Tree frog buries self like a Pacman

[Mystictrust]

Is there a reason my WTF "burrows" into the moss I'm using as his substrate? He was climbing around last night on some vines and relaxing in his water bowl, but the past couple of days he's just really "digging" the moss. It's cute... when the lights come on, he'll just bury himself in a ton of the stuff. I keep the humidity as high as I can with frequent misting several times a day so it's between 60-85% in there.

This moss is also brand new to him, you think maybe he's just enjoying it? I used coco fiber until he got wickedly sick with staff infection on top of some other disease nobody could figure out and then all he had was paper towel with no decor. Now he's fine, I just didn't know if it was okay for tree frogs to enjoy this moss so much :P

[frogluver]

My white’s tree frog buried himself once, but that was because I forgot to fill his pool with water (my poor frog).

I too have moss in my white’s tank setup, but he doesn’t bury himself. Then again, I’m not entirely sure if that kind of behavior is normal for a White. You may want to consider lowering the humidity a bit and keeping it at about 60%, as I have been told that White’s tree frogs don’t like highly moist conditions.

Other than moss and vines, do you have other hiding places for the frog, such as a "bushy" or big leaved live or fake plant, a hollow piece of wood, etc…If you don’t have enough hiding places, he may feel insecure and so resort to hiding in the moss.

If I were you, I would just keep an eye on your tree frog for the next couple of days; just to be sure he’s fine. It could be like you said, that’s he’s just enjoying the moss.

[LilyPad]

What is your temperature like? He should not be burying himself. It sounds more like a humidity issue to me, does the moss stay moist enough to keep the tank humid? What kind of hydrometer do you have? It might not be measuring accurately.

[Mystictrust]

I have a Fluker's digital Hygrometer/Thermometer, and the temp is currently ready at 86 degrees F. It "feels" just as humid is with the coco fiber, if not more, and the humidity doesn't seem to drop AS FAST as it used to. Kinda got used to misting at least twice a day, which seems excessive, but I'm not sure how else to keep humidity up. He didn't have a problem with climbing before he got sick, with the old coco fiber, and the humidity would be reading the same.

The funny thing is, AS SOON as we put the styrofoam backing for the terrarium in, he started climbing all over it. He climbed to the top, moved horizontally over to the glass above the temp/humidity gauge, and about a minute or two later he actually FELL to the ground - I'm fairly sure he didn't jump down, but he did end up getting a few of his pads to stick on a leaf and slow his fall ever so slightly. Still, he fell pretty hard into the soft moss, I've never seen him fall before It couldn't be "traumatic" for him to climb again, could it?

[LilyPad]

I've seen my frogs fall before too, usually when going after a cricket. Tree frogs are made to withstand some decent falls, so I would not think that is the issue. I would try dropping your temps a bit for starters, 85+ temps for too long will not do well for your frog.

[JWells]

Agreed on the temps and humidity comments. White's will will bury themselves to seek more agreeable temperatures and/or moisture levels, but does he have other areas to hide or roost in during the day? Also, WTF's, IMO, prefer moderate humidity. I dont think you need to spray all the time. I dont trust those flukers instruments anyway.

How's the frogs behavior otherwise? Active at night? Eating?

[Mystictrust]

He eats just fine and, as for being active at night, sure I guess he roams around a bit. He generally hops into his water bowl or hangs out on the low vine touching the ground next to it - hoping for another cricket. He is fairly quick to come out when the lights are out and beg for food.

It's really difficult getting these temps down very low in this Texas heatwave... 100+ degrees for over 70 days this summer makes it hard to keep anything cool. I can't keep the A/C on all the time, partly due to cost, partly due to request from the energy company - but even then, it doesn't bring the temps in the terrarium down much. He seems to have gotten used to burying himself in the back corner of the terrarium - even at a relatively cool-ish morning of 72 degrees in his habitat, he scattered as soon as the light was turned on and I watched him go bury himself.

Some of his vine has some shading, I would have hoped he'd be using that. I'm completely tempted to grab him one morning and place him up there, but I'm sure the added stress of that wouldn't be good for him

[bshmerlie]

I'd say he's burying himself to keep cool. You're going to need to find a way to drop the temperature for him. On some of the really hot days keep the lights off.

[Mystictrust]

"Day: 29 °C (85 °F); Night: 20 - 24 °C (68 - 75 °F)" from the care sheet. He is leaving to go bury himself while well within these temps... what else could be wrong? I've got the temps down to 78F right now, with no light on or anything.