Son brought home pacific tree frogs....help!

[Animalcrackers]

Hi all, my son (who is 3) was "gifted" two pacific tree frogs that he and his grandpa caught in grandpa's backyard while I was at work Friday. They were sent home in a Mason jar. My son is in love with his frogs, so over the weekend we set them up as best we knew how. They're currently in a 10 Gal tank with a screen lid, sphagnum moss as sub and a pool of fresh (dechlorinated) water as well as some grape Vine and leaves from our yard. We got them about a dozen tiny crickets Sunday, which they've devoured, but seeing as my son hasn't lost interest yet and we're likely not going to be able to release them back into grandpa's pond anytime soon (without a meltdown, thanks dad &#128580 I'd like any info that you can give me on how to keep them happy as long as possible. I know it isn't super cool to keep wild caught specimens, but also....he is 3 and literally wakes up asking for his frogs. He loves them and they're growing on me a bit too, so any info is hugely appreciated 💚💚💚

[BossFrog]

Where are you keeping them? Have you ever had frogs before? Do they look healthy? I know it might be hard to tell but do you plan on letting them go within a couple weeks or keeping them? If you wanna keep em, like you said it's not great to keep wild caught so you may just want to buy some similar ones lol. There's a ton of info on the forum on tree frogs-ask and you shall receive! Good luck!

[Bynny Ribbit]

Haha, that's so sweet!

As for keeping frogs happy, make sure their tank environment is as close to their original environment as possible. I'm not sure what it's like where you live, but try to mimic it the best you can. Make sure they have places to climb and hide, and make sure to change their water daily or if they poop in it so it doesn't make them sick.

Depending on how long you plan to keep them, you may have to supply them with calcium including vitamin D3. It comes in a powder form and you dust the crickets with it once in a while by putting both in a bag and shaking it up. Frogs in the wild can get this through diet and sunlight, but frogs in captivity who are not supplemented can eventually get Metabolic Bone Disease.

As for maybe getting them back to their environment sooner, have you tried telling him that they miss their home? Or maybe that they're only taking a vacation and will have to go home eventually?

[elly]

Keep in mind wild frogs often carry parasites that can multiply in tanks and make frogs sick. If you keep the frog a while you might need to change the substrate regularly.

Water is important. You can pick up some dechlorinating solution for tap water at a pet store or in the pet aisle at Walmart. Some counties now treat the water in a way that means the chlorine doesn't simply "gas off" after being left out over night.