Bred Gray Tree Frogs!

[John]

I managed to breed the 2 Gray Tree frogs (definite Hyla versicolor) I collected in mid March. They've been living in the small exo terra terrarium with water in the bottom and lot of branches. They had become very tame. Anyhow, I put them in a small "I can't believe it's not butter" container for a few hours (at about 6pm) and then opened it at midnight. They were in amplexus. I then put them in a rubbish bin (standard size American Trash can) with about 12-15 cm (4.5-6 inches) of water, some very small fallen branches/twigs from the trees outside, and then placed them on a twig in there. I covered the top with a sheet of glass and put it where there was natural light falling on the top. At 7 am I checked and there were no eggs but they were still in amplexus. At midday there were many rafts of eggs in the water and they are still laying. I'm happy!

[Kurt]

Awesome!!! You should write a care sheet about them. If you need my help in anyway let me know.
In my experience, they adapt to captivity better than any other frog out there. And they learn to know their keeper and where the food comes from, not to many amphibians can do this. In my collection only the White's, tiger sallamanders, and fire-bellied toads seem to know when its feeding time.

Congradulations!

[Billy]

Way to go, John! Grays are pretty cool! By the way, what are you gonna do with all of them when they turn into froglets?

[tylototriton]

Thats excellent John!
Best of luck with the next phase.

[John]

I kept about about 100 eggs (which is way too much but anyhow...) and this afternoon I put the rest in the pond where I collected dad. I'm going to try raising the ones I've kept so expect an advert for free froglets (plus shipping).

[Billy]

I kept about about 100 eggs (which is way too much but anyhow...) and this afternoon I put the rest in the pond where I collected dad. I'm going to try raising the ones I've kept so expect an advert for free froglets (plus shipping).

Cool. I'm glad you put the majority in the dad's pond. I can't wait, I love little Grays.

[Kurt]

I kept about about 100 eggs (which is way too much but anyhow...) and this afternoon I put the rest in the pond where I collected dad. I'm going to try raising the ones I've kept so expect an advert for free froglets (plus shipping).

Who knows, maybe we can trade some grays for some red-eyes.

[John]

Who knows, maybe we can trade some grays for some red-eyes.

Haha, we'll see.

[Kurt]

Yeah, whats the exchange rate on red-eyes and grays? Red-eye froglets sell for around $20. Adult WC gray treefrogs $10. I don't think I have ever seen CB gray treefrogs ever.

[John]

Well, Grays are so common in the wild in the US that there's no market for captive bred. Mine probably aren't really captive bred, since I didn't condition the adults (I collected the adults 6 weeks ago), but they're better than captive born because the eggs were laid in captivity. Anyhow, we'll see how I get on with the Grays .

[justin shockey]

good luck with that i think it will be fun

[John]

When I got home this evening several had hatched. They were only laid 57-65 hours ago!

[Kurt]

My red-eyes hatched in within 5 days or so. So this doesn't surprise me. My snake breeding friends were blown away by the speed of it all.

[Billy]

Congrats, John! They'll be bouncing around like little super-balls soon! Kurt, I can't wait to see pics of your REs when they become froglets!

[Kurt]

Congrats, John! They'll be bouncing around like little super-balls soon! Kurt, I can't wait to see pics of your REs when they become froglets!

That might not happen. No digital camera.

[John]

When I came home on Tuesday every one had hatched, so that's less than 3.5 days. Pretty impressive. Now I have ~150 yolk-absorbing tadpoles. I think I kept too many...

[JJS]

Might be worth adding my own experience here with Cope's gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis), about two years ago. We had a pair at that time that we brought from Kentucky to Europe when we moved here. After we arrived we moved into my parents-in-law for a short time, with the frogs: they kept their house very hot and as soon as we arrived the male started calling all the time. One night he grabbed the female and by the next morning we had lots of eggs, even though they only had a relatively small plastic lunchbox for soaking in, where they laid them. I presume if you want to breed these frogs increasing the temperature helps a lot.

[jody]

ill take a pair.

[tylototriton]

Sounds great John! I think that Greys are relatively fast developers, as many vernal pool/temporary pond breeders are. It sounds like we're converting you into a treefrog keeper!

Alex

Kurt-I'm thinking you should bring your frogs to the June 14th meeting so we can snap some photos!

[Kurt]

I assume, you are talking about the red-eyes.