Territorial Big-Eyed Tree Frog?

[meeper]

Hey gang. So, my girlfriend has a year or so old big-eyed (peacock) tree frog, aptly named Frogger. Frogger is in a 29 gallon tank with plenty of stuff to hide in and climb on, but spends most of his time either hanging out in one of the two small ponds or tucked on the wall up in his corner.

Yesterday, my girlfriend got another big-eyed tree frog and added it to the tank. During the day, all was quiet, with both frogs just sleeping on opposite sides of the tank. However, after the lights switched over and night came, they both emerged (of course). At first it seemed like they were just checking each other out, with the new frog being extremely chill compared to Frogger, who was at least moving around the tank and hopping from one wall to another. After a while, Frogger began croaking at the new frog, and then started jumping at it. I never saw him actually attack the new frog, but he did seem to keep jumping close to it and around it. After a while, it seemed like Frogger calmed down. He wasn't puffed up any longer, and he began to croak far less, until he stopped all together. When I got up this morning, he was headed to his corner, and the new frog was tucked in toward the back of the tank, everybody looked fine.

Now, going off the wiki entry for these frogs: "Males call while in the water, and are very territorial."

I think the new frog may be a female, but I'm only basing that on the fact that she is a bit larger than Frogger is. Noticeably larger, but not huge by comparison. While Frogger was darting around and mouthing off, she basically just sat there and/or moved away from him. She appears to be a very chill frog.

So, my question is, can anyone think of any reason for concern here? I kind of assumed there would be some level of asserting dominance, but Frogger really seemed upset for a while and now the girlfriend is a little worried they may hurt each other. I'm anxious to see how they behave tonight.

[clownonfire]

There's no need to be concerned. Two big-eyed tree frogs in a 29 gallon tank is plenty of space for both. Make sure you have lots of branches and leaves so they can climb and hide.

BETF have two calls. One is more of a chirping sound, when a female is around. It sounds like GA... GA... GA... (that is what mine does a lot). They do have a warning territorial sound too, which sounds more like a barking dog.... RRRRR...GA. (That's the best I can do).

Either way, your frogs will be ok with the space they have.

Eric

[meeper]

Thanks Eric. I'd figured there was more than plenty of space for the two of them, just based on what little information I can find online regarding these frogs.

Frogger has actually always croaked, both the individual or double "chirp" as well as that long "meep-meep-meep-meep-chirp" (where do you think my username came from?). He and the girlfriend sometimes go back and forth for a long time, "meeping" at each other. But last night, after he noticed the new frog, he was croaking a lot. And then he started the whole jumping a half an inch away from the new frog thing. And he was all puffed up. It really did seem like he was trying to assert that this was his house, but I didn't see any actual physical aggression other than jumping damn near on top of the newbie a few times. I just don't get why he'd get all worked up if the new frog is a female, and if it is a male, I'm hoping this isn't a regular thing where I get to deal with the worried girlfriend and trying to sleep over a screaming frog at the same time, lol.

[clownonfire]

Meeper (love your username after your explanation), this definitely seems like territorial assertion. It is after all two new frogs being introduced together. And even if you haven't seen the other one chirp, it could still be a male. And I have also seen male Leptopelis vermiculatus chirp at females in a territorial way. Give it a few days, they will acclimate to one another.