So last weekend I came across a female Gray Treefrog crossing a country road late at night. I was just going to take a photo of her until I (a) noticed it was a female and (b) saw that she was pretty round in the abdominal area. This prompted me to hang on to her and find a male (which I did about 30 minutes later at a nearby pond where he and a bunch of other males were calling like fiends). So now I have a pair of Gray Treefrogs.
It has taken me several days to get everything together but they are now in a small Exoterra habitat. Instead of having substrate, the bottom of the vivarium is water. There is a large piece of driftwood with multiple emergent Java ferns growing out of it, and this takes at least 1/3 of the area of the vivarium bottom - it also is too big too be submerged. I've got various perches/large pieces of wood from dead trees in their habitat and two artificial trailing plants that come with the Exoterra kit. I've also rigged up a rain system using a water pump and a transparent tray with lots of holes in it suspended at the ceiling of the tank - it works rather well.
This is a real experiment for me because I've never kept treefrogs before. So far I've been very pleasantly surprised by the female - she got over her nerves very quickly. She will watch me from the vivarium and will take waxworms from forceps (she eats and eats and eats). The male, on the other hand, is a little shy and he has yet to eat for me. Any tips, please, as to how I can get him to eat something/gain his confidence? He hasn't called for me since bringing him home.
John, maybe you should try offering him crickets with the forceps. Most of the Gray Tree Frogs I've caught in the state of GA would go nuts over crickets. That's about all I can think of at the current moment. Good luck with trying to get him to eat.
I find gray treefrogs go nuts over anything I offer them. So, I wouldn't concerm myself with him not eating right away. Just give him time.
Thanks Kurt. He called tonight for a while after I turned the rain on so I think that's a positive sign.
Today I tried small crickets. He ate a few for me. He wouldn't eat small mealworms though. The female ate everything I offered her.
Tonight he won't shut up.
Hi John,
I've noticed that gray treefrogs vary a great deal in personality...some follow you right out of the tank, others shy. I raised a large group from eggs some years ago...amazing how different they all were.
Unless well adjusted to tong feeding, most gray and other treefrogs tend not to go for meal worms, earthworms...perhaps not the right "look", given where they usually find food. I've found that they usually respond very vigorously to moths, flies and other flying insects, also meal worm beetles and other beetles, roaches as others have mentioned. When I had a large group (zoo) i left insects in overnight for the shyer individuals...placed wax worms in cups wired to branches. Small live silkworms always a favorite, canned accepted by tong-feeders.
Good luck, best, Frank
You've given me some interesting ideas in there, thanks Frank.
Just an update on this. The male has tamed down nicely and eats everything offered. They also bred for me, which you can read about in this thread: http://www.frogforum.net/showthread.php?t=232
I caught another male Hyla versicolor from a different part of Texas tonight. He won't shut up. Strangely though, my older male isn't responding to the calls. I did a bad thing - I should have quarantined the new fellow but I reckoned since they were all wild caught in East Texas there was minimal risk in putting them in the same terrarium.
Good luck.
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