Found a tree frog in grocery cabbage, not sure how to help

[ak737]

Today at work I found what appeared to be a squashed, dead tree frog in a head of cabbage pulled from a cooler. I brought it into the back and let it warm up for a few to make sure I wasn't putting a living animal in the trash. Wouldn't you know in just a few minutes it blinked at me. It came with cabbage from FL all the way to MI. I set it up with a makeshift enclosure of a fish tank with plain white moist paper towel, a shallow dish of spring water, and a plastic plant to try to make it feel more comfortable. Trying to keep he/she warm and moist, but hopefully not too warm/moist, which is a guessing game since I have no equipment.
My question is what to do next. I live in a VERY small town. No pet stores within 50 miles that are open more than a few hours during the day and I work all day the next two days. How/what can I feed this guy? Not sure how urgent it is since I don't know how long he's been trapped in a box of cabbage or how long they can survive when chilled down to a near stop. Just want to help if I can, any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Jess]

If you could post a pic of him, some on here might be able to tell what type of frog he is, and be able to point you in the direction of the type of food he would eat that you might be able to get from your yard.

[toxxxickitten]

A picture would be helpful since a lot of tree frog species reside in Florida. However, like any frog - insects are the staple diet. He will probably eat crickets.

[4mb3rNich0l3]

Agreed, a picture would help

[InfinitysDaughter]

I'm probably the worst person in the world but the mental image here just makes me giggle. X3 But yes, wish to see pics of this very well traveled little guy/girl.

[ak737]

Here's the picture I have from a phone. Not the best but a start. I'll have to bug the little guy/girl again in the daytime. Also, I forgot to say that he/she is pretty small. about an inch in length give or take.

[InfinitysDaughter]

S/He looks a lot like my green Percy. And according to wiki greens are native to florida. There actually fairly easy to take care of. Dirt or moss in the bottom of the terrarium, plants (real or fake) to keep the humidity in, and sticks to climb on. They generally eat crickets and other small insects. Also the terrarium should be kept at a around 75-80 degrees and 70-80% humidity. A small water dish and misting regularly should easily keep the humidity levels right and a heat lamp (if possible one with a day and night bulb) can keep the temps right.

Greens are pretty easy to take care of so I'm sure once his/her temps are up and s/he gets a belly full of crickets s/he'll be good as new.

[NatureLady]

That is neat! Glad you found him before he was sold and scared someone else!

[toxxxickitten]

It looks like a Green Tree Frog to me too. They are a very hardy species and easy to care for.

[ak737]

Here is another picture from a different angle. My phone really sucks at small pictures. Trying to catch flies but they keep dying before I can get them in the aquarium and I don't know if they're small enough for him/her to eat anyway. Hoping to catch fruit flies at work. I'm wondering what else I should be doing to help it out. His back left leg seems to be broken but the other three seem to work and he can lift his head and turn his body, but he hasn't moved anywhere. Should I set him in the shallow dish to drink and maybe cleanse any toxins from the cabbage farm or is a spritzing enough. If I do move him are nitrile gloves safe/useful to protect him from anything I may have gotten on my hands? Is moving him a bad idea because of stress? Any advice on helping an injured tree frog or catching him a meal would be helpful. Thanks.

[InfinitysDaughter]

If the black things on the leaf in that pic are the flies then ya, there a bit too big and he probably wont go for them. Its possible that the leg isn't working because hes still malnourished/cold. As for catching flies, you can try a small amount of honey or thick sugar water in a dish. Keep a good eye on it, though, because when you catch them you want to get them out of the "trap" and into another dry container before they suffocate/drown. Offer them to the frog with tweezers or small tongs if he wont move to catch them himself.

You can put him in a small very shallow dish of water. He is probably dehydrated from his journey. You can also try a pedialite bath as well if you can find UNFLAVORED pedialite. 10 parts water to 1 part pedialite. This will help him regain some electrolytes hes undoubtedly lost from the trip. The bath should be warm but not hot. Make sure its in a bowl that he cant hop out of and let him soak for 15-20 min and make sure to try and keep the water warm while he soaks (keep the dish under a warming lamp or something similar).

As long as you wash your hands with soap and water (make sure to get all the soap off) before you handle him its ok as long as you dont handle him for prolonged periods of time (wash your hands after too). I dont know about the gloves. My first instinct is yes its ok but I'm not 100% on that...

[ak737]

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm going out with a fly trap and possibly a shovel (worms). Tomorrow I should be able to get to a store before it closes to get the rest of what I need. Hopefully he can make a full recovery. I'll keep you posted.

[InfinitysDaughter]

I'm not too sure if tree frogs will eat worms. I could be wrong but thats what the girls at work told me and makes sense since they are arboreal. But if s/he will eat it I'm sure its better then nothing.

Good luck and totally keep us posted!

[UncleChester]

Tree frogs will generally try to eat anything that 1) moves and 2) fits down their gob. Earthworms are a nutritionally fantastic food. Be sure to collect them from a chemical free area and clean any debris off them. Some worms secrete foul tasting substance (not harmful, just bad tasting) which can put of some frogs. 1 of my grays generally refuses them, the other 2 consume them readily. My American Green Treefrog will destroy them on sight like he is on a personal crusade to rid the world of worms. You can chop them up into smaller sized chunks if you can only find big ones, they'll still wriggle.

Anytime I've recently handled nasty chemicals (sunscreen, gas, oil, whatever) and need to handle a frog the powder free nitrile gloves come out. You can lightly rinse them with your spring water before handling. I won't bother with the gloves if I haven't recently handled any chemicals, but still wash and rinse very thoroughly. That said, it's best to avoid handling as much as possible, especially a sick or injured little dude.

You might want to give Frog Forum - Gray Tree Frog Care and Breeding a read. The care is pretty much the same for Grays and American Greens (assuming that's what you have).

Also, big kudos for rescuing this little frog. No matter the outcome, it's terrific that in it's foolhardy attempt to see the world it landed in the hands of a caring individual.

[InfinitysDaughter]

Tree frogs will generally try to eat anything that 1) moves and 2) fits down their gob. Earthworms are a nutritionally fantastic food. Be sure to collect them from a chemical free area and clean any debris off them. Some worms secrete foul tasting substance (not harmful, just bad tasting) which can put of some frogs. 1 of my grays generally refuses them, the other 2 consume them readily. My American Green Treefrog will destroy them on sight like he is on a personal crusade to rid the world of worms. You can chop them up into smaller sized chunks if you can only find big ones, they'll still wriggle.

Damn. Should have kept those red wigglers I had for my pac. >.< Oh well. Live and learn. Thanks for that clarification, though. If I can find a place that hasn't been treated with fertilizer or other chemicals I might see if Percy will like them. Do you have to feed with tongs or will putting the bits of worm in a small dish in the tank be ok? (see "percys 'day' out" for an example of what happens if the door to her tank is open for too long)

And I'm not hijacking a thread! Its a valid question for ak737 too! >w>

[UncleChester]

For my grays I dangle the worm in front of them with my hand or tweezers until they go for it. It usually doesn't take long. For my green I just drape it on a nearby perch and he destroys it almost immediately. Worms can climb glass, so if you are going to put in a feeder bowl they'd probably have to be chopped up or they may escape and then burrow into the substrate. I don't know how long they'll wriggle for when chopped though, mine usually don't live long enough to die by the dissection when I have to go that route and I can almost always find appropriate sized worms.

[InfinitysDaughter]

For my grays I dangle the worm in front of them with my hand or tweezers until they go for it. It usually doesn't take long. For my green I just drape it on a nearby perch and he destroys it almost immediately. Worms can climb glass, so if you are going to put in a feeder bowl they'd probably have to be chopped up or they may escape and then burrow into the substrate. I don't know how long they'll wriggle for when chopped though, mine usually don't live long enough to die by the dissection when I have to go that route and I can almost always find appropriate sized worms.

Well Percy is very very little. The space between her eyes is only about half an inch so I'd totally have to cut up earth worms. But over on the pac forum they made it sound like cutting the worms wouldn't kill them unless you like, eviscerate them to get the frogs more interested in them. I'll save a few worms from the next fishing trip and see if Percy will eat one.

[ak737]

Thanks again guys. I put part of a worm in with him while I was waiting for the windshield of my car to dry so I can go to the pet store (just bad timing for a broken windshield and traveling tree frog.) He was interested in it when it wriggled, but it stopped quickly. He may not have eaten it, but it gives me hope since he was just afraid of everything else. Getting crickets asap and hoping. I'll let you know if he decides to eat. Also, I'm not worried about anyone taking over this thread because any info I can get is highly valuable since I've never kept an amphibian before and if all goes well I will have him to look after for a while.

[Heatheranne]

I'm not sure if you've ever had amphibians or not, so I thought I'd add for you that all and any water used has to be dechlorinated. The chlorine in city water is toxic to them.

Walmart sells Stress Coat and other types in the aquarium/pet section. They are drops you add to the water.

[UncleChester]

Well Percy is very very little. The space between her eyes is only about half an inch so I'd totally have to cut up earth worms. But over on the pac forum they made it sound like cutting the worms wouldn't kill them unless you like, eviscerate them to get the frogs more interested in them. I'll save a few worms from the next fishing trip and see if Percy will eat one.

In my opinion the worm can be longer than the space between the frogs eyes, these aren't hard shelled feeders like crickets. My one Gray is about 1.5" long SVL and I feed it earthworms that are about 2" with no problems. A 2" earthworm is still very thin. Of course I don't think you usually get worms that small from a bait shop, so chop, chop, chop!

...He may not have eaten it, but it gives me hope since he was just afraid of everything else. Getting crickets asap and hoping. I'll let you know if he decides to eat. ...

He may find crickets fast and hard to catch, it sounded like one of his rear legs was gimpy? You can try putting the crickets in the fridge for a few minutes or in the freezer for 30 seconds or so before placing in front of them. Ideally you want to chill them long enough that they stop moving or slow down to a crawl but not long enough to kill them. As they warm up and start moving, they make easy targets.