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Whites tree frog(Litoria caerulea) is a semi-large tree frog that is sometimes called the "dumpy tree frog", it's color can be from any shade of green to a light blue. They grow to a size of about 4 inches. This is a great frog for beginners because its easy to take care of, they are fun to watch and they live a long time if taken care of properly. You can usually find these chubby frogs for sale in pet stores for about $20.00 in the United States, I'm not to sure how much they cost elsewhere.
According to Whites tree frog expert, Crystal Parker, Whites tree frogs are originally from South America and were endangered from people cutting down the forests. In 1894 the majority of the population is in Australia, where several of them bred and almost created an epidemic. Today, the main population is in Northeastern Australia and Southern New Guinea, but there are still a few hundred in South America, although in that area of the country they are considered endangered. The population of Whites tree frogs is still being decreased considerably everyday. Almost all the Whites tree frogs that are sold are captive bred, because Australia does not allow any exports on their native species. In the wild they are seldom seen, because they are well camouflaged and stay out of the way in the daytime. Whites tree frogs eat a variety of insects in the wild such as cockroaches, moths, crickets, cicadas, butterflys and sometimes other frogs. They will only eat other frogs if they are much smaller than the whites and they look like a possible food item. If you would like to learn more about inter-specie setups, click here. |
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Whites tree frogs can live for a long time in captivity, sometimes up to 20 years if the conditions are right. They are not a difficult frog to care for at all, their cage setup is the same as any other type of tree frog, except that you want to put stronger plants that can support the frogs weight. You should not use gravel in their cage because they can ingest it when they are eating, you can use top soil as an alternative, unless you have moss covering the gravel, then it should be fine. They like humidity to an extent, if you spray the cage down once to twice a day, they should be happy. The temperature in the tank should be about 85 in the day time and can drop to 68 in the night time.
These frogs will eat just about any insect you throw in their cage, in the summer, you can catch a variety of insects around your house for them, but in the winter time, they can be fed crickets and possibly earthworms if you have a bait shop near your house that is open in the winter time. These frogs are pigs!, they will eat and eat till the food stops, so be very careful not to overfeed them. You should dust their food, what ever it is, with a vitamin supplement. |
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As far as I know, getting Whites to breed, is not an easy task. I have never owned a Whites Treefrog, so all I know is from books and what others have told me. I have been told that to get Whites to breed, they need a large pool of water to lay their eggs in, they need strict temperature and humidity changes and they need to have a large cage. Im sure there will be a couple of people out there who have had Whites to breed on their own with out all of that stuff, but I have never heard of an actual account.
Since they are a large frog, they are going to make a mess of the cage quicker than a smaller one. You should try and keep the cage clean as possible, I have found that it is easier to clean what ever mess it makes every day rather than when it gets to the point where the cage is disgusting. When I say clean, I don't mean empty everything out of the cage, I mean to get rid of the frogs feces and wipe any plants off that it did its "business" on. A good thing to do every day that will make the cage nicer, is after spraying the tank down, take a dry paper towel and wipe the front of the tank so it is clean and pleasant to look through.
If you feel that I missed any major items or have anything to add, please e-mail me and tell me, I'm always looking for others opinions.
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