TREE FROGS
I've always loved frogs and some of my favorite frogs are Tree Frogs. I currently have 2 Green Tree Frogs and 1 Cuban Tree Frog.
-This is Giancarlo. He's a Green Tree Frog and he's the oldest of the group. I've had him for over 2 years. He's the most vocal of the group and he likes to chirp in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn.
-This is Matteo. I was told he was a Gray Tree Frog but I've owned several of them in the past and noticed that as he got older, he looked nothing like one. After doing some research, I believe him to be a Cuban Tree Frog.
-This is Paolo. As you can see, all of my frogs have Italian names. There's no particular reason for that, I just like Italian names for my frogs, lol. Paolo is a Green Tree Frog and he's the smallest of the group.
These species of Tree Frogs are relatively easy to care for. I keep them in a 10 gallon tank with a screen top. While you can add substrate to the bottom of the tank, I prefer to keep my tank substrate free for a few reasons. I have found that crickets and meal worms, which I feed the frogs, can hide and get lost in the substrate before the frogs get a chance to eat them. Sometimes, frogs can ingest the substrate which can cause health problems. Substrate, particularly wood bark, can contain/attract parasites so I find it's much better to not use it. I just line the bottom of the tank with newspaper. Being that I've owned my frogs for over 2 years and they're thriving, having no substrate in the tank doesn't seem detrimental to their well being. Not only that, Tree Frogs really don't spend much of their time on the bottom of the tank. They're usually hanging out on the walls of the tank or hidden on their plant decoration.
Because they are easy to care for, they do make nice pets for children as long as the children know they're more of a "look at" pet as opposed to a "touch" pet. While I have handled my frogs, it's really not good to do so because the oils of your hands can be absorbed in their skin and not to mention, Tree Frogs really don't like being handled.
Because they are easy to care for, they do make nice pets for children as long as the children know they're more of a "look at" pet as opposed to a "touch" pet. While I have handled my frogs, it's really not good to do so because the oils of your hands can be absorbed in their skin and not to mention, Tree Frogs really don't like being handled.
As you can see, there's minimal decoration in their tank. They spend most of their time on the plant decoration and on occasion, they will hide out inside the little hut. I have 2 food bowls that contain cricket food and I have a water bowl for them. A water bowl is a must as Tree Frogs "drink" water by soaking their bodies in water. I also mist the tank with water twice a day. I have a heat lamp on the tank with a 60 watt bulb. I only provide day light. You can also have a separate lamp with a night light to provide night time heat but it doesn't get cold enough in my house for it to be a necessity for them.
-Tree Frogs are easy to feed. If it fits in their mouth, they'll eat it and that includes other frogs so you do have to be careful if you add other frogs to the tank. You want to make sure that they're around the same size or else they won't hesitate to eat a tank mate. Luckily, I've never had that problem. I feed my guys crickets and meal worms. I have found it more cost effective to buy crickets in bulk. I buy 500 every 2-3 weeks. I keep them in a critter container and I feed them a diet of Fluker's Cricket Quencher, Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet and various fruits and vegetables. It's important that you feed your feeder crickets a decent diet(also known as "gut loading) or else your Tree Frogs, or whatever you're feeding crickets to, will NOT get any nutrition. They'll basically be eating a cricket's exoskeleton which has NO nutritional value whatsoever.