More WTF Questions

[HerpDerp]

You would think I would have this all figured out by now! I got my new WTF on Sunday and he seems to be doing alright, but his personality is completely the opposite of Glurmo's so I'm having a hard time figuring him out! I know for sure it is a he because he croaks even more than Glurmo does and he's only a little over an inch long! I estimate him to be 6-8 months because when he first arrived at the pet store a couple months ago all the frogs were under an inch long. Although, I don't really know squat about guessing the age!

So here are my specific questions in no particular order:

1. He was a nice bright green at the pet store but since I've had him he has stayed grayish/olive colored most of the time, but does occasionally brighten up. What can cause the poor color and how do I improve it.

2. He is super shy. I only ever see him after his light's been off for at least a half hour or if I take him out from hiding to feed him (he is eating great though!).

3. Speaking of eating, how much and how often should a frog of that size and age be eating? He's a bit younger and smaller than Glurmo and I read so much conflicting info on this.

4. Just today I've noticed that he's been burrowing in the substrate right next to the UTH. I have one on the bottom and one on the side AND an incandescent bulb because the UTH's only work at like half capacity (Junk lol). The humidity according to my analog hydrometer is around 60-70% and the daytime temp is about 82. Why on earth is he burrowing??

5. And more of an opinion question: If he's that shy should I just leave him alone or should I try to work with him a little so he can be as chill as Glurmo. I thought Glurmo was sick when I first got him because he's so mellow, but this guy is always wound up.

Please someone give me some straightforward answers so I can stop worrying! Just when I thought I had WTFs figured out I get one that's completely the opposite of Glurmo! These things need a built in troubleshooting program :P

[EJT97]

I have no idea about why your WTF's would be borrowing, however, I would be feeding it 2-3 small crickets or locusts. The only reason it could be burrowing is the temp. or humidity is bad, but it seems okay. He might just be finding it difficult adjusting to his surroundings. Or it could be that the other frog is to big for him, it should only go in the same tank once the SAME size. Colour can be down to humidity (etc), but I'd assume it will just changeover time, may be downtown the stress. I wouldn't worry, but I would suggest separating them if there is a size difference.
Id stop worrying, I'm sure he'll be fine.

[HerpDerp]

They are already separate. He's in a 10 gallon right now for quarantine for at least 30 days (probably longer due to his size). Once he's big enough I'm going to put him in my exo-terra 18x18x24 tall. I have three sides of his tank covered but I'm thinking of covering the front for a while too, just to make him feel more secure. I've been feeding him 3 small crickets a night because he's so skinny and he's already pooped for me. It took Glurmo over a week to poop! I'm thinking you're right though. I'm sure he's just adjusting

[EJT97]

Does he have any hides, these would make him feel he isn't being watched all the time?

[HerpDerp]

I have a few fake plants in there. They are all against the back corners so he can hide behind them. One of them is really bushy and full so he's been hiding behind that, but still burrowed. His enclosure isn't in an ideal place though. It's relatively low traffic but is it right near the bathroom and bedroom doors so there is some traffic. I would put him in the bedroom but that's where Glurmo is and I've heard they can't be in the same room for quarantine? And I think moving him would be stressful too.

[EJT97]

Carry on doing what your doing, it is probably adjustment, you seem like you know what your doing if your other frog is fine!!!

[Bolisnide]

Hi Michelle,
Your white's sounds like a cutie!

1. He was a nice bright green at the pet store but since I've had him he has stayed grayish/olive colored most of the time, but does occasionally brighten up. What can cause the poor color and how do I improve it.
Not sure what would cause a drastic change in his color. Stress from the move and still adjusting? Perhaps add more color to the tank? Although my white's is always a dark olive color, even though he has tons of plants. You may want to try introducing a full spectrum bulb if you don't have one?

2. He is super shy. I only ever see him after his light's been off for at least a half hour or if I take him out from hiding to feed him (he is eating great though!).
Shy is normal, he is in a new place. My white's is only awake when lights are out. Why do you take him out of hiding for feeding? In my opinion, not necessary and may be causing additional stress. It's good he's eating, though! A white's with no appetite is cause for concern.

3. Speaking of eating, how much and how often should a frog of that size and age be eating? He's a bit younger and smaller than Glurmo and I read so much conflicting info on this.
Feed him every day, about 3 appropriate sized crickets. Also, try offering night crawlers cut to size. Don't forget to dust with calcium and with a multi vitamin (calcium about 2-3 x / week, vitamins once per week).

4. Just today I've noticed that he's been burrowing in the substrate right next to the UTH. I have one on the bottom and one on the side AND an incandescent bulb because the UTH's only work at like half capacity (Junk lol). The humidity according to my analog hydrometer is around 60-70% and the daytime temp is about 82. Why on earth is he burrowing??
Your hygrometer may need to be calibrated. Search the forum for how to do that. It's not uncommon for them to be completely wrong. White's burrow, usually because they need more humidity.

5. And more of an opinion question: If he's that shy should I just leave him alone or should I try to work with him a little so he can be as chill as Glurmo. I thought Glurmo was sick when I first got him because he's so mellow, but this guy is always wound up.
I have not handled my white's tree frog in over 11 months. But, he is hand fed, and very social. I feed him at the same time every night (about an hour after lights out). I go in with a very dim light, hold a cricket or worm in front of his nose, and he gobbles it up. I never pick him up, pry him out of hiding. When a frog is handled, it causes stress. They fear being eaten or squished. I would let him be, and perhaps use the glass bowl feeding method. Let him become adjusted to the new environment. and consider moving him to an even quieter area of the house, or if that is not possible, cover at least 3 sides of his cage (not the top, of course).

*** He needs time to get cozy...

Edit: I missed that you already have 3 sides covered... sorry

[HerpDerp]

Hi Michelle,
Your white's sounds like a cutie!

Not sure what would cause a drastic change in his color. Stress from the move and still adjusting? Perhaps add more color to the tank? Although my white's is always a dark olive color, even though he has tons of plants. You may want to try introducing a full spectrum bulb if you don't have one?

I don't have one but I've been thinking of getting one for my main tank to see if Glurmo colors up at all. He's always a dark olive. I think it's just his color though. And the new frog (I've officially decided on Lrrr) colors up when there's less stress .

Shy is normal, he is in a new place. My white's is only awake when lights are out. Why do you take him out of hiding for feeding? In my opinion, not necessary and may be causing additional stress. It's good he's eating, though! A white's with no appetite is cause for concern.

Well the first couple days I had him I wanted to make sure he was eating. He was pretty skinny. I use a deep tupperware container that I put crickets in and then put into the tank. I just moved him over to the edge so he could see they were there. But I'll be more hands off so he can adjust.

Feed him every day, about 3 appropriate sized crickets. Also, try offering night crawlers cut to size. Don't forget to dust with calcium and with a multi vitamin (calcium about 2-3 x / week, vitamins once per week).

I actually just bought a separate calcium supplement at the expo. Before I had an all in one calcium and multivitamin supplement, but I know now that it's not good to overdo vitamins. So once a week I still use the combo supplement but every other time I use just calcium. Should this be alright?

Your hygrometer may need to be calibrated. Search the forum for how to do that. It's not uncommon for them to be completely wrong. White's burrow, usually because they need more humidity.

Thank you for that. I had no idea that they could be calibrated. It's the one I had in my main tank and it never read the same as my digital. I wasn't sure which one was wrong! I will definitely look into that.

I have not handled my white's tree frog in over 11 months. But, he is hand fed, and very social. I feed him at the same time every night (about an hour after lights out). I go in with a very dim light, hold a cricket or worm in front of his nose, and he gobbles it up. I never pick him up, pry him out of hiding. When a frog is handled, it causes stress. They fear being eaten or squished. I would let him be, and perhaps use the glass bowl feeding method. Let him become adjusted to the new environment. and consider moving him to an even quieter area of the house, or if that is not possible, cover at least 3 sides of his cage (not the top, of course).

I usually handle Glurmo quite often, but only as a necessity. When I feed him crickets in the tupperware he'll jump in on his own and eat the crickets but then he hunkers down and falls asleep without getting out LOL. So I need to take him out of the dish so I can take it out of the tank. He doesn't mind being handled at all though. If I reach in to get him he'll climb onto my hand and not want to get off. But I can see Lrrr isn't going to be that tolerant. But I shouldn't need to do that for him anyways as he seems to have no problem jumping out of the container

But last night he got out of his tank! I'm going to post a new thread about that though. I just hope it doesn't mess with his adjusting

[EJT97]

My frog jumped out the tank after about 2 weeks, after that he stared jumping around more, guess it can work both ways

[NatureLady]

I use the bowl method to feed my wtf. It saves on stress, I can keep up with the amount eaten, and keeps the crickets from hiding. I would think that the humidity/temp is why yours is burrowing.

[deranged chipmunk]

don't sweat the color thing too much. the 2 white's i have in my main tank change back and forth constantly. it seems to depend on where they are resting at the moment. sometimes they sleep up in the plants and are a brilliant green. other times, when they are sleeping nearer to the dark spots in the background, they both turn brown. they do have the ability to change colors at will, so i wouldn't worry about it. if the brown bothers you, there's always krylon fusion spray paint. it's frog friendly
as far as the burrowing, don't assume that it is necessarily a humidity issue. the one thing i have observed in the past 2 weeks of having my white's in a tank with a large water area, they LOVE the water. in fact, last night, i caught one of them blocking the flow to my waterfall so he could have the water rushing all over him. and that tank is 76 deg./81% humidity. i have even found one camped out in my palm at the water level. i have also seen them intentionally dive into the water, swim to the other end and climb out. now, i am not saying ALL white;s are like this, just mine. but maybe the guy you have is looking to be around more water?
dump the analog hygrometer and get thee a good digital one. i tried most of the analogs and none of them were any good. even some high end one's for humidors. all ****, digital is the way to go
i feed my juvies 3-4 small crickets/day until they can eat the larger ones. i have 4 juvies in a quarantine bin as we speak and they are eating me out of house and home....LOL oh, and i feed my big guys in the less planted section of my tank twice a week. they love to hunt, so i let them. i get rid of uneaten crickets first thing in the morning. they are normally floating in the water anyway, so it's easy.....lol
just remember, i consider my guys to be the exception, rather than the norm, due to their housing.

[HerpDerp]

Hi color definitely has a routine to it. During the day he stays pretty dark and at night he brightens right up. I'm not used to that since Glurmo goes from a dark almost purple color to an olive color. Not much range there :P. Glurmo also LOVES the water. I'm convinced he spends half the night just sitting in his water dish because he'll be in there when I go to bed and then he's there when his light comes on in the morning. Lrrr doesn't seem to care that much about water. He usually climbs in after eating so he can clean off his mouth LOL. I think he was just burrowing as a comfort thing because he's not doing it at all anymore. I think part of it was the humidity because I was trusting the analog hydrometer which said it was 70%. So now I just mist when it looks a bit dry. But this is just my spare hydrometer. I got myself digital about a month ago, but I question the accuracy on the humidity so I think I'll calibrate the analog so I can test the digital.

I have been feeding Lrrr about 3 crickets a night. Yesterday I tried tong feeding one that got crushed and was half dead and he ate it! I was very excited that he ate from tons lol. So now I can try night crawlers. I don't put Lrrr's in a dish anymore because he actively seeks them out and finds them all. Glurmo however, would probably die of starvation if I didn't put them in a dish for him LOL. I do still leave one in there every couple nights for him to hunt though. And I keep fake plants in my water dishes and haven't had a single drowned cricket since then. Obviously that's not so easy with your set up, Bill :P