Help- I think I have a new frog?

[Furlabun]

So I'm sitting in my bedroom and all of a sudden this frog hops out from under my dresser.

I would like to keep it. I've always wanted a frog. In fact, I've been researching pacman frogs and white's tree frogs for months before it. But before I decide to keep it, I need help identifying it so it'll be happiest.

He/she/it is a good jumper with sticky feet and a diamond shaped body. He's about 1.5-2 inches and it's widest part is between its pairs of legs. His lips are brown and his top is bright green like a lime only cooler. xD He has a pale belly and his feet aren't webbed. Also, he's got a yellow stripe between his belly and his top, starting at his mouth and going a bit to his hind legs. He's got black eyes with gold lids that close horizontally like a human's. He also has a visible eardrum.

I think it might be an American Green Tree frog. If so, is it a baby? They get up to 6 cm, right? So is it???

[Jace]

Not that your description isn't helpful, but a picture would be even better. Any way you could post one for us??

[Furlabun]

Now I can! Sorry, didn't have time last night.




Sorry about the quality. I don't have a great camera. I'm pretty sure, now that I've looked at him, that he's an American Green Treefrog, but I wanted to be sure....

[Jace]

It does look very similar to my AGTF, but it is a bit hard to tell. Hopefully another member can confirm. They have care similar to a Gray Treefrog, and we have an excellent care article on this Forum regarding them. Males of the Green Treefrog have very loud calls....my boy wakes me up frequently at all hours of the night, and get the rest of the house going, too! Troublemaker that he is....

[charlamanda]

Your camera is as wonderful as mine...not! He/she is very cute, even through the graininess. Try to focus the camera at a distance then bring the camera closer, it works with my camera. As I push down on the button to take the pic, with a digital camera, it does an autofocus. When it focuses at a distance to where it is finally crisp, bring it a little closer, then take the exposure. Hopefully this may help you to get a better picture. Love to see more pics..good luck!

[Tony]

That is an American green tree frog, the white stripe down the side is a dead giveaway.

[Furlabun]

Wow, thank you all for your help. I thought so about the stripe, but it didn't have the dark outline that a lot of the AGTF pictures I googled had.

Unfortunately, my 'camera' is actually my DSi, and unfortunately, it's not very advanced. Maybe I'll get a camera for my birthday.

Right now the little guy/girl (how can you tell? He has a wrinkled throat sac, which may means it expands, but is there a better way?) is in a temp habitat. We're going to go get him a tank and some pinhead crickets soon, since IDK when he last ate. He's moving around though, and has already got to the restroom, so I guess that means he's comfy for the moment. xD

He's only about less than two inches. Pinhead crickets are good then, right? Do you think he'd be able to eat dead food for a little till we get a live habitat going for the bugs?

[Tony]

Females are much larger and only males call. I believe males also develop darker color under the throat where the vocal sac is located. Pinheads aren't necessary, he should take 3/8 to 1/2 inch crickets without any trouble. Frogs generally require movement to trigger a feeding response so dead food probably will not be accepted. Do you have a local pet store where you can go get crickets?

[Jace]

I know with any of my frogs, if a cricket wasn't moving, it was absolutely ignored, so dead food will not trigger your new one to eat. My AGTF is full grown, and he will eat crickets ranging from 1-3 weeks old. Yours should easily be able to handle 2 weeks if not slightly larger. Best of luck. I first knew mine was a boy after a heavy misting-they love fairly high humidity and enjoy a good misting at night-and he starting calling. Must say: loudest call of all my frogs and it was very cool!

[Furlabun]

Thank you all so much for your help! Elvis (...Pretty sure he's a boy) is still kicking and we got his new tank set up and now I have to go feed him! Thank you all. I'll post pictures soon!!!

[Jace]

Love the name! I had one named Elton...great minds think alike!! Can't wait for those pictures.

[Furlabun]

Awww! Elton-frog! Well, if Elvis turns out to be a girl... I may name her Gaga or Kelly. Kelly Green! LOL.

Anyways, good news! Went and got his cage stuff and set it all up. Then I set up four small-med crickets in a small bin and let him out of his jar. He ended up pwning on three!!! It was so cool!!! (fourth drowned after about fifteen minutes of not being eaten- there was a tiny puddle of water in the bin in one corner) So then I get ready to take him out (with clean hands, of course! No soap, just clean bottled water, right?) and guess what?... He jumps. EVERYWHERE. After about a minute of him managing to find every single gap between my fingers (I wasn't holding tightly to begin with... ^^;...) I finally get a good cup form and put him in his new and scrubbed-down habitat. I was kind of worried about the stress, but so far he's been moving around and checking it out. It's a ten-gallon with a big peice of smooth but lumpy wood going diagonally down it and some fake leaves and a bio-vine and a water dish and a makeshift house... And he really likes the house. Is this okay-sounding? I'll try and get pics tomorrow...

I'm a little worried, though, about temp. I could only afford a small liquid-crystal thermometer that comes with no instructions on how to read it... But it's colored faintly on 70-75. I don't think our house will get much cooler at night, but with fall coming... IDK, should I get a small heat lamp or something?

But my first frog! Aw, he was so cute when he was pouncing on crickets...

[Jace]

Speaking from personal experience, these guys seem to do very well at just room temperature and all its fluctuations. Just keep an eye on him and if you notice a change in behavior or colour we will start with temperature and work from there. Give him a few days to settle in completely. Do not be alarmed if he doesn't eat every day, as mine will skip a day or two and then hoover everything in sight. Glad to hear you are enjoying him!

[Tony]

I dont know, should I get a small heat lamp or something?

Ever see a wild frog buy a heater for the winter?

[charlamanda]

Ever see a wild frog buy a heater for the winter?

Tony that's only because they don't have pockets to keep their money in!LOL

[Furlabun]

HELP! I'm worried! My frog changed colors!

So I get home last night and his cage is a bit dry, but there's a little moisture in it. But I take a peek at him, and he's fat and sassy and all happy, but then I realize that he's a darker green! What does this mean?

I think it may have something to do with the humidity, right? His cage dries out fast. I have a mesh screen on the top. How can I keep the humidity in where it needs to be?

Oh, but he's eating well. Is it two to three crickets every day for juveniles, or three to four? They're small, so...

[Tony]

Color changes are normal, green tree frogs can vary from bright green to dark brown and anywhere in between.

[Furlabun]

Hi everyone! Elvis turned back to lime-green. And he's been eating. A lot.

Now it's time to clean the tank! His tank was set up all cool like, with a log-like thing I bought from a Petsmart, a fake plant, and a fake vine, a cool rocky water dish, a piece-of-junk thermometer (working on getting that fixed...) and Repticarpet.

So to clean everything I pulled it all out of the tank and put Elvis in his temp tank (which he did not like. I did what I could to make him comfy but he was not happy. It wasn't good for either of us, really.) and look it over. Everything was fine, except for the log- when I pulled it out, the bottom of it was covered in mold! White, short, fuzzy mold! I had washed everything before putting it in his tank, so... I didn't put it back in. Instead I washed everything with a distilled vinegar solution and hot water, and rinsed it, and then rinsed it with distilled (dechlorinated) water. Then I put everything back (except that log) and put Elvis in.

He seems fine, and ate, but he's back to dark green. Is it a stress thing? I get that they do change, but I'd like to know why.

Is there a better way to clean his tank? What do you all do?

Uhm, his tank smells a little even though I just washed it... should I be worried?

Should I not spray down his tank every day like I've been doing? I think that's what caused the mold on the log... But I read they need a moist enviornment?

Please help!

[Jace]

Glad to hear that Elvis is doing good. They do change colour because of stress, so being moved from his main digs to a temp tank and back again probably got him grumpy. Luckily, a couple of mistings and some fat juicy crickets, and he'll be a happy frogger in no time.

Unfortunately, because these frogs do like a higher humidity, if you are misting constantly, mould will grow. When I first got Rongo and his brother, I was misting twice a day, thinking that if I let the humdity get below a certain point, my frogs would die. However, not only was I having issues with mould, but my frogs were not all that happy either. So, I covered part of the mesh top with Saran Wrap-taped it down a bit to keep it in place, and now mist evey other day. Yep, the humidity still fluctuates, but it would in the wild, too. Best of all, I have no mould and Rongo is now a much calmer frog.

I would regularly do spot cleaning-ie. removing any poop found; wiping down the sides of the tank; removing a plant here or there and cleaning it, but I hold back on complete dismantling and sterilizing of the tank unless a few months have passed or a situation calls for it (like a massive mould outbreak or a sick frog). However, what you described doing is pretty much how I would do it. Either way, it's stressful for the frog, so make sure you have everything ready to go before you start. I can do a complete clean in under 20 minutes, and the less time your little one is out of his main environment, the better.

What do you mean by his tank smells? There are good smells and bad smells-earthy smells are good; rotting/mould or left over vinegar smells are bad.

Another question for you: do you have a drainage layer in his tank? If not, the next time you feel his tank needs to be completely done, add one in. That way, the water has a place to drain too, allowing certain pieces such as your log to dry, but keeping the moisture in the tank to evaporate and help with humidity.

Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, I will try and keep up on this thread or just PM me and I will try to answer as soon as possible.

[charlamanda]

Just a thought, Jo-anna covered pretty much everything you need when I take all the froggers out for a cleaning I put them in their dinning room container and feed them crickets and or wax worms during that time and they are completely unphased by the whole thing. This may be a way to destress and or distract the frog from what's really going on and they are happy to be moved to eat!LOL Hope this helps and best of luck