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cb australian white's babies

PanTech

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so after weeks of contemplation, ive decided to order some australian white's tree frogs off of reptilecity.com. I have had experience with standard white's tree frogs in the past and was wondering if anyone had any pointers or things i should watch out for.

They should arrive next week and are said to be 1" in size, there are 4 of them in total. I have decided to opt for a simple enclosure with damp paper towel for bedding and a few fake plants for cover until they get a little bigger. At which point i will transfer them to a larger enclosure with live plants and bedding. So i was wondering:

1. What would be the ideal substrate? (thinking of using leftover plantation soil/coconut husk stuff)
2. I have kept many tree frogs, but have never gone with a semi-aquatic enclosure due to the risk of drowning. But i have heard that adult white's tree frogs strive in a semi-aquatic enclosure, should the permanent enclosure be semi-aquatic? or just have a water bowl as usual?
3. I recently purchased a small money tree (Pachira aquatica) and have it growing in a small pot...ideal size for my permanent enclosure. Is it safe to use in the enclosure?
 

katebutton

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I keep my white's tree frogs on coco fiber with beds of moss laid over it and have never had a problem. They can be clumsy eaters, and will occasionally end up with substrate in their mouth regardless of what you do. (I've never seen them actually consume the substrate...they work it out with their tongues.) I'm using a tall exo-terra terrarium to house them now, so there's a lot less floor than vertical space. One fourth of the bottom is a small pool with a filter that keeps the water circulated. It's only about two inches deep at the deepest point. I seriously doubt you will have a problem with these guys drowning unless you make the water feature really hard to get out of...my guys love sitting in the water and calling relentlessly all night. As far as the plant goes, I don't have any knowledge about that particular species. I usually just use large pieces of driftwood for them to climb on and some fake leaves for coverage...I use live plants in all my other tanks but white's grow so large so fast and my two have smashed/destroyed every live plant I've put in there. Have fun, they won't be 1" for long!
 

PanTech

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still inquiring as to whether a "money tree" is a safe plant for australian white's...animals should arrive later this week.

@katebutton: 2 inches of water is quit deep for tree frogs...from my experience with baby greys tree frogs, baby RETF's and green tree frogs...id say thats plenty of water for them to drown in. are Whites really that adept in water?
 

katebutton

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The area that is that deep is very small...my white's are so big they actually fit across it without touching the bottom. You're right about babies though, that might be too deep until they get bigger. My coworker has white's in a very large terrarium with a large water feature, and he said at night they actually go for swims before they decide where to perch and call.
I do research with gray tree frogs and we put them in a large artificial pond with about 2 1/2 inches of water and a few concrete blocks to crawl out on- we've never had any drown. I think as long as you provide easy ways to get out of the water, and keep it shallow when until they get bigger, you definitely shouldn't have a problem. Tree frogs are by no means aquatic, but they are more than adept swimmers as long as they're not trapped and I've personally seen grays swim underwater and sit if they feel threatened.
Good luck when the babies come!
 

Kurt

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I have seen gray treefrogs swim to the bottom of a four foot deep pool. I have also seen my red-eyes swim under water. My White's too. So I am not concerned about any treefrog drowning. They can climb out of any body of water.
 

John

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I have seen gray treefrogs swim to the bottom of a four foot deep pool. I have also seen my red-eyes swim under water. My White's too. So I am not concerned about any treefrog drowning. They can climb out of any body of water.
I agree. My Gray Tree Frogs can climb straight out of the water up the side of the tank without an island to help them, so I don't think they'll ever be at risk of drowning.
 

PanTech

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I opted to avoid a semi-aquatic enclosure in the end :|

I have no doubt that Adult grey tree frogs can swim well but from my experience with babies...they dont fare too well. I had 3 babies grey's in a semi aquatic enclosure for a couple weeks until, i found a drowned frog one morning. The water area was easily accessible to get in or out of too. It only takes one bad experience to ruin something.
 

Salamandrae

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Whites tree frogs are adept to water and they have webbed hind feet they love to spread out and float on the top of the water.
 
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