Care for a Gray Tree Frog

This article is about how to care for a Gray Tree Frog (Hyla Versicolor). Amphibians need ongoing care to remain healthy for the whole of their natural lives. Ensure that you get advice from the supplier of your Gray Tree Frog as well as verifying the advice in this article.

Steps

1. Try to find a pet store in your location that has Gray Tree frogs. Make sure they are captive bred. Wild caught frogs are more likely to die and wild frogs have been showing a decrease in numbers over the years partially due to the pet trade.
2. Purchase a tank. Be sure it has enough room for the frog. Get one that's tall rather than wide; they like a lot of room. Do not use soap or cleaners to clean your new tank. Very hot water is usually all you need, followed by a rinse with cool water. Dry it well with unbleached unprinted paper towels.
   • For the first 30 days you should line the bottom of the tank with unbleached unprinted paper towels as well. This is called the "quarantine" period. You are watching for feeding, behavior, poop etc. The white makes it easier.
3. Buy the tree frog for a reasonable price, and make sure to take it home as fast as you can. If not, it may be stressed for a couple of days and may not want to eat during that time.
4. Feed it only soft bodied insects and insects like flies and crickets. No Mealworms or Superworms! The hard exoskeleton can cause severe impaction and cause your frog to suffer a painful slow death. Dust them every 2 feedings with a high quality vitamin supplement made for frogs.
   • Do not catch wild crickets or moths. Buy them at your local pet store.
5. Add some leaves and cork bark to make it more natural to its original habitat. Anything you add should be properly sterilized by scalding water. Avoid chemicals or soap.
6. Check daily to see if he is pooping. If so, he is eating. Do not leave crickets unattended with your frog for too long! Crickets bite! Hold crickets by one back leg at a time they will break them off as an attempt to get away. Allow them to do this because it is less of a chance for your frog to get injured from the barbs on the crickets legs, but it takes practice. You have to be quick! They can bite people too, but frog skin is much softer than ours and more prone to broken skin. They can cause injury which can lead to illness when there are some left in the tank for a couple of days. Crickets will hide so well that you will not even know they are there! Check very well.
   • If the frog is not eating and you got him from the wild, let him go only in the area in which the species inhabits. Unless the climate has drastically changed to cold! If you are keeping the frog then you should know that virtually all wild caught frogs have parasites. A vet can take a fecal float test and determine if parasites are present if so they can treat the frog if they specialize in amphibian care. Do this as soon as you can for the long term health of your new friend. Once taken care of, your frog will be as good as new! You should always know where the nearest exotic animal vet in your area is.
   • If it's not eating bring it to an exotic pets vet. You could always try to coax your frog with wax worms. They are soft and squishy, but only as an occasional treat or to tempt them to eat. Feed them worms with rounded tip forceps or your very clean fingers.
   • When you see poop remember to scoop! Clean right away. Frogs can get sick from unsanitary conditions.
7. Control the temperature. The tank has to stay between 68 at night to 75 during the day. Humidity should be between 70 and 80 percent. Mist with a clean water bottle and wash it frequently. Use either (preferably) spring water or use a product such as "aquatize" to remove heavy metals and chlorine from tap water. It also helps stimulate and protect what is known as the frog's slime coat.
   • Make sure you have temperature and humidity gauges inside the tank.
8. Provide a UVA/UVB FULL SPECTRUM sunlight bulb during the day, when the frog is sleeping. You can also use a night bulb to watch your frog hunt. You can change the bulbs by hand or get a dual light fixture.
   • Without a UVB bulb, your frog can get a vitamin deficiency called Metabolic Bone Disease that supplements alone cannot help! UVB light cannot pass through glass. You should still supplement your frog's food with Calcium WITHOUT D3. You do not want to overdose your frog with D3. It can cause kidney failure. That is why the Full spectrum light is best. The UVB light will help with D3 production naturally. Also be sure that the Multi vitamin and Multi Mineral is D3 free as well. (Only if you are using a UVB light bulb!) Otherwise, only one supplement should have D3, But in the long run, Full spectrum UVA/UVB light is best. No captive creature can live in full health without UVB "sunlight" Make sure the light passes through a screen top. Again UVB rays cannot pass through glass. Never put your frog's tank in front of the window! The sudden rises in temperature will kill your pet!
9. Provide a shallow soaking dish as well. Use a very small amount of Aquatize in this water or use a pure spring water. NEVER USE DISTILLED WATER, IT WILL HARM YOUR PET. IT BLOCKS NUTRIENT ABSORPTION! Make sure their bowl is very easy to climb in and out of and is only deep enough to reach a little above chest level. Petco has great ones with little shallow steps in and out made just for frogs. Otherwise your frog can easily drown! Frogs drink through their skin. They also absorb toxins through their skin, so never wear lotion, hand sanitizer etc. while holding them! Wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and mild soap and rinse very well before and after touching them. Only handle them when absolutely necessary. Some frogs enjoy being gently and lightly misted with Poland Spring water a few times a day. They need constant hydration. If your Gray Tree frog ever starts to burrow in to the substrate they are most likely badly dehydrated! Mist the tank thoroughly and soak them in room temperature spring water at once! Never leave a frog to soak unattended outside of their tank. If they are severely dehydrated you can soak them in unflavored Pedialyte. But only if you are sure they are severely dehydrated, you do not want to stress out your frog unnecessarily.
10. Enjoy owning your Gray Tree frog! They're really cool pets when you know what you are doing. Have fun if you get one and make sure that you join a community of frog lovers who can help guide you, but never substitute their advice for a specialist vet's expertise!

Tips

• If you have had the tree frog for a while never let it go; if it's not eating bring it to a vet. To keep it's stress level low, cover your frog's tank on the sides with black construction paper. It reduces the chances of the frog injuring itself on the glass and they feel more secure.
• They can live up to 5 years, if you take care of it right.
• Food: Gray tree frogs have a large appetite. They accept most soft-bodied invertebrates, including crickets, moths, flies, wax worms, small silkworms, and earth worms. The majority of their diet should consist of live crickets.
• You need some decorations like live or artificial plants. Make sure that any live plants you have are non-toxic. In captivity, gray tree frogs can tolerate temperatures as low as 50°F (10°C) and as high as 90°F (32°C) temporarily without harm
• If you have frogs and lizards in the same cage and there is a baby lizard, the frog"s" will try to eat it. (Never mix different types of frogs or reptiles in the same tank!)
• A heating lamp with a red bulb (Or nighttime) is very helpful for encouraging frogs to eat. They are nocturnal so the nighttime bulb encourages them to hunt, like in the wild.
• A Terrarium. Tree Frogs require {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} per frog, and you must start with at least a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} terrarium. For example:
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} = 4 Frogs
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} = 3 Frogs
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} = 1-2 Frogs
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• CO-habitation: Gray Tree Frogs should only live with other Gray Tree Frogs. You should never mix different species of amphibians or reptiles together

Warnings

• Always have fresh water!
• Make sure it cannot get out of the cage. They are very good escape artists!
• Never drop your tree frog.
• Never leave it with out holes in the tank.

Related Articles

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• Make Your Pet Frog Eat from a Spoon
• Care for an Aquatic Newt
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• Take Care of an Aquatic Frog
• Care for Pillbugs

See also

• Set up a White's (Dumpy) Tree Frog Enclosure
• Tell if Your Tree Frog Is Male or Female
• Diagnose Your Tree Frog's Illness
• Care for Green Tree Frogs
• Care for a Red Eyed Tree Frog
• Care for a Pacific Tree Frog

What links here

• Attract Frogs
• Take Care of an Aquatic Frog