WTF Sleeping on the Ground?

[DVirginiana]

Just thought I would ask if anyone knows why a WTF would spend all day sleeping on the ground? The second the lights go out at night he comes out and climbs up into his little tree to hunt and hang out, and stays in the tree until the sunlight comes in in the morning. He hasn't always done this, and used to sleep in his tree. He has plenty of hanging plants to hide under while on his tree, so it's not an issue of him feeling secure up there.

I'm not especially worried since he acts fine and is eating/soaking/pooping normally, but this is just a little strange for him.

[LilyPad]

What is the temp/humidity variant? Is it too hot or dry up there?

[irThumper]

What is the temp/humidity variant? Is it too hot or dry up there?

That's what I was wondering too.

[DVirginiana]

It shouldn't be. Ambient temp in the room hovers around 80-82 during the day and around 76-78 at night. Humidity stays higher at the top of his cage than the bottom because of the way I've got half the lid cling-wrapped. Everything evaporates then kind of gets caught up top.

The thing that stumps me is that nothing has changed since he started sleeping on the ground. I've had him about two years, and he's only been doing this for maybe two months (still occasionally sleeps in his tree, but mostly on the ground).

[irThumper]

It shouldn't be. Ambient temp in the room hovers around 80-82 during the day and around 76-78 at night. Humidity stays higher at the top of his cage than the bottom because of the way I've got half the lid cling-wrapped. Everything evaporates then kind of gets caught up top.

The thing that stumps me is that nothing has changed since he started sleeping on the ground. I've had him about two years, and he's only been doing this for maybe two months (still occasionally sleeps in his tree, but mostly on the ground).

Do you have a humidity gauge? WTF ave humidity should be around 50%, when you get into 70% humidity it's too high. Sounds like he's wanting less humidity perhaps. Try taking the cling wrap off, monitor the humidity so it doesn't fall below 40%, and see what he does.

[deranged chipmunk]

One of my white's would do that from time. He would also sleep on the substrate in the back of his enclosure and go brown. Hide and seek level : expert. I wouldn't worry about it. White's can be big goofballs. As long as he is acting/feeding/pooping like normal, it just chose a new spot to sleep.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DVirginiana]

His humidity is def. on the high end of that range. I'll try dropping that down for a few days and see if he starts sleeping up in his tree again.

Haha, the first few times he did that I thought he had somehow escaped! It took me awhile to find him, because he's found this little blind spot under the tree that he likes to hang out in.

[deranged chipmunk]

I doubt it is a humidity issue. I kept my white's in close to dart frog conditions for years. Their range is so vast and conditions so varied, there is no one way to keep them. Since I kept a lot of tropical plants from Borneo in their tank, they got Indonesian conditions. Never an issue, well, save for the goofy stuff like sleeping in their water feature or on the substrate lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DVirginiana]

Haha, I've got a pacman frog too and she's a bit more sensitive so I'm probably overthinking this. I guess as long as the WTF is eating and acting normally at night I won't worry.

[LilyPad]

Some frogs are just silly! If everything is in good range, and as you said, he's eating and active, no worries! One of my greys sleeps in the water almost all the time, no idea why, he's just a weirdo. I was really concerned at first, especially when he got bloated from the water (I'm sure there is a thread on here regarding that) but it's been 4 years and he's perfectly healthy.

[irThumper]

Some frogs are just silly! If everything is in good range, and as you said, he's eating and active, no worries! One of my greys sleeps in the water almost all the time, no idea why, he's just a weirdo. I was really concerned at first, especially when he got bloated from the water (I'm sure there is a thread on here regarding that) but it's been 4 years and he's perfectly healthy.

They can get bloated from being in the water too much...? My guys like to sleep in the water when shedding sometimes, and they can be in there for quite some time. Had no idea that it could possibly cause complications.

[mpmistr]

My two WTF do the same thing. In the day they hide under leaf litter, and turn brown. At night they emerge, become active, and turn green. I feed them and I can hear them jumping around in the evening. They go down to the water area to soak a little then they go up under the basking light for a while and in the morning they're back to hiding under leaf litter and turn brown again.

One frog does this 100% of the time, the other some times will just chill out in the open during the day half the time.

Day temp 80F
Night temp 75F
Humidity ~60%

[Heatheranne]

It sounds as though he's just wanting to cool off a bit. They do like a basking spot in the low 80's, but if the whole tank is warm with no where up top to cool, they'll head on down to the bottom. Humidity is best around 50-70%.

My Cuban will lay on the glass floor when he's a tad warm. Cuban's have the same husbandry needs as white's.