Copes Tree Frogs?

[otofrog]

Once they start growing legs everything else speeds up. Don't worry about temperature unless it's super cold to the touch. Your tadpoles are just taking longer to morph because they are getting fed and can afford to stay a tadpole for a few weeks longer than usual.

[amythyst]

Once they start growing legs everything else speeds up. Don't worry about temperature unless it's super cold to the touch. Your tadpoles are just taking longer to morph because they are getting fed and can afford to stay a tadpole for a few weeks longer than usual.

Thank you! Are you able to tell if they are Cope's or not? Or do I have to wait till they morph first?

[Yoda]

Hi there I wouldn't disagree that they are Gray tree frog tadpoles. I had a little trouble identifying them because the tadpole colour is too dark in the video. As to my experience I have always found that Gray tree frog tadpoles in the later stages of metamorphosis have a flaming orange/red tail. Based on the pattern of the tail it definitely looks like GTF tadpoles so don't have too many doubts there. BTW I have no idea what a water table is but if you found them on your back deck as an egg mass or just tadpoles that makes it pretty fair to assume they are tree frog tadpoles as tree frogs are commonly known to lay eggs in rain barrels, old vehicles/boats that collects rainwater, and any other junk left to collect water where it requires them to climb. Toads like shallow widespread marsh, and pond frogs (ranidae) like permanent bodies of water. Keep in mind that in your region the Gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor) and Cope's gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) overlap. These frogs are differentiated at the chromosomal level because they are exactly identical in appearance. However males are identified based on their mating call so if you really care to know that exact species Cope's gray tree frog has a faster trill rate and higher frequency. Hybrids occur too because females of Hyla chrysoscelis will breed with Hyla versicolor during warm temperatures if male H. chrysoscelis mating call is a very fast trill rate. If temperatures are cool especially during night when they are active usually starting around May, females are more attracted to the slower produced advertisement call of H. chrysoscelis. So I actually have no idea which species it is, LOL. Watch out for calling males especially on warm rainy nights to tell their call it's not hard. I also live in an overlapped breeding zone too so I find that 90 percent H. versicolor and 10 percent H. chrysoscelis, but it's probably different for you. The tail is a huge giveaway for GTF tadpoles. Let me know if I helped at all!

[amythyst]

Thank you! That is super helpful! A water table is just a toddler toy that holds water and they splash and play in it. So yes, we found the tadpoles swimming in my son’s water.

i have a few more questions... we now have an official frog! Most of them are still tadpoles but one has transformed. He is quite tiny and a greenish color I think. I see him just sitting on top of the rock I have outside the water level of our tank.

Since it’s almost winter now, should I wait on releasing them till spring? Also... what do I feed them now that I have actual frogs? The food we have been giving them says frog and tadpole food... will the frogs still go back into the water to eat?

[Yoda]

Hello again, I don't know where the season is at in Virginia, but in Manitoba is probably too late to release newly transformed metamorphs into the wild. GTF tadpoles in MB would have already transformed into juveniles around 2 months ago but since they were laid outside of captivity I'd assume it's not to late to release them assuming they were hatched during breeding season. If your releasing them into the cold I wouldn't be surprised if they'd die so keep them if you feel it's necessary; your call! If your tadpole food is pellets I very highly doubt that juvenile frogs would ever eat them, but since I have little experience in raising frogs I cannot tell you 100 percent reliable information. Frogs vision is prone to movement and find their food by selecting moving prey, so sitting pellets might not seem attractive as they won't sniff it out. I wouldn't say not to try feeding them tadpole food as you may experiment, but I find that they aren't super hungry during metamorphosis and juvenile stages of their life because they are small but also receive nutrition from their disappearing tail. I would suggest going to a pet store that has reptiles and amphibians and asking them what they have for small frogs. They may have small crickets, bloodworms, possibly termites, and any really small invertebrates. Maybe try trapping fruit flies with a sticky fly trap. To be honest I'm not sure what to feed them but hopefully they grow quick enough that they can eat insects available at a pet store. I hope this helps you and feel free to ask more questions, I hope your miniature tree frogs live!

[amythyst]

Thank you again! I am not sure when they hatched actually cause we didn’t use our deck for quite a long time during the summer cause it was just too darn hot! I think we discovered them on October 5th. But the temps have been 40-50 lately ... we have a pond near the house which I’m assuming would be a good place to release them...there’s like 10 tadpoles in there so I just don’t really want to be raising that many frogs but I also don’t want to do wrong by them.

The pet pet store was little help to me when I went ... they didn’t even know they had frog food.

attaching some more pictures... they really are super tiny. There are some air holes at the top of my tank where the cords come inside... I hope they don’t hop out!!

[amythyst]

Oh geeze... my phone posted the pictures upside down and the ones of the little frog are terrible.... blah.