tree Frogs which do not handle unless necessary...the Whites just seem to enjoy being 'loved' so I let them tell me how much is too much.

As time goes on, you will be more comfortable picking your frog up. I was nervous at first but now I just scoop them up...it just comes naturally. LOL

Enjoy your frog...once you have one...you will want many!

4 Blue Phase Whites Tree Frogs
6 Red Eyed Tree Frogs
3 Fire Bellied Toads
1 Hamster

[DonLisk]

I'll have to agree here that if the frog is comfortable with coming to you then it should be a problem as long as your hands are clean.
The big thing here is to not introduce stress and to not apply any type of chemical agent to the skin of the frog such as those found in hand sterilizers.

[JWells]

My opinion is that frogs are show animals and should not be held unnecessarily. Some frogs, namely white's, will tolerate it, but in general it should be avoided. When a prey animal (like a frog) gets picked up, it's normally a precursor to being crushed or eaten.

[ViperJr]

My personal opinion is that you should not handle your frog in any way at all unless you absolutely need to.
The frog will never enjoy it like a mammal would. At the very best, they will not suffer from it, but that it's. So in my eyes, by handling your frogs, you are taking a risk of harming it, with no chance at all of doing something good for it.

[Tripe46]

I only handle SOME of my frogs for short periods of time (usually less than two minutes) once a week or once every other week just to be sure they have not acquired any hidden injuries, growths, mites etc... However I only do this if the frog puts up little to no fight, if it tries to jump away or uses my hand as a toilet I leave them be. I almost never handle my American Green TF's unless one escapes when I open the door to change the water or feed them, same goes for my Bumble Bee Walking Toads as they also run/walk for dear life when I try to pick them up. However if my White's TF's have been fed recently, they don't even seem to know that they are being handled at first, but after a few minutes of sitting on my hand they will try to jump away. My Amazon Milk frogs are a totally different story, after I pick them up its hard to get them out of my hands. They always sit on a fingertip and wrap their hands and feet around my finger and I will have to peel them off when its time to go back in their viv. I don't handle them any more because of this but they sure don't seem to mind, I don't even bother picking them up out of the cage I just put a cricket in my and and one will jump right over to eat it!