New owner of a White's Tree Frog (help?)

[JadeFrog]

Hi everyone,

For my birthday in October, my brother gave me a "Blue" White's Tree Frog...He had it for about a month before he gave it to me, because he felt like it would be sold before my birthday. I love frogs and have always wanted a White's.

The little guy is about an inch maybe an inch and a half, and was given to me in a 10g tank setup. My brother said it would be a green or blue color every morning when he'd check on it. But since I have had it, it's turned brown(maybe it just doesn't like me )Is this normal? It seems like there is a tone of mixed information about what the color changes means. At first I just thought it might have been stressed on the transport, since my brother lives about an hour away, but it's been here over a month and it's never really changed back.

I was told the 10g will be fine since it's still a juvenile, and that when it gets to be 2-3 inches I'd need to upgrade to a 20g or larger. I have a background on two walls, my brother was told to use "T-Rex Jungle Bed" and thats whats in the tank now. I've been maintaining the temperature between 85-90 degrees(with a day and night light because my room gets rather cold), and humidity levels are between 50-70%, I change the water dish every night and mist the tank once in the morning and once at night. On average I can get the little guy to eat 2 small (gut loaded and calcium dusted)crickets every other day. It seems a little thin to me also, but I'm not all that sure how fat or thin it should look at this stage. I've been told to use a "feeding tank" to feed it to make sure it's eating and to offer 3 small crickets every other day. Most every morning I find him soaking in the water dish, and as soon as I change his lights over he climbs the wall into one of three hiding spots in a leafy vine.

I guess my questions are as follow:
Are my temperatures and humidity levels fine?
Is it normal for it to stay brown for so long, and if not, any suggestions on what to do?
How much should it be feed/how often? and is it too soon to feed it mealworms?
Finally just any tips or advice...

I might just be worrying for no reason. I've read a lot about them but would like to hear from others who have taken care of them and raised them first hand. Any answers/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated!

[Kurt]

Everything sounds fine. He can turn brown if he is in a dark or dimly lit enclosure. I think ealworms are fine, but not as a staple.

[IgbyKibbits]

I know that it has been some time, and that Kurt has already replied (given his expertise, I'm sure that you had a great response), but I wanted to let you know my experience with my two white's tree frogs. I have them in the same conditions obviously, being kept in the same tank, and one of them tends to always be brown while the other tends to always be green. The one that is generally brown tends to stay on the warmer side of the tank while the one that is green, tends to stay on the cooler side. I figured that I would share because I was worried about the "browner" frog as well at the beginning, but he is thriving just as well as the "green" frog.

Good luck with your newcomer! I am a new owner as well and each day, it's wonderful to learn as I watch them grow!

[JadeFrog]

Thank you guys for the reply, sorry Kurt that it took so long to send a thanks. I've been pretty busy and I'm still trying to figure out the forum (way behind times this is the first forum I've been on)...

I upgraded my tank to one of the exo terra rainforest kits, and he/she (Petrie haha) seems to like it, I'm still alittle concerned about his color as it gets extremely brown from time to time. And his diet has slimmed down over the last few weeks. I'm also just wondering if anyone can give me an idea of how fast they grow...Since October Petrie has probably grown a total of an inch(he's currently 1.75") and he still seems to be rather skinny (He was eating two to three small crickets or two small crickets and a mealworm every other day...the past two weeks I can barely get him to eat one cricket every other day and sometimes he goes two days in between feeding) I'll try posted pictures after work to see what people think about his size and see if there are any ideas to "fatten" him up so to say.

The guy at the pet store suggested a UVB light to help with his digestion and also moss to keep the humidity level more stable...any thoughts or suggestion on this too?

Thanks again for the responces so far, and good luck to you too IgbyKibbits, hope your two little guys live a long happy and healthy life too.

[John]

Jade - don't worry about a UVB light. Unfortunately for amphibian enthusiasts, most pet stores and even some book authors confuse amphibians with reptiles. Many types of reptile need UVB light in order to make Vitamin D. Amphibians are a completely different class of animals (like mammals are a completely different class of animals). There is no scientific evidence that frogs, particularly those usually kept in captivity, require UVB light to make Vitamin D. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give them a terrarium light, just that you don't need a UV light.

Regarding the moss, for larger frogs some kinds of moss (the stringy, long kind - sphagnum) can pose a digestive problem because the frog can accidentally ingest it while going for other food, and then the moss can cause an intestinal blockage, leading to the frog's death. This is very rare but it's a risk. If you want to keep the humidity up then have a nice water-absorbent substrate, plenty of plants, mist regularly and if necessary you can partially block the ventilation to keep moisture in. However don't block it too much - most tree frogs require significant turn over in air or they can develop respiratory problems.

[JadeFrog]

Thanks John for the reply. I'll have to check into alternative ways besides the moss to keep the humidity level in a good range, I don't think my substrate is doing a great job.

[Kurt]

Thank you guys for the reply, sorry Kurt that it took so long to send a thanks.

Don't worry about it.

[IgbyKibbits]

Jade -

I use a coconut based substrate (T-Rex Jungle Bed Premium Blend Forest Substrate) and after a good couple of spray downs with treated water, it really seems to hold the moisture well. Plus, I have read and heard that it's a good substrate for our messy eaters (in that, if they accidentally swallow some of the coconut, it is non-toxic and small enough in that particular blend that they will not choke). My only advice is to make sure that one or two times a week, you mix the substrate (just break it up and move it around) so that moisture doesn't collect in one area and potentially cause molding.

The other thing I did to help with humidity before we installed the water side of the tank was put a plastic covering (just a very thin plexi-glass sheet we had) on top of about 1/3 to 1/2 of the wire screen. That helped keep some of the moisture in while still providing good ventilation, but it really depends on the type of tank that you have.

Hope that helps!