Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been searching the internet for over a month now trying to figure out what species two of my tree frogs are (I have a total of four, I know one's a Green Tree Frog, and I know that one of them is a baby White's...the other two, I'm lost). Initially, I thought they were the same species, but one of them, the larger of the two changes color (ranging from a medium brown, to bright green, to a darker greyish green, or any mish-mosh of those colors) far more often than the smaller one (who's generally a solid golden brown. I've included pictures of the two of them, and would appreciate any help on the subject. At the pet store, they were both simply labeled "tree frog", which really doesn't help me much, but alas, I couldn't help it, I fell in love with both of them. Ironically enough, the larger one of the two ended up costing me a whopping $3.99 (strange, I know), while the smaller brown one was closer to $15. They both seem to be doing well; I've recently moved everyone into a 20 gallon extra high tank, and they seem to be enjoying themselves thoroughly. The smaller of the two doesn't eat nearly as much as his larger housemate (whom, might I add, is a bottomless pit). I think he just takes issue with me watching him eat.

thanks for your help!

they both look to be white's treefrogs. whites commonly change their colors from browns to greens to blue-greens based on the temperature and stress levels.generally, the warmer they are the brighter (green) they are.

I agree with almost everything Tegu said.. with one exception.. sometimes, they change colors as a result of the time of day (get darker at night when it is time to hunt.. ) So it is not always a sign or stress or wrong conditions if they are changing skin tones..
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I have to agree with the time of day thing, because I really don't think that my frog stresses every single night. He turns a light green at night and darker during the day. I think it also has something to do with the humidity, not so much that its the wrong temp, but that it changes at different times of the day.

Oh, and did you say you had a green tree frog in with your white's? You may want to take him out because he would be an apetizing little treat for your white's.
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

i was not trying to imply that stress was the primiary factor, just thatr it is a cause, as well as temps. my frogs change color from day to night as well, buy i also lower the temp in the tank at night, which i attributed to the change in color.

"but i also lower the temp in the tank at night, which i attributed to the change in color."

Actually it is more a produce of time of day than it is temp. Night is a time when the frogs are much more active, and the darker colors help them to blend into their environments better. Call it situational camoflauge.. You can actually maintain the same temp, or even slightly raise the temps after the lights go out, and your frog will still turn a darker shade (yes, I have way to much free time and I have tried.. I would rather call it a quest for knowledge than admit I am simply a dork.. )

There are some herps that change colors to help thermo-regulate, but w/ those, cooler temps usually result in lighter shades, allowing for more heat abosorbtion.. very common in many of the tropical species of boas..

Not really nitpicking.. of disagreeing.. just adding to the not quite complete statements..
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Actually it is more a produce of time of day than it is temp..

Should read "product of time"

My spelling sucks.. does anyone know how to edit post on here? I can't seem to figure it out..
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

"Oh, and did you say you had a green tree frog in with your white's? You may want to take him out because he would be an apetizing little treat for your white's."

Mixing whites and gtf's will certainly end up with the whites snacking on the gtf.. besides, a 20xh is no where big enough for the 4 of them.. get you a couple of tanks and split them up. I would leave the gtf in the 20 and get something larger for the whites.. those guys will be big in a couple of months.. you can see the post below about "how many" to get a bit more information on housing whites. Find you a good care sheet as well.. you can get some information from www.amphibiancare.com
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Also, if you want to be in touch with some people with the white's you can go to this other board I frequent. It's for tree frogs (I have Red-eyes, but it seems everyone on the board has white's!)

http://www.repticzone.com/forums/TreeFrogs/index.html

talkto.thefrog.org has a lot of tree frog people too.. and a nice colorful group of personalities..
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

I'll have to check that out.

i actually think that the golden brown frog look alot like a cuban tree frog. they get kinda big and look just like that. i thought they where hard to find though.
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Richard
AKA
"spent change"

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1) red nose pitbull
1) chinese water dragon
1) eastern garter snake
1) pacific tree frog "spinach frog"
2) green tree frogs

Honestly it is hard to tell from that photo what it is. But I don't think it is a cuban. Usually cubans will have muted spots on the upper legs (both front and rear), usually just a bit darker than the rest of their flesh that is not present on that frog. Also, there is a typically a more pronounced ridge from the eye to the nostril on a cuban.

Difficulty to find really depends on where you are located. They are everywhere in the Southeast.. actually taking over completely and causing issues with gtf and other native species in FL.

They are typically cheap.. and honestly pretty nasty little fellows.. If in fact you do have a cuban in the mix, you need to seperate it from the other frogs immediately, taking the other animals out of the tank that the cuban was in. They are very very toxic..

You can get some shots of cubans here for comparison..
calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Amphibian&where-lifeform=Amphibian&where-namesoup=Cuban Treefrog&rel-namesoup=matchphrase
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com