Tree frog

21 years ago

Here's one of the two babies I took in last fall (from my pond). They were just losing their tails when it was getting pretty cold, and as they were so small & skinny, I was afraid they wouldn't make the winter. Their tank is more utilitarian than beautiful. The little mound of rotting fruit/vegetable matter in the corner doesn't help the looks...it provides for a constants supply of fruit flies, though. There's a piece of rot-resistant wood to climb on, a water dish, a small Nephrolepis cordifolia (dim conditions keep it from growing rampantly, but it still looks a nice healthy green), a Davallia trying to encompass the wood, and a Hatioria growing in Osmunda fiber in an elevated spot. The tank sits in a cool north window. I also have a removable cricket jar. The sides are slick enough that the little crickets don't crawl out, but the frogs can get in & out to feed. I've had experience with crickets I've released into a tank digging tunnels where they can't be found to be eaten, and feasting off my plants' roots. 'Nuff of that!

It was my intention all along to release these frogs back by my pond in spring, but it's going to be really difficult to do! They're still so tiny and vulnerable, and now I'm attached. They look like Blue Jay hors d'oeuvres, don't you think? This one's sitting on a quarter (on a Ficus elastica.) Little Hyla versicolor (or possibly H. chrysoscelis- still a little small to tell, but the former is more common around here.)

Image link:

Comments (13)

ooojen
Original Author
21 years ago
It interesting: the black bands show up better on the picture than they do in reality...must be the brightness of the flash. It's definitely a versicolor.
cmwren
21 years ago
Yes, for their own safety, they should remain inside! Death by ingestion by birds is a terrible thing. Tree frogs (green tree frogs, anyway) scream when they get eaten (by egrets); trust me, I know this from personal experience.

So tiny....! Name translation = gray tree frog. My Peterson guide doesn't even attempt to separate those two species except by voice. *lol* The H. chrysocelis(southern gray tree frog) here in NJ is a state endangered species, as is our Pine Barrens tree frog, H. andersonii. I bend the rules a bit when it comes to possessing native wildlfe, but I don't mess with endangered or threatened species. :) Not that I've ever been lucky enough to come across a tree frog in my yard. :(

Thanks for sharing! (Even though you aren't helping me resist the lure of a tree frog in a terrarium... *lol*)
ubiquity
21 years ago
i've been under the impression that wherever you find people,there will be pollution of the surrounding water,and endangerment of native amphibians in general. i've been trying to offer safe haven for them for years,and to some extent it's paid off. hyla versicolor urbanizes well i'm happy to say. doing my part to avoid a frog free world in the future! as far as the jaybird bit goes,that reminds me all too well of this passed summer when the toadlets were emerging from the waterfeature and the birds were right there waiting for them. the horror of it! how depressed was i?!!
i guess i could see it as culling off the slow and the weak who wouldn't have made the grade anyway,right?

sweet pic jen!
been wondering how your little guys were doing.
they've grown so much already,and nice and fat too!
crickets in a jar huh?...smart girl! ;)
paul_
21 years ago
If you decide to give them a more permantent residence, then you'll just have to get crackin' on the ol' terrs now won't ya? : D

Lil' fella's cute.

There are a number of frogs that squeal on the way down. Igor had a leopard frog last summer, so I know. So much easier to feed him goldfish/minnows and worms as they don't make any noise. However I doubt the fish or worms find that any consolation. It's just the way nature works.
ooojen
Original Author
21 years ago
*Shudder* At least worms don't have brains. Frogs' brains might not be that large, but they know what's going on.
ubiquity
21 years ago
LOL@jen!

i'm under the impression that even bacteria know what's going on when the time comes for them! ...and worms sure respond to a pain stimulus with as quick a reaction as yours or mine...sure they may not be thinking things like "i can't die now!..i left the stovetop on!",but they do seem every bit as concerned! ;)

btw,can planarians develop split personalities? =D
owensgirl
21 years ago
How CUTE! He is really adorable!
paul_
21 years ago
Yes indeedy those earthworms writhe mightily when impaled on a fishing hook [or when Igor chomps down on one for that matter]. Their brains may just be nerve bundles but they aren't oblivious!

Paul
ErFa
21 years ago
LOL! - Sybil the Planarian, and its twin the other Sybil...or something like that. Maybe they just end up having the same thoughts for the rest of their lives...
ooojen
Original Author
21 years ago
If Planarians can have split personalities, can tapeworms be anal retentive?
paul_
21 years ago
Jen, what a 'crappy' thing to say! heehee
ubiquity
21 years ago
lol@jen!
ewwwww!!

i wonder what folks with crocodillian pets end up having to feed them when they get huge...makes me think of all of the animals that they put down in the shelters...hmmmmmm....
alexis
19 years ago
Earlier this year, a northern leopard frog ate the two green tree frogs that were also living in the screenroom with it (I searched the websites and none told me leopard frogs ate other frogs). I only found out when I saw back legs sticking out of its mouth. That leopard frog got immediately evicted from the screenroom in a rush. It also must of ate the brown tree frog it had a baby frog with. Now there's only green tree frogs allowed in the screenroom. It must of happened so fast because I didn't even hear it scream (then again, it got eaten head first). It is horrible that birds eat them. There's also a cat that roams the neighborhood here that attacks them. That's why I would rather have the green tree frogs in my protected screenroom with the orchids. I also have a black and orange poison dart frog in its indoor tank. That's a very pretty frog you have.