Copes Tree Frogs?

[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.

[Yoda]

LOL, I've been to those pet stores that seem to know very little! Honestly I don't think you will be doing much wrong to them by releasing them into a pond. They seem to be behind schedule on their development but that's probably their parents fault; you also live farther south than I so it might be normal where you live. If you choose to let them go you are just letting nature figure itself out because they aren't captive bred, especially to the tadpoles that aren't in an aquarium. It seems natural to let them go, but if you have developed an interest in keeping some you could try; but raising juveniles is way harder than adults so it's not recommended but still your choice. If you want to release them that wouldn't be a bad idea just maybe see if there are more tadpoles in the actual pond because if there are then definitely feel free to release them.

[amythyst]

LOL, I've been to those pet stores that seem to know very little! Honestly I don't think you will be doing much wrong to them by releasing them into a pond. They seem to be behind schedule on their development but that's probably their parents fault; you also live farther south than I so it might be normal where you live. If you choose to let them go you are just letting nature figure itself out because they aren't captive bred, especially to the tadpoles that aren't in an aquarium. It seems natural to let them go, but if you have developed an interest in keeping some you could try; but raising juveniles is way harder than adults so it's not recommended but still your choice. If you want to release them that wouldn't be a bad idea just maybe see if there are more tadpoles in the actual pond because if there are then definitely feel free to release them.

Thank you! Good advice. I figured I've given them way more of a fighting chance already than if I had left them in the water table. They surely would have died out there in the baking sun and no food.

We mostly did it for my son cause he was so fascinated by them and wanted to see them grow. He sits in front of the tank every day and feeds them... But we have been telling him we need to set them free when they grow up.

Actually I have one more question - can I handle them? Like if I tried to put them in a different container to release them... do I just pick them up?

[Yoda]

Oh I never actually thought about them baking in the sun, good job for saving them. Yes you can pick them up be careful of course because they're young, but when you pick them up its better to pick up frogs in a non-pinching style where you never squeeze them but instead scoop them up or something. I catch these little guys in my pond every year so I'm used to handing all kinds of frogs. Out of all frogs I believe tree frogs are the only frogs that don't mind being handled and adults will often just sit on your hand content. Toads on the other hand often whimper while trapped inside your hands lol.

[amythyst]

Oh I never actually thought about them baking in the sun, good job for saving them. Yes you can pick them up be careful of course because they're young, but when you pick them up its better to pick up frogs in a non-pinching style where you never squeeze them but instead scoop them up or something. I catch these little guys in my pond every year so I'm used to handing all kinds of frogs. Out of all frogs I believe tree frogs are the only frogs that don't mind being handled and adults will often just sit on your hand content. Toads on the other hand often whimper while trapped inside your hands lol.

Ok, so IÂ’m a terrible frog mom. IÂ’m not sure what happened but the little frog died. We were feeding him fruit flies but he didnÂ’t really seem that interested. He spent most of his time hiding up at the top of the tank, clinging to the sides.

i found him tonight just floating in the water at the bottom. He had turned almost translucent. I dunno what happened but did he drown? Did he fall off the top of the tank somehow and drown in the water? CanÂ’t they swim? I have about three ish inches of water at the bottom of the tank for the tadpoles and then some plants sticking out and also a very large rock stuck to the side of the tank that they can crawl up and out of.

I feel so bad but IÂ’m glad my son didnÂ’t find him.

[Yoda]

It's OK, I understand that it is like 5 times harder to take care of young frogs because feeding is often quite difficult! I hope they had decent lighting though! If you had rocks for the little guy to sit on they should be fine as long as they can actually climb onto it; your picture makes it look evident they can. Tree frogs drown fairly easily in comparison to some species and I've often found them drowned in rain barrels or steep garden ponds (made of plastic), because once their sticky feet become too wet they keep on slipping down and continually make the sides even more wet and drown after several hours. I see you have a rock so I honestly don't know what happened. Raising tadpoles is a great experience but once metamorphosis is complete it is safest to release them back into the wild. Raising a mature adult frog is the easiest! Don't feel any guilt over what happened it is all about learning from your mistakes!