Whites tree frog is BLACK!

[AyamePasse]

Or at least pretty close...

I have a whites tree frog whom I've had for years. His color changes have always been consistent and predictable: turquoise green, or a slightly darker shade with a bit of brown or blue. I bought him at Pet Smart, then, about a year ago, bought him a female companion at Tails & Scales. She is a very pale color, with bluish silver eyes instead of gold, and usually ranges from pink to a grayish or greenish color but rarely gets darker in color. This is the darkest my male usually gets (on the left):

And this is what he looks like as of today! (Again on the left.)

The female seems fine, but they've both been in this plastic container while my husband cleaned his tank for an hour at least, and he looked like this BEFORE my husband moved them... If it had to do with his tank conditions, shouldn't he have changed back by now? What can this mean? I KNOW they change colors, but I've never seen him like this. He's maybe 6 or 7 years old. 8 at the oldest. Could that be a contributing factor?

Oh, it may also be worth noting that he seems perfectly active, and is interested in crickets, though my husband saw his color and decided to clean their enclosure before attempting to feed them...

[deranged chipmunk]

Wow. I have seen a lot of white's change before, mine and others, but never saw one go that dark brown. If he changed due to stress, his being in that little critter keeper wouldn't be helping it in anyway, so I wouldn't expect him to change back in there. But they need to go somewhere while their tank is cleaned

Did anything change in the tank recently? Humidity? Temps? Decor? Not that any of those necessarily caused it, but it's a good place to start.


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

[AyamePasse]

Nothing that I'm aware of... We have a space heater in the room that keeps it at a consistent temperature, as well as the lights are on a timer, going off and on at the same time at night and in the morning, while their heat lamp stays on all night. I wonder if they didn't have the right humidity for one reason or another? I know it gets dry in our house, but my husband said he thought they had plenty of humidity... I got them both to eat one cricket a piece (and quite enthusiastically) but they seemed annoyed by additional crickets, though I suspect that might be due to the critter carrier they're in...

Oh, and we have one of those fog humidifiers, but we recently moved, so my husband hasn't set it up yet. And lord knows if I tried to, I'd never get the tubes positioned right.

[Frogfeet123]

I've seen this before, not with my frogs but at petstores and such. If nothing has changed in behavior and husbandry then You may just have a very chameleon frog! I love the black color with the blue eyes, so pretty! I actually considered getting one, but I don't have the space. To my knowledge it's nothing bad health wise. You should do some research on whites tree frog morphs, maybe you have one?


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[AyamePasse]

I know my blue-eyed female is some sort of color morph (she's the light colored frog. ). But the male I've had for 7 years, give or take, and never seen him go this dark...

[deranged chipmunk]

How long ago did you move? Possibly he is still stressed from the move?


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

[AyamePasse]

The move was a few months ago (August, I believe)... Incidentally, our old housing situation was terrible for both frogs, as well as our lizards and tarantulas; it was my sister's house, and she liked to keep the house as low as 63 degrees Fahrenheit! As we were in a basement with no door to separate us from the rest of the house, all we could do was close the vents, turn on a space heater, use lots of heat lamps and hope for the best. Our new house is 73 degrees Fahrenheit with the space heater in a small, sunlit room where we keep the critters to get it warmer than that. He was doing great the first few months, croaking like mad, eating like a maniac... Cuddling next to his girl. I was thinking the warmer moister temperatures were doing him a lot of good until today.

He's eaten a couple crickets today though, and seems to be looking a bit greener, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Maybe it was just a fluke? Albeit a VERY unusual one for him!

Edit: Make that THREE crickets, and a LOT greener! Hopefully that means he'll be alright.

[deranged chipmunk]

there ya go. glad to hear he is changing back for you. i will tell you what i tell everyone regarding their color change: if they are acting normally, leave them be. nobody really understands why they change. they normally come around though, as you already know. truth be told, i would have been a bit wary myself seeing his color.

[AyamePasse]

Thanks! ^_^ Yeah, as I know color changing is normal and not 100% understood, I tried looking this up before freaking out, but I couldn't find any cases of such a dark pigment! Guess he's just weird; I know he has one weird eye that he's had since I bought him as a little one. Maybe this is just another quirk that showed up really late.

[irThumper]

I wouldn't consider the color itself unusual... that shade happens to be my Jelly Bean's preferred shade, lol. Maybe his color change is just some sort of response to having the new female companion? If he were lethargic, not eating, not pooping, etc, and had turned dark THEN I'd be concerned, but being he seems to be normal in all other respects I'd say he's just a late color change bloomer Both your frogs are gorgeous by the way. I've never seen one so pale as your blue eyed female, she's amazing!

My Jelly Bean on right (sHEila lower left. RIP )

[Frogfeet123]

Wow just looking at tails and scales Facebook page and they've got some nice animals!


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[Angela P]

I have one wtf that gets that dark at times.