Accidental House Guest- My New Temporary Hyla versicolor

[UncleChester]

My in laws have a pile of houseplants. Some get a summer vacation outside, to be returned to the house before winter (talking about the plants here, not the in laws). There was a stowaway that was seen half buried in one of the pots today. It had managed to lay low for over 2 and a half months.

There's too much snow to punt it outside and living free range in a house with a dog, a couple of cats, and a wood stove wasn't considered safe. Having a viv or two to spare and the means to feed a frog, she (a guess based on its massive size) gets to move in with me until spring. We were kinda shocked what great shape she was in, there's not much to eat in the winter, the plants don't really get watered, and it was almost surely too warm for a full on brumation.

She won't be introduced to the my other Grays, as shes going outside after they start appearing in the wild, but I'll enjoy her while I can

Just a quick snap of a dirty frog before moving into her temporary home, I'm sure I'll get a chance for more pics later. She's quite gorgeous.

[deeishealthy]

Ya, she is!! That is one fortunate frog, to have you.

[NatureLady]

She is really fat and uber cute!!!! Oh how I love Hyla versicolor <3

[UncleChester]

Another stowaway was found. A fair bit smaller than the first one. So I have yet another Gray treefrog until spring. No pictures of the newest one yet, it was jumpier and gets to settle in to its tank first (they are being housed separately due to size). If any more are found they'd better be close in size to one of these two as I'm starting to run out of spare frog-ready tanks.

The first has settled in well and is nicely voracious, but has decided to stay grey most of time instead of green:

[GrifTheGreat]

Very nice Pictures. I love how versitile Gray Tree Frogs are with their color changes. They can even turn nearly black, but You already know that because you keep them.

[flybyferns]

She's beautiful Brian ! "Lady Luck"

[flybyferns]

Another stowaway was found. A fair bit smaller than the first one. So I have yet another Gray treefrog until spring. No pictures of the newest one yet, it was jumpier and gets to settle in to its tank first (they are being housed separately due to size). If any more are found they'd better be close in size to one of these two as I'm starting to run out of spare frog-ready tanks.

The first has settled in well and is nicely voracious, but has decided to stay grey most of time instead of green:

"Oh Boy" and "Lady Luck" wow

[kueluck]

Accidental house guest my eye!! They knew exactly what they were doing. They've been watching through the windows seeing how good the “insiders” have it and want a piece of THAT action.

[deeishealthy]

Accidental house guest my eye!! They knew exactly what they were doing. They've been watching through the windows seeing how good the “insiders” have it and want a piece of THAT action.

Ok, THAT made me laugh.

[flybyferns]

Accidental house guest my eye!! They knew exactly what they were doing. They've been watching through the windows seeing how good the “insiders” have it and want a piece of THAT action.

Funny !

[UncleChester]

Some pics of the second one, who measured in at a small 3.5cm SVL and good looking 4.4 grams. By comparison the first one was 5.7cm and a really fat looking 21.9 grams (I probably shouldn't call it fat in case it is a gravid she).









I'm always shocked at how well they adapt to captivity. This second one has also had no problems eating. It's still going to get evicted come spring time.

Accidental house guest my eye!! They knew exactly what they were doing. They've been watching through the windows seeing how good the “insiders” have it and want a piece of THAT action.

Hmm, some sort of curtains may be in order then

[UncleChester]

Jan 12th the frogs weights were 4.4 g and 21.9 g. I re-weighed them today to see how they were doing and they were 5.7 g and 25.2 g respectively. I wonder how much of that was from food and how much was re-hydrating (both looked in good health on the 12th). All weigh ins are done after a feeding.

And now to answer the question that everyone wonders about but is afraid to ask- "How much can a frog pee in one sitting?".

My scale has a little removable pan on top of it, so when I'm done weighing the frog I just put the pan in their cage and let them get off it on their own time. On the way back from the weighing, the fat one peed all over my arm. Still in the dry pan (she managed to get it all on me), this was my golden opportunity to reweigh her and finally answer the above burning question that's been nagging me since I was old enough to think about the urinary output of various creatures (probably about the same time I saw an elephant at the zoo cause a tightly localized torrential downpour). She was now 23.7g. That's 1.5g, or almost 6% of her body weight! My own, now grossly inadequate, personal record is closer to 0.6%, thanks for asking.

[Heatheranne]

Some pics of the second one, who measured in at a small 3.5cm SVL and good looking 4.4 grams. By comparison the first one was 5.7cm and a really fat looking 21.9 grams (I probably shouldn't call it fat in case it is a gravid she).









I'm always shocked at how well they adapt to captivity. This second one has also had no problems eating. It's still going to get evicted come spring time.



Hmm, some sort of curtains may be in order then

Gorgeous photos!

[Heatheranne]

Jan 12th the frogs weights were 4.4 g and 21.9 g. I re-weighed them today to see how they were doing and they were 5.7 g and 25.2 g respectively. I wonder how much of that was from food and how much was re-hydrating (both looked in good health on the 12th). All weigh ins are done after a feeding.

And now to answer the question that everyone wonders about but is afraid to ask- "How much can a frog pee in one sitting?".

My scale has a little removable pan on top of it, so when I'm done weighing the frog I just put the pan in their cage and let them get off it on their own time. On the way back from the weighing, the fat one peed all over my arm. Still in the dry pan (she managed to get it all on me), this was my golden opportunity to reweigh her and finally answer the above burning question that's been nagging me since I was old enough to think about the urinary output of various creatures (probably about the same time I saw an elephant at the zoo cause a tightly localized torrential downpour). She was now 23.7g. That's 1.5g, or almost 6% of her body weight! My own, now grossly inadequate, personal record is closer to 0.6%, thanks for asking.

That's pretty interesting. And, imagine what amount of water they still hold overall.

[deranged chipmunk]

this was my golden opportunity to reweigh her and finally answer the above burning question that's been nagging me since I was old enough to think about the urinary output of various creatures (probably about the same time I saw an elephant at the zoo cause a tightly localized torrential downpour).

brian, i'm really starting to worry about you. you may be the one person on this forum that is more demented than i am!!LOL

[Heatheranne]

^ Nuh, Nuh....lol! I'm not thinking that's possible , lol!!! Just teasing, of course, Bill! You both keep it interesting .

[NatureLady]

Thank you Brian. Now the age old guestion has been answered! My toad could possibly have this percentage topped, I swear he can pee more than any other phib I have ever been peed on by.

[helm96]

You are lucky Brian, I would be happy with house guests like that. All I seem to get is family that overstays their welcome. In all seriousness, beautiful pictures and beautiful frogs. They are in for a good old fashioned spoiling over the next couple months!

[chocoboFFA]

awww cute lil chubby guests

[UncleChester]

I took the porker out for a weighing (and feeding) today. She's holding steady at a fat 25g and she's keeping a close eye on the weather report getting ready for breeding season. No pee this time



The little one is more timid, so no recent photos but here's one from a few weeks back.



I expect I'll have them for another 5 or 6 weeks. They don't usually turn up outside until the end of April.