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 )

[AyamePasse]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I don't know what triggered it, but he's back to his old turquoise self again. I've had the female for some time now, and, as it happens, his response to her was actually an immediate attempt to mate even though she's not old enough yet. ;P

Your frogs are beautiful too, by the way! I'm sorry to hear about sHEila... How old was he? Was he already full grown when you got him?
Initially, when I got my male, I'd always wanted a White's Tree Frog for their gorgeous pale green color. But when I saw the pinkish, blue-eyed female about a year ago, I knew I HAD to have her. She's my pride and joy. ^_^

[irThumper]

I don't blame you, I would have snatched her up in a heart beat!

Thanks, I love my guys ^_^ I miss sHEila a lot, he was the only one who would "converse" with me *sniff*. All of my original four were juveniles when I got them, Jelly being the youngest, I think Shirley might have been a bit older and Honey and sHEila around the same age. No one ever says how old they are when they come into the store, unfortunately, so don't have an exact age. Martha is our biggest and got her as an older sub-adult. She's probably full adult now, though I bet she can grow bigger-- well I hope she grows longer anyway, she's already big enough around!

Hey, is there anyway you can find out from the pet store who the breeder/supplier was of your female?? Would love to find one like her

[AyamePasse]

That's terrible, so he was still a young one, huh? I guess I lucked out, I got my first at a big box store, and although he's something of a runt (and may be blind in one eye), he seems otherwise quite healthy... He was about the size of a quarter when I got him...

I'll see if I can ask them next time my husband drags me there, but it might be some time; they're in a neighboring city. However, if it helps, here is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tails...10857615635306, and the picture they had posted of the one I bought: https://www.facebook.com/11085761563...43661262354936
I'm not sure how good they are about replying to messages or comments, but they're not a big corporate store to my knowledge, so they may be pretty good about tending to customers on a personal level. You might be able to ask them yourself.

[irThumper]

I left a message for them and said high to you on there!

[AyamePasse]

Sweet, hopefully you hear back from them soon! ^_^ I DO know when you're in the store they're very willing to bend over backward in an attempt to find a specific type of critter for you... However, after I bought the female, a month or so later, I tried asking someone if they had any idea of her age (since my male wanted SO badly to mate with her), and they didn't know which animal I was referring to... I may have just talked to someone who wasn't aware that they'd had her; I think they only had her a day or so before I rushed in and bought her. XD

[Frogfeet123]

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


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[irThumper]

Sweet, hopefully you hear back from them soon! ^_^ I DO know when you're in the store they're very willing to bend over backward in an attempt to find a specific type of critter for you... However, after I bought the female, a month or so later, I tried asking someone if they had any idea of her age (since my male wanted SO badly to mate with her), and they didn't know which animal I was referring to... I may have just talked to someone who wasn't aware that they'd had her; I think they only had her a day or so before I rushed in and bought her. XD

And I meant to type "hi" not "high"! LOL!

Yeah all my babies were youngsters, except for Martha. If you got her a year ago they might not know who the supplier is, unless they use the same one each time? Doesn't hurt to ask though!

[AyamePasse]

I hope they do. They MIGHT know, if I talk to the right person. After all, it's a very small store, one of those that you see the same handful of people working almost every time you go in. So maybe we'll get lucky.

Also, on an unrelated side note, my male frog looks almost RED now. LOL! Another thing I've never seen him do, and he's been croaking every 20 seconds. >.<

[Angela P]

I have one wtf that gets that dark at times.

[irThumper]

I hope they do. They MIGHT know, if I talk to the right person. After all, it's a very small store, one of those that you see the same handful of people working almost every time you go in. So maybe we'll get lucky.

Also, on an unrelated side note, my male frog looks almost RED now. LOL! Another thing I've never seen him do, and he's been croaking every 20 seconds. >.<

Lol, hey maybe he's blushing Sounds like he's ready for spring!