Hyla arborea

[killian]

Does anyone keep or breed Hyla arborea? do you keep them in indoor terraria or in a greenhouse?

 

[andy]

Killian, i've kept Hyla Cineria in the past and i kept those in a terrarium. Out of interest, did you know that there is supposed to be a colony of H.Aborea in the new forest?

 

[pollywog]

Hi Killian,
Until recently I kept Hyla arborea (normal & leucistic) in a large hexagonal terrarium indoors.
They turn up as Captive Bred imported from mainland Europe but only about once a year.

 

[mike]

I've kept and bred H.arborea (normal & blue form) in a greenhouse. You do need very understanding neighbours though.

 

[killian]

Thank you all for your reply.

Mike did you breed them in the green house?

had you problems with over heating in the summer or cold in the winter?

Did you house them with any other species on the floor?

How big was your pond and did you have a hibernation area for them?

Is it the noise the problem for neighbours?

If so dont worry my neighbours have more to worry about noise wise with three adult peacocks roaming around!!!

sorry for all the questions!

 

[killian]

Did a search there for blue and leucistic but could not find a picture do any of you have pictures of the different forms or mutations?

 

[pollywog]

My apologies for the picture quality but they are the best I can give you.
This is an adult female of the normal form:

This is an adult female blue form:

This is a sub-adult male leucistic:

I raised all of mine from juveniles and it was a very enjoyable experience.
I only had 1 leucistic as at the time they were quite expensive and was hoping to be able to breed him with the lightest female blue form to try and create heterogeneous for leucistic offspring that I could then cross back with the original to create more leucistic's, unfortunately he had a problem that looked like a possible chemical imbalance (?) and I lost him after 9 months.

 

[mike]

They did breed in the greenhouse Killian. Dimensions were 10' X 8' X 7' high, with a 8' X 4' pond. The greenhouse was situated against a north facing wall, some panes of glass were substituted with plastic mosquito netting, as was the door. The remaining glass was painted with a green "wash", bought from a horticultural supplier, which diminished the strength of the sun's rays.
I also had success with Bufo viridis, and B. raddei, which overwintered in a deep hibernaculum.
I brought the Hyla into a frost-free garage over the winter period, and kept them in bare 'Hagen' type containers with an inch of water and cork bark, wedged upright against the sides for hides.
I too have kept peacocks, but unlike them, Hyla, during the breeding season produce a cacophany of noise all night long!

(Message edited by mike on December 24, 2004)

 

[killian]

Thanks for all your help, do you think an aviary type structure made from mosquito net would be a better idea?

The other thing about the peacocks is they dont call all year unlike my small flock of guinea fowl who never stop day or night. I always think it sounds like the hens are shouting "good night, good night"

Did you have the green house heavily planted?

 

[mike]

A glass structure is a great benefit still in the UK despite global warming. The inhabitants will warm up far quicker, and come into breeding condition earlier, which is beneficial to their offspring, giving more time for them to mature.

The pond was full of aquatic plants, with reeds and rushes planted in containers around the pond. The root systems of these plants can easily damage a butyl liner.

 

[william]

yes i've heard of the colony of them in the New forest, although i think i read somewhere that it had died out, however there are some colonies around London.

 

[edward]

We have about 60+ peacocks running around at work and the males calling in the breeding season are very annoying. TO date I have not experienced any choruses of anurans that are as annoying.

Ed

 

[killian]

Where do you work Ed?

peacocks can be very very loud even the peahen can produce quite a noise!

I think the reason for the decline of the hyla arborea population in the new forest may have been mainly due to over collecting.

Can they be considered WC? Maybe FC (feral caught)

 

[mike]

The demise of the New Forest tree frogs from in and around a pond near Beaulieu in the late 80's after at least 40 years, was probably caused by over-collecting, a large population of GCNs, and an invasive alien plant (New Zealand stonecrop), which chokes the pond during the summer. There are no "official" documented sites for Hyla in Britain now, but I have heard of 2 colonies of arborea in the south of England, and possibly one near Newbury, Berks of H. savignyi.

Killian- presumably they wouldn't have protection from English law, as they too are considered alien species.

Ed- my small collection of animals is kept within a semi-rural hamlet, my garden being just 1/3rd of an acre (unlike Philadelphia Zoo).

A greenhouse full of tree frogs making a din all night, every night, which is best described as a mix of ducks quacking, and dogs barking, is quite disturbing to my immediate neighbours, (unfortunately). They are perfectly happy with calls from parrots and macaws during daylight hours, and eagle owls through the night, but not the tree frogs.

I know of a population of Midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans) near High Wycombe, Bucks, which has been established for 20 years now.

 

[pollywog]

I was told by the guys at Proteus Reptile Rescue about a colony of H.arborea in Kent that has been going for at least 5 years.
Thats interesting about the Alytes Mike, I wonder how they got there

 

[mike]

I've no idea how they colonised the site, a deliberate introduction or possibly just a single male escapee, complete with eggs.
I first discovered the midwife toad population by mistakenly identifying their nocturnal piping as the song of the European Scops Owl, (Otus scops). Apparently a common mistake, as a German recording inadvertently presented the toad's song as the owl's. The error was detected only after a sonographical analysis.

 

[killian]

Do you think it would be safe to keep a species of bombina on the floor of the greenhouse with the Hyla arborea?

 

[pollywog]

You might be ok with B.bombina or one of the B.variegata complex.

 

[mike]

Agreed, either would be OK, variegata is easier to breed.

 

[killian]

Just got my new green house put together, it is 8'x 6'x 6'. Any suggestions for a substrate or some suitable big plants for them to climb on? I dont think grass would look right but may have a small area of it.