How to hold a white tree frog

[Maggie126]

Does anyone know the proper way to hold and pick up a white tree frog? When i clean out his terrarium, I pick him up by his stomach, then put him in my other hand to cradle his hind and front legs. Since this is my first juvenile tree frog, I'm paranoid about him spending his childhood in maximum comfort. Is there a safer way to do this? Oh, and please don't reply with an angry 5 paragraphs about how I'm a terrible frog owner. Save the drama, and just give me the answer.

[HerpDerp]

Well of course most would say the simple answer is "don't". But generally that just goes for handling the frog for the sake of handling it. In theory you really shouldn't be cleaning out his terrarium very often or hardly at all (depending on the set up). Since I have a false bottom I only pick out poop as I find it and maintain my plants and siphon water out of this bottom. All of this can be done without removing the frogs. If you don't have a false bottom and you just have coco-fiber on the bottom or whatever else you may be using then you still shouldn't need to totally clean that out more than monthly.

Now with all that being said, I'll actually answer your question :P. I actually handle one of my frogs every other night for feeding. I have to put him in his feeding container because he wont just jump in and go for the crickets. I just make sure my hands are clean and don't have soapy residue (which usually means rinsing with hot water), and then after they're dry I spray them with the decholinated water in their misting bottle. Always make sure your hands are wet or moist when handling your frog. This makes the experience much more comfortable for him. By now he's very used to being put into his container so all I have to do is put one hand next to him and use the other to lightly coax him into my waiting hand. But when I take him out of the container I have to actually pick him up. To do this I pick him up around his stomach like you said and usually he'll hang on and sit on my fingers while I move him. With my other frog (who I hardly ever touch at all) when I want to pick him up and move him I just put my fingers under his chin and push his back end with the other hand and he'll usually jump in. He's not a fan of being held though so he usually doesn't stay there for long!

Basically with this lengthy response the idea is that as long as your gentle and let your frog have some control over the situation it should be relatively stress-free.

[Maggie126]

Thanks!