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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
 Posted - 15/04/2009 : 20:51:33
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Heya everyone =]
I'm new here and thought I'd join as I've unexpectedly just gained a frog as a pet.
Basically, my boyfriends 8 year old nephew has got bored of his pet frog & seeing as I *apparantly* am known as someone unable to refuse any furry, feathery, scaly or slimy being, his Mum has asked me if I want him/her.
I'm not totally sure what species 'Kermit' is, but going on a very quick glimpse I got of him about a year ago, the fact that the kid is only eight, and some googling on my part, I'm guessing it's a White's Tree Frog.
The only frogs I've ever kept before were African Dwarf Frogs, which obviously couldn't be more different in terms of needs/care, and I have had some experience with Snakes, but thats about it.
I haven't taken possesion of this froggy yet - won't until sometime next week - but I thought I'd start this topic to kind of introduce myself, to beg for any basic hints you guys could give me as an almost complete novice and also as somewhere I can come with the panicky newbie questions I shall undoubtably have when s/he arrives 
Thanks in advance  |
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BlueTongueDan
The Amphibian Moderator
United Kingdom
157 Posts |
Posted - 15/04/2009 : 21:25:48
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Welcome and congrats on your soon-to-be new frog 
Whites Tree Frogs are awesome
Feel free to ask as many questions as you want! |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 15/04/2009 : 22:32:50
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Thanks for the welcome!
One question I have after digging about on the net for a while is exactly what should I use as substrate? My boyfriends sister just said 'any reptile bark stuff' - very unhelpfully 
There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about & if someone could just say 'buy this, it works' I'd be most grateful |
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BlueTongueDan
The Amphibian Moderator
United Kingdom
157 Posts |
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lewy
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
1356 Posts |
Posted - 16/04/2009 : 09:58:06
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| Welcome to the forum! Congrats on the new up and coming frog Like Blue Tongue Dan says humus bricks or eco earth as it's sometime called should be great and help keep the humidity up in the enclosure, Looking forward to pics when you finally get him |
Lewy
THE AMPHIBIAN.co.uk Team
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 16/04/2009 : 16:32:19
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quote:
Originally posted by BlueTongueDan
I dont keep Whites but for my Peacock Tree Frogs I use this
http://livefoodsbypost.co.uk/lucky-reptile-humus-brick-hb-m-1984-p.asp
Its really good. Holds humidity well, looks nice and allows the frogs to burrow a little.
Excellent, much obliged
I shall most defiantly be putting pics up, I'm guessing he's not really had that much attention payed to him - so I'll probably need an opinion on him condition-wise - and I love showing off my pets anyway  |
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Paulusworm
Gill Grissom - Resident 'Bug-Man'
United Kingdom
101 Posts |
Posted - 17/04/2009 : 09:15:23
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| Hello and welcome . |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 19/04/2009 : 20:41:05
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^ Thanks
Apparantly he's a White Lipped Tree Frog, not a White's as I thought. Is there much difference between the two?
I should be picking him up tomorrow, I'm quite excited  |
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 20/04/2009 : 11:29:49
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White lipped frogs are a little less common, but they are from the same region (well Australia so it's a big region ), so they should have similar care.
Looking forward to seeing the pics |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 22/04/2009 : 16:59:14
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Righty-oh. After some delays & messing around I finally got Mr Frog this morning.
It turns out that s/he is a Whites TF, and is really rather cute.
However, I really was right when I said he's not had an awful lot of attention paid to him - I had to strip the tank down & give everything a good scrub because the stink and amount of dead crickets was unbelievable - as well as having no thermometer, no hydrometer, no plants, no light and no mister or mention of a spray bottle - so this week I shall be going out and puchasing all of those things, as well as a new background and water bowl, as the one's he's got are caked in cricket cr&p that doesn't want to scrub off.
On top of that his feeding routine is apparantly a whole box of crickets (!) once a week, all in one go (!!!)
He doesn't look unhealthy to my untrained eye, but he's certianly going to be living a healthier lifestyle with me, wheather he like's it or not.
His Terrainium
The man himself:
Some questions:
Boy or girl? Educated guesses welcome
How does s/he look healthwise to someone with more of a clue than me?
What kind of plant would be best to get for him?
Will changing his feeding regime suddenly upset him?
Apart from what I mentioned above, is there anything missing from the set up?
Thanks in advance
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 23/04/2009 : 09:29:27
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He's a nice little fella.
I don't think he looks too unhealthy in that photograph, but his colouring is a bit dark. Sometimes White's change a duller colour when they are unhappy or stressed. But that could just be the move.
The tank looks alright size wise, but I would invest in more branches and plants. White's are a tree frog so the vertical entertainment is more important than the floor sapce 
As for food, I don't think it would stress him to change his food. Variety is key to a healthy amphibian and no frog shuld be eating the same food regulary. Has he been having supplements too? A dusting of calcium is vital, especially if he's still growing.
I say he, but I can't guess his sex from the photo. Usually with frogs and toads you don't really know until they are croaking age. Males call during the breeding season and females don't.
Hope that helps  |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 23/04/2009 : 21:05:01
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^ Apparantly he's been given crickets with supplements, but refused to eat them. I think I'll try him with a few different brands before I give up on them & rely on gut-loading.
I'm definatly going to get more plants/branches, what species of plant are suitable & also relativly easy to maintain? |
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 24/04/2009 : 09:35:37
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Plastic ones are easy to maintain
You just need to make sure that whatever you put in it's quite hardy and able to take the weight of a whites. They are sometimes called 'dumpy' frogs so you can imagine how chunky they can get.
I'll have a look in my terrarium book when I get home and suggest some robust plants that are safe to use.
Our toads will take mealies with calcium on, but not crickets. Maybe just dust the different typres of food. Earthworms would probably dust quite well. |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 26/04/2009 : 21:20:50
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Ok guys, Oscar (as he's now been named) is worrying me.
He doesn't seem to be eating much, and whenever I put him in the little tank I use to feed him in he falls asleep, the crickets have even climbed on his head & he hasn't moved!
Is this because he's used to only being fed one huge meal once a week & needs time to get used to being fed less but more often?
Or is he still stressed from the move & the changes to his tank?
Tomorrow I'll be searching for some earthworms for him, which I hope will tempt him into eating.
Other than that he's been fine, loves being misted, and even started popping his head out from under the log whenever I walk into the room
Here's the little fella now -
His newley decorated home -
(The plants are all frog safe according to http://www.froggie.info/plants/plants1.htm, and obviously will get bigger)
The old background had to go as well, as it was practically the sole source of the dreadful smell. |
Edited by - Cazzie on 26/04/2009 21:23:39 |
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 27/04/2009 : 08:55:42
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| He'll still be settling in so I wouldn't worry about feeding yet. The worms are a good idea. Maybe he's just sick to death of crickets |
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Cazzie
Pondweed
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2009 : 19:11:37
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I've tried giving him some earth-worms, he doesn't eat them while I'm watching him, but they've always disappeared when I check back. I'm assuming he's eating as he'd be pretty ill by now if he wasn't, right??
However, he still doesn't seem interested in crickets at all, is it possible that I have the only frog who doesn't like them, or could it indicate something being wrong?
He's a lot lighter green colour now, and comes out of hiding much more often. He's right next to my aquarium & he'll sit for hours watching the fish swim about - he's a lovely little guy & he's made me want to get maybe a couple of other frogs/toads as pets |
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Surprise pet
