Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So... a friend of mine went off to college and could not take her White's Tree Frog with her. I happily accepted him as I've always wanted to get into the care of amphibians. When she left she gave me instructions on its care and I have been following her instructions exactly for the last week. However, on a whim today I was doing some research on its care and came across a couple discrepancies, especially about its enclosure.
From everything I've read it seems that bark is bad idea for White's but currently he has a bedding of small bark. I watched him while he was hunting today and saw him ingest a small piece. How worried should I be? I know that impaction can be a major issue, however she said she has had him on bark bedding for the last 6 years.
He has a perch of of driftwood and a nice faux-rock bowl for water but there are no plants (fake or otherwise) and he really doesn't have a place to hide.
She also told me to leave his heat lamp on all the time, night and day. His temp seems ok ranging from about 78-88 degrees and the tank is regularly misted, but is there a time when I should be turning off the heat lamp?
I have been feeding him 3-4 medium crickets every other day and feeding the crickets a piece of fruit and vegetable and a piece or two of dry cat food. I am buying two dozen crickets at a time.
He seems happy and is a pleasant light blue/green most of the time sometimes with brown shading on his head or shoulders. He seems to enjoy being handled and I am washing my hands before and after I take him out.
Can someone please tell me if I am doing something wrong? I want to take care of my frog well, as I've already fallen in love with him... Thank you in advance.

As far as substrate, I would recommend Bed-A-Beast (comes in a brick and expands when it gets wet...keeps moisture very well too). With the heat lamp, I would highly recommend that you turn it off at night. I personally prefer heat MATS rather than heat lamps...the heat mats are specific for reptiles/amphibians and won't burn. They go under the tank. You're doing good with the feeding and even keeping the crickets gut-loaded. I have not kept these frogs for myself, but currently work at a reptile store that constantly carries these sweet frogs.

Oh, and get the poor frog some hiding places Usually the fake vines that can stick on the sides of the terrarium do just fine for the WTF. They're easy to keep "alive" and easy to clean lol.

Good idea to do research, as you friend seems to have been confused on a few things.
1. Bark is not too good, not horrible though. Anything besides paper towel can be injested so there isn't many foolproof ways. I always use orchid moss, it stays moist, is soft, and the frogs just spit it out if the accidentily eat it.

2. For hiding spots, I use snake plants for my whites tf and it's been the only thing they have not smuthered yet. They are perfect hiding spots and really sturdy.

3. Lighting...never leave the lamp on for more than 14 hours day! it is extremely stressful for the animal. You are trying to mimic what it would be like in the wild, and it's never light for days on end. Your temps and humidity seem fine.

4. Your cricket care seems excellent as does your feeding schedule.

5. No amphibian enjoys handling, however, some do tolerate it better than others. They like the heat of your hand, butescessive handling is not good (i.e. more than a few times a week).

Good luck!
contact me at otis07_@hotmail.com if you have any more questions.

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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree

Just wanted to thank you for your advice. "Buster" is now in a much more lively/healthy home... The bedding is now 'bed a beast', I got him a faux rock waterfall and cave (the water is being treated with "aquatize"to match his water dish, a few fake plants, some vines, a timer for his heat-lamp, digital therm/hum & calcium dust for the crickets.

Anyways... just wanted to say thanks and let you know he is a happy, happy froggie.

good to hear! sounds like he's going to be a very healthy little froggie.
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A room of herps.
www.freewebs.com/kapoktree