White Lipped Tree Frog Help

[ChibiCricket]

I recently bought a White Lipped Tree Frog last Wednesday. Am I doing everything correctly? I've been getting conflicting information...

20 gallon vivarium with pothos plants and ferns. Plenty of tall driftwood branches for climbing. Humidity is kept about 50 - 60%. I have a ceramic heat emitter on one side that keeps temps around 80F and the other side has UVA/UVB lighting that doesn't give off any heat. I run the lights on a 12 hour cycle. I have a fogger in the tank that runs twice a day for 15-30 mins. I'm not sure I want to continue using this and plan to get a mister instead. I use tap water that's been sitting out for more than 24 hours.

I'm worried I'm doing something wrong. He's been dark brown for the past 2 days (was bright green when I got him), isn't active at all either. He's eaten 3 large crickets since I got him, and has no interest in the mealworms. He's about 3" currently, and the girl at the pet store couldn't tell me how old he was. I also use the term "he" but really have no clue as to sex.

He pretty much just sits on a branch all day and stares. I'm assuming he's more active at night, because when I wake up, the tank is a mess.

I've owned many different frogs and toads over my lifetime, but only recently got into tree frogs. I used to have a White's Tree Frog at one point, but I acquired him as a baby and he wasn't doing too well when I got him, then continued to go downhill from there.

I want to make sure this little guy lives a long and happy/healthy life, so any suggestions are welcome! (I've attached pictures to this thread.)

[Kurt]

The colours within your tank are on the dark side, so that explains why your frog is brown. Most frogs will lighten and darken depending on lighting and the surroundings the frog finds itself. If you want his colours to lighten, put bright-green, broad-leafed plants in the enclosure and that should do the trick.

All white-lipped treefrogs, Litoria infrafrenata in the pet trade are wild caught from the Indonesian side of New Guinea, Irian Jaya. As such, the odds of this frog having gastrointestinal parasites is high. So I would get it treated for that. You will need to get a vet to do this. Bring a fecal sample to the vet that is no more than 24 hours old and that has not been taken from water. So, if the frog poops in the water bowl that sample would be useless.

The frogs appetite could be affected by these parasites or by the stress of the new situation it now finds itself in. Stress can kill and can lead to a GI parasite bloom. My best advise to you is to have it treated for parasites, so it can better deal with the stress and then give it lots of quiet time to settle in and adjust.

Also could you please post your country in your profile please? This helps us to help you that much better. Posting you location helps even more.

[ChibiCricket]

I'm pretty sure that he does not have parasites, because the pet store I got him from sells only reptiles and amphibians and they treat all their animals when they get them unless captive bred. (A friend of mine used to work there.) The iguana I got from them when I was a kid lived for 20 years and just recently passed away this May.

I just got the frog the day before Thanksgiving, so it may be stress. I'm not entirely sure how much or when he ate last at the pet store. I didn't know about the color change. I'm hoping that once my plants grow more that should help. And just out of curiosity... Can I place palm plants in the vivarium?

My biggest concern was that I read 4 different care books, and they all gave different information, so I was wondering if my setup was ok? How high should the day temps be, and how low should nighttime drop? What's the ideal humidity levels? Are ultrasonic LED foggers ok?

[Kurt]

I think your set up is fine. The palms should be fine, I think. But keep in mind I am not a botanist, so I can't say for sure.