Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My sister has 3 tree frogs. She had 2 Peron's Tree Frogs, Baldric and Percy but Percy died. One of her workmates gave her 2 tiny Green Tree Frogs (Ernie and Bert). At first she kept them seperate in a plastic tank inside her frog tank, but now Ernie and Bert are both 8cm and Baldric is still 5cm. She now has all three of them in the one tank. Ernie and Bert are voracious eaters and will bite anything that moves, including each other. They grew really quickly. Anyway she is worried whether it is safe to keep Baldric in the same enclosure as Ernie and Bert, or whether she should seperate them. Or maybe she should seperate Ernie from Bert. She does have an alternative tank but its a fish tank not a frog tank, so its smaller.

Does anyone have any advice on housing for multiple frogs / multiple species of frogs?

It's never a good idea for species to be mixed, they have different requirements, different "cooties" that can affect/kill the other species. They also will fight for territory. It may not look like fighting to you but they will "bully" the other ones, stressing them until they die.

Now usually you can keep the same species togther without problem as long as they have enough space and food and places to hide. Generally the rule of thumb is 10 gal for the first frog 5 gal each additional (unless you're talking whites which is 20 10), so for the greens you would need at least a 15 gal. That is a minimum! They like lots of climbing plants like Pothos which is a fast grower and can hold them, and they like more height rather than width.

They would probably be eating 3-5 crickets (the size shoud be the distance between the frog's eyes) every other day if adults, daily if younger. They should be dusted a couple times a week with reptical or the like.

They also need at least a shallow pool of water(dish)to soak, making sure the water is treated for chlorine/chloramine with a product like aquatize by exoterra. Make sure you're treating the misting water as well. Heat and humidity need to be measured with gauges as well, it's the most common reason for death/sickness in frogs.

Thanks for your reply, I will pass this information along.

I don't know how many gallons her tank is but it is tall rather than wide with hinged doors on the front, and its fairly big. She has a shaped pool which is in the bottom, and a waterfall feature in the back corner. I think at the moment she only has plastic plants but if Pothos are safe for frogs I think she will probably get some to use.

Her green tree frog is one of these
http://www.zoo.org.au/graphics/animal_image/animal_illustration_40.jpg

not one of these
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:American_green_tree_frog_1.JPG

Actually looking more at wikipedia I see that what we call Green Tree Frogs, you call White's Tree Frogs or Dumpy Tree frogs, and what we call Peron's Tree Frog you might call an Emerald Speckled Tree frog or a Laughing Tree Frog. They are both Litoria and their distribution in the wild does overlap. However I think you might be right on the bullying front. Ernie and Bert camp together in one corner of the tank whereas Baldric stays on the opposite side, as far away as possible from Ernie and Bert. They are all in good health at the moment but I think she might be overfeeding Ernie and Bert. How long does it take for frogs to be considered adults rather than growing youngsters?

My sister had a few frogs that died, some of which were very ill from the pet store and she also received some very bad advice on diet and lighting which didn't help. I helped her find information on the internet which probably saved Baldric from joining the other frogs in the Pet Cemetery and by the time she got Ernie and Bert she had a better tank with a proper UV light and was dusting the crickets and misting a couple of times a day. You would think that when selling frogs a petstore would have at minimum some kind of pamplet that they hand out which contains the basics of care.

Well, my turn. A white's tree frog is often refered to a green tree frog.. in Australia. One thing for sure, they do need different care from a green tree frog. They will grow fast, and big, don't worry about the overfeeding thing till they become adults, which won't be till they are about a year or so. My pair are a little above and below three inches, I have a small female. Females can grow to be about 4.5-5 inches! Your younger frogs should still be fed every day until they are subadult, 2.5 inches I believe. (and I want to be corrected if I'm wrong about that, its one in the morning and I just got off work!)

After that, they can be fed every other day. They will eat about three to five crickets then. And yes, they will eat the other frog if they get big enough (and sometimes if they aren't)

They don't need as high a humidity as a green tree frog, you don't have to cover any screens or anything. Misting twice a day or so should do it, and even once if you get some real plants. Photos will still be good for them, make sure you have some wood or something that they can climb and be comfortable on (sitting on without hanging off) and places to hide during the day to sleep (plastic plant hanging off window or something) Mine sleep in a plant, couldn't tell you the name if I tried.

Anyways, hope this helps a little too.

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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1:0
Mantella viridis : 1:1:2

Ah, you are from down under! Yes you are correct, the rest of the world calls them White's or Dumpy's to you guys, since they are natives, they're just plain old green tree frogs.

Well like I said, the rule of thumb for White's is 20 first frog 10 each additional, so for those two you would need a 30 gal tank. It sounds like you have an exoterra style tank (doors in front). You can try on the other site I frequent, repticzone, in their tree frog forum there are loads of White's owners. Also in their members area there is a converter to tell you how many gals your tank is based on the measurements.

They can't be in with any other frogs, they will get huge and will eat other frogs, including their own kind if they are more than 1/2" difference in size. Two or more of the same size can be together as long as space is adequate, there are enough hides and food.

They also need a water dish to soak in, they also like to eliminate in their dishes too so it really needs to be changed out everyday, with treated water.

They are eaters, they get to be about 4" snout to vent. One of the biggest, but they are super cool and seem to really have personalities. I have red-eyes and they are beautiful when they are awake and moving, but that is only a few minutes a day, then they are just blobs on the pothos.

Pothos will work well, you will need strong leafed plants to hold them, check with some of the other owners about what they're using. Also most of them feed outside of the tank to avoid impaction since they eat the crickets and anything else that comes with them into their mouths.

I'm seriously considering getting some white's for my new tank, they seem like they will be more interesting than the red eyes are.

^^ not from aussie, from Canada! I have just read ALOT about these guys. I wouldn't generalize a size, 4 inches is a little too exact for me. You could overfeed them easily if you are still expecting them to grow and they are done. Mine are full grown (after two years I hope so) and he is three inches. My female is small. Don't forget about the difference in size between the two sexes. I have read about a female that grew to be 5 inches and a half or so. A 1/2 inch of difference won't mean that your frogs will eat each other either. (how else would you keep big females with small males?) but putting in say a juvenile with an adult may cause problems. Each frog has their own personalities too, or so we would like to think, and some are more voracious than others. My two are pretty calm compared to some of the stuff that I have read. ^^
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1:0
Mantella viridis : 1:1:2

Actually my post was for the original thread poster, you kinda snuck in while I was typing! (re:Australia)