Housing frogs together-how to tell apart?

[DogRetepCow]

This is a question that I'm curious about and haven't seen addessed on these forums. For those of you here who house the same species together (probably everyone but me)-be it Hyla cinerea, Bombina orientalis, Hyla versicolor, etc. (please excuse any spelling errors), does anyone have trouble telling your frogs apart? I would like to get a 18x18x24 Zoo Med tank to house my American Green Tree frog and I
hope to get two more AGTFs as housemates. My concern however is that then I
won't be able to tell who my beloved original frog is. Different species of frogs have very characteristic traits to tell them apart from one another.... However it seems to me it would be hard tell frogs apart (generally speaking) within the same species. Obviously if there's color variables it's easier...But I don't think there's really much color variable within American Green Tree frogs.

You can't really use size as a variable from telling Fido apart from Rover, as you're supposed to house frogs of the same size together so that they don't eat each other. Does anyone have any methods of telling your frogs apart from one another? Or do do just accept that once you group frogs together,
Fido and Rover cease to be individuals, but instead become part of the collective frog herd?

[Tony]

You can generally find differences in pattern and color between individuals. Some are really easy like darts, I imagine GTFs would be a bit tougher but if you look closely I'm sure you can find a difference in the striping, a small scar, or some other distinguishing characteristic.

[John]

Even Green Tree Frogs are all slightly different. Take 2 photos of each frog when you get it, one from above, and one from the side. That will help you see the differences in markings.

[killerecho]

It really comes down to two things: appearance and behavior.
The first thing that I usually try to look for in distinguishing individuals of the same species is size. With juveniles or subadults, that can change over time, though. Still, it's one of the more obvious signs.

Then there are patterns - spots, streaks, blemishes, etc.

Color can also matter. Green tree frogs can change their color of course, but under stable conditions, individuals tend to be consistent in their coloring for a given time.

If you observe them closely over time, you should be able to pick up on individual behavior patterns and dispositions. Calmness/nervousness; level of aggression; eagerness to take food - I've had a frog that stood out from its tankmates because it had by far the biggest appetite; hiding preferences; call characteristics and frequency.

Hope this helps.

This is a question that I'm curious about and haven't seen addessed on these forums. For those of you here who house the same species together (probably everyone but me)-be it Hyla cinera, Bombina orientalis, Hyla vernicolor, etc. (please excuse any spelling errors), does anyone have trouble telling your frogs apart? I would like to get a 18x18x24 Zoo Med tank to house my American Green Tree frog and I
hope to get two more AGTFs as housemates. My concern however is that then I
won't be able to tell who my beloved original frog is. Different species of frogs have very characteristic traits to tell them apart from one another.... However it seems to me it would be hard tell frogs apart (generally speaking) within the same species. Obviously if there's color variables it's easier...But I don't think there's really much color variable within American Green Tree frogs.

You can't really use size as a variable from telling Fido apart from Rover, as you're supposed to house frogs of the same size together so that they don't eat each other. Does anyone have any methods of telling your frogs apart from one another? Or do do just accept that once you group frogs together,
Fido and Rover cease to be individuals, but instead become part of the collective frog herd?

[LilyPad]

Ditto on what Brian said. They all have their own personality, their own markings. You'd be surprised how fast you learn these when they're all together!

[UncleChester]

Hyla versicolor are dead easy to tell apart with a close look. They have black markings on their faces that don't change (or the little green squarish patch under the eyes), just closely study a section of their face and you're good to go. A photo for reference helps as well, and I use this to keep track of some of the 'wild' ones outside. I have 2 housed together and they are very obviously different, I can easily tell them apart from the other side of the room.

I only have one Hyla cinerea like you so I don't really know firsthand what differences to look for. I plan on getting more one day and will rely on my extensive photo collection to tell them apart if it isn't immediately obvious

You can't really use size as a variable from telling Fido apart from Rover, as you're supposed to house frogs of the same size together so that they don't eat each other.

Size can work to distinguish them too. They just have to be close enough in size that neither makes a go at eating the other one, this still leaves ample room for size differences to be noticeable. Not that you can control this variable unless you are getting full grown adults.