New Green Tree Frog Owner! I have questions!

[ashleyacuna]

Yeah the guy at the pet store said it was a green tree frog so that's what I assumed it was, not knowing any better. I was so confused when I started looking up frog care because it was all different.

I usually give him medium sized crickets. I attached a photo of him on a half cup to show how big he is. He changes color depending on weather he is under his light or not. I've never tried giving him crickets by hand but I tried a mealworm and he didn't want it. He is in a 10-15 gallon tank with two small water dishes and one flat one I use for feeding. He has fake plans and I use coconut fiber substrate. I change his water everyday but am still unsure about how often to completely replace the dirt, I have been doing it once a week. His temp directly under the light is 80 degrees and on the other side of the tank it's around 70, at night it's in between 60-70. I have a infrared heat lamp for night time and a basking light for part of the day. The humidity is around 50% but I most it up to 70-80 multiple times a day!




Ashley Acuna

[Gibson]

White's tree frogs require a 20 gallon minimum, and your frog is large enough to need that big of a tank. I would go back to petco and demand a refund, what they did is absolutely ridiculous. Your frog could also use a deeper water dish than the one he's in in the picture. The dirt doesn't need to be changed once a week, once a month is fine although i am guilty of changing mine every 1.5-2 months. water should be changed daily, and get rid of any feces you see right away. you only need one water dish. The frog is most likely not eating because his setup is all wrong. Being a tree frog, a taller tank is needed. I like the zoomed/exo terra ones. I use a tank like this for my green tree frogs, which I have used for a single whites as well.



Your setup also needs branches and possibly more foliage. What I do is find branches outside and bake them, then proceed to hot glue them to the sides of the tank so the frog has a place to perch. Craft stores such as Joan's or other fabric stores often have a few feet of fake foliage for real cheap, and are great for frogs.





Though the picture makes the enclosure looks somewhat small, it is rather large. Here is a video I made of my frogs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_QEB63FEzM you can see the enclosure better there.

[ashleyacuna]

They said a minimum of a 10 gallon tank and I checked and mine is 15 so I thought that was fine , but I will find a taller tank ASAP. The only thing petco could refund me for would be the soil, lamps, or the frog itself. I will try to find more branches and stuff, he has one more plant that is just out of his tank currently because I was trying to spot clean. I'm surprised I was given so much wrong information. How many crickets should he be eating 2-3 times a week? cause he is eating 2-3 a day so that makes between 15-20 per week so i'm not sure he's "not eating" I just think I am feeding him everyday so he's less hungry maybe? I'm not sure.

[Gibson]

Yeah, we all learn the hard way never to trust big chain pet stores. My mistake, i thought i read you said your frog was not eating, but he seems to be a hungry little guy! I usually just throw in a little bit over a dozen crickets into my white's tank 2-3 times a week, dusting with calcium once a week. They don't need to eat daily. I don't think you need to refund the lamp, the temps seem right, but its up to you if you want to return the frog and get a green tree frog (or 2, i like to get them in groups) instead. Whites tree frogs are usually a lot cheaper at petco. A pair of green tree frogs can live fine in a 10 gallon and the frogs themselves are usually very cheap. And since green tree frogs are so small, you might be able to get away with keeping the tank you already have horizontal.

Just to warn you though, if you do decide to get green tree frogs, they are no where near as calm as whites and will jump all over the place. Think of them more like fish, just animals to look at. I personally keep green tree frogs just in addition to grow at the plants

[ashleyacuna]

Oh yeah - What I meant was, he doesn't "hunt" for the crickets on his own. He'll just hang out in his leafs or up in the corner of the tank for most of the day unless I put him down on the ground and make him see the cricket, then he will eat it. So he is still eating 2-3 a day, just not on his own really I'm not sure if I should leave a mealworm on the flat dish for him to eat or not, I feel bad for the mealworm lol, I just know that if I put him in the soil he will burrow. Yeah it makes me mad that petco didn't tell me anything I needed to know, but i'm glad I went online instead of just continuing to not take care of him properly!

[Gibson]

Just make sure you get your frog what he needs and properly care for him, and I'm sure he'll be hunting on his own in no time. Force feeding him puts a lot of stress on the frog as well.


And personally, while mealworms are fine, I prefer crickets just because I like watching them hunt down the crickets, and who knows, maybe they get a kick out of it too.