Theloderma corticale / Vietnamese Mossy Frog info

[John]

These guys don't climb as much as "tree frogs" so the height is not as is important.

[Tom Highum]

Thanks. How many eggs do these guys lay?

[Crazy Frog]

mine lay the most 50pcs of eggs...

[Tom Highum]

Thanks Crazy weren't you the one who bred them? If so do you have any advice/tips?

[Emma318]

Hi there!

I'm pretty new here, and my mossy frogs are pretty new to me, but here's what I've got so far..
the tank:



and the two baby mossies:



their camouflage is amazing!




As you can see, I haven't put them in the big tank yet (I think it's a 30gallon?). I eventually would like to add two more, but was wanting to get another unrelated pair..
I obviously don't have any tips on breeding yet, but I hope I will eventually!
Thanks for looking!

[John]

Very small and cute. Wait until they reach adult size (they are surprisingly big). I like your setup very much - it's straightforward but quite beautiful. Well done!

PS: I wouldn't put that speaker there if I were you...

[Emma318]

Thanks! Do you think I could fit four adults in that tank? As I said before, I'm fairly certain it's a 30 gallon...

And good call on the speaker, lol! I'll be sure to get that out of the way asap!

[Tom Highum]

I absolutely love these guys. I like the tank Emma but does it have enough land area to get out of the water.

[Emma318]

I think so? The center of the tank - the column island thing - is completely out of water. And from what I've noticed of them in the little Kritter Keeper I have them in for now, they mainly stay in the water or a few inches above the water on the side of the tank or on their rock. From everything I've read, it seems like they hang out mostly around the water's edge, and I guess I'd rather err on the side of too much water vs too little. Does that make sense?

[John]

Emma - you probably could but it would be a full tank.

[Tom Highum]

Yea ok thanks emma thats what i had heard but its nice to hear it first hand. My plans to get them are looking better and better.

[hr220a]

I don't know if you're still wondering the answer to this question but mossies have absolutely no territoriality issues. I keep juveniles in large groups when they first morph out: 20 in a tub the size of a 20 tall. I routinely see my adults sleeping or just hanging out on top of each other and they never seem to be bothered by it.

[birdsflybackwards]

A few things..

-Adult frogs can be aggressive, a local breeder had a female frog "amplexed" to death. And males will often attempt to breed with other males and can also get aggressive. Normally this doesn't result in injury or death, and it isn't practical to house them singely, plus then you would miss out on all the cool group behavoir.

-Corticale (and maybe other theloderma sp. as well) have a few "supplementational" calls which are distinctly different from their main "whoot whoot." I have heard of it referred to as a "gobble," which isn't far off. I think I have a recording of it somehwere, I'll try to find it.

-The sex ratio on corticale is very skewed, unsexed juvies and males go for anywhere from 40-60 usually, but females can easily command prices upwards of 300$. I'm not sure as to the actual percentages, but I have known of a couple zoos which have a dozen frogs, and all frogs are males. So if you're just getting a couple frogs your chances of getting a female are pretty rare. This is also one of the main reasons you don't see more for sale, from what I've read they breed easily and frequently as long as their basic needs are being met.

-Housing- you don't need a mechanical filter. I have had my mossies the same tank for 8 months ahd have not had to clean the water once. For such large frogs they don't seem to defectate a lot, and when they do its often on land where it doesn't get a chance to foul the water. If you have live plants and healthy colony of bacteria in the water area I wouldn't bother with buying a filter.

[John]

Yes indeed, females are very, very hard to come by. As yet I don't believe the cause of this has been nailed down yet but there's a tendency of frog enthusiasts to cop out and usually attribute sex differentiation issues like this to temperature with almost zero evidence.

[landshark]

how tall of a tank does it need to be?
from what I've seen this species is less arboreal than most tree frogs.

Argh my question was answered in a post I had somehow missed...
Good to know I was right about height being less important. Still, I only have a twenty, and I want at least a trio.. I'm sure keeping a pair in a twenty is do-able, but I'd much rather get something more accommodating.

[earthtiger]

Yes indeed, females are very, very hard to come by. As yet I don't believe the cause of this has been nailed down yet but there's a tendency of frog enthusiasts to cop out and usually attribute sex differentiation issues like this to temperature with almost zero evidence.

Mikhail F. Bagaturov - who has a long time experience in keeping and breeeding Theloderma - told me, when they raised tadpoles of T. corticale at about 15-16 °C they had a shift to the female side.