Frog Hibernation

[FrogMom1]

Hi all -
I have a couple of California tree frogs in a terrarium in my house. I'm not a frog expert, but need to know if I need to set up arrangements for them to hibernate over the wintertime - would appreciate any help you can send.
Also, is there a way to get the frogs to sleep at night and not croak? Turns out, little frogs have BIG VOICES - lol!
Thanks very much! Will look forward to hearing back - am new to this forum, but would appreciate any help available. 8-)

[bshmerlie]

Are you talking about the California Tree Frog (Pseudacris Cadaverina)? They are not found that far up North. Or are you talking about the Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris Regilla)? They would be found up in your area. Did you catch them or purchase them? There is a care sheet on the Pacific Chorus Frog on the left side of the website. If you are keeping frogs inside in a temperature controlled environment you will not need to hibernate them. The frogs "little" voices is what makes them so fun to have as pets. It's like bringing a natural sound machine into your home. People pay good money for those, but think of it.. your little frogs will sing you to sleep everynight. Why don't you post some pictures of them and their enclosure so we can see what frogs you have and if they are setup properly? We love pictures here.

[charlamanda]

The Gray Tree frogs, found abundantly in my area, decided to lay thousands of eggs in my closed pool. I was over run by froglets this summer and took 13 in as pets, which are growing fast. They are between 1/2" and 2" and several of my little boys are starting to try to sing, sounds more like a dog barking with laryngitis. Problem is they are nocturnal and it's during the night time hours they get their party on!LOL For now it's cute, but when they're mature they can be deafening. Luckily they will be going downstairs from the bedrooms, which will hopefully muffle their chorusing enough for sleep. From what I understand they will sing from time to time, but won't break into a group chorus unless they are cycled...ie. hibernate for the winter than woken up for the spring, which will induce mating. The chorusing seems to be part of their mating ritual, but I do believe they are fairly social and enjoy chorusing together as a group, mostly in my pool!
I am not an expert either, but I have had a bit of experience with these guys in nature, mostly in my yard, and as pets to recognized these behaviors, even if the experts disagree with me!LOL
Last summer I heard strange noises coming from different parts of my yard. The same noises I am hearing from the frog tanks now. The ones I found, in the areas of the noises, were very small and less than an inch, and I don't think anyone believed me, now I know I am not crazy. I have a froglet less than 1" who is chirping more and better than the frogs that are nearly 2". This confirmed my suspicions about the ones in my yard that seemed to surprise people. It seems as though size doesn't necessarily matter, I think it's the age of the frog that will determine wether it's going to begin using it's little voice!LOL
I also found about 100 tadpoles in my pool about a month or two ago. I was told they would not survive, so I scooped them out and have them in 2 tanks in my bathroom, the warmest and quietest place in the house. When they grow their legs, resorb their tails and I chubb them up a bit I am going to hibernate them too, so I can release them come spring. If I don't I am afraid they will become too dependant on me, not learn to hunt for themselves and I want to reproduce nature as closely as possible so I can release them. Basically you stop feeding them about 2 weeks before you plan on hibernating them, to rid their systems of food and feces. Then put them in a closed bin, with air holes, with a few inches of frog safe soil and coconut fiber or leaf litter, etc, mist, then drop them in and put them somewhere cold, like a garage or shed. Occasionally you'll need to mist them to make sure the substrate you have them in stays moist.
Hopefully this helps, but if you still want to hibernate your frog there are articles on this site that will explain how to do it in more detail. Best of luck.