Spring Peeper Advice?

[LilyPad]

There is not a lot of info on the web about caring for spring peepers in captivity. I know that they can have trouble adjusting, I'm hoping that since these are such freshly morphed little babies, that they will do okay.

They are eating dusted fruit flies now that they're home, they were eating undusted pinheads up until yesterday. I have a dish of water filled with rocks so that they can reach the water but not drown. I have a lot of leaf litter and moss and pieces of bark (I mimicked the environment I found them in, actually brought part of their environment home with us!) I plan on seeding the tank with some springtails. I have one branch in there that I occasionally will see one sitting on. They are in a 10 gallon horizontal now, but obviously I will upgrade as they grow. Since they seem to prefer the ground level, should I continue with a horizontal, or encourage them upwards with a vertical?

From my observations in the wild though, they don't spend a lot of time up on branches though, they seemed to be scavenging under the leaf litter and logs to find bugs and worms (I caught them eating ants and ant larvae)

Does this seem like all is well to you? I can get a picture after work.

Any advice or experience to share on raising peepers?

[John]

They're in the same genus as Pseudacris regilla (Pacific Chorus Frog) - we have a care article for them. Their care is pretty similar, particularly for raising the youngsters. I would venture a guess that peepers don't tolerate warmer temperatures as well as PCFs but that's just an educated guess.

[LilyPad]

Thank you John, I will read through that.

[UncleChester]

I've never kept Peepers but love watching them in the wild.

I have found peepers at eye level in trees. Both calling during mating season from a tree and also in the fall just hanging out during the day, so they do use vertical space as well (I just saw one a couple of days ago about 3' off the ground on a Ligularia plant). Mostly I've found them on the ground, but this could be because they are easier to spot hopping about on the ground. The adults seem to be quite at home swimming in water as well, so I would expect a pond wouldn't go unused. The males do call while hanging on to grasses in or just above the water. By the way, have you heard a peeper call? It is loud. Like, real loud. Loud enough to discourage me from trying to keep a few of them, though I might cave one day because I find them so fascinating.

Anyway, good luck and keep us updated on how you get on with them. Like you say there isn't a whole lot on the web about them in captivity, so your first hand account would be interesting.

[LilyPad]

Thank you Brian. I did a lot of work tonight. I moved the toads into a new, bigger viv. I changed the substrate in the old toad viv and cleaned everything out really really good. Then I put in 4 big leafy plants and one short wide bromeliad. I have a small branch in there but I will get a bigger one in. Right now I have that small water dish but when they get bigger I will probably get them a jacuzzi like the tree frogs have.

I think I will get a blog going about how things are going with them so there is more out there for people who need advice starting out with them. Hopefully they will do well in captivity. I did hear the peepers when we were up north hanging out in the evening. They are LOUD but that doesn't bother me, they wont be in any bedrooms.