Green Tree Frog colour??!!

[Packhouse06]

Iv recenly got 5 Green Tree Frogs juvies about the size of a 20 cent piece. Since iv had them (approx 2 weeks now) they have stayed a solid brown colour occasionally turning lighter but still remaining brown in colour. Is this because i have a rock wall background in my tank and they are simply doing this for camouflage? Or is this a reflection of there health/happiness? The guy i bought them off is a kepper at Taronga and said when i bought them they were brown because of the plastic container they were in, but there colour has since not changed.

 

[tadpoles]

whats the main colour in the tank?
do you have anything green in there?

If not very happy or sick the frogs often go a brown colour, but it also depends on the contents of your tank. If its mainly brown/grey they will probibly stay more brown to camaflouge.

Have you any UV or heat on them?

 

[Packhouse06]

i have one of those fake rock backgrounds so brown is the main colour of the tank, i also have a bit of greenary in the way of fake plants in there too. Even when i find them hidden in the plants they are still a light tan colour. Yeah i have a UV light and a water heater at 24 degrees and have just recently turned on a 75 Watt heat light which is to one side and about 20 cm away from the side of the tank as Sydney has been pretty cold lately. They wont accept food off tweezers but i have just been putting the crickets in the tank with them and have seen 2 or 3 of them eat a few

 

[Packhouse06]

anyone else got anything to add?

 

[Wolfgang]

I have 5 - now full grown GTF's, their colours change constrantly from a bright green to tan/brown colour. All eat like pigs, I've just put it down to their shedding cycle. My main interest is pythons, so don't have that much knowledge with amphibians - just my observations.

Wolf

 

[Packhouse06]

Cheers Wolfgang, any advice or opinions are greatly appreciated mate

 

[tadpoles]

Hmm, have you by any chance seen the parents? maybe you just got GTF's who are more brown than green.

Also what about stress? Where are they located?
You've also only had them for two weeks, and i've had frogs take more time than that to go green after transport/rehoming.

Are they all healthy and eating (fat little bellies)?
Wrong colour is also in indicator someting is wrong or that the frog is sick or too stressed.

How many crix have they eaten sice you got them?

 

[Packhouse06]

Nah didnt see the parents, they are downstairs in my house in the same room as my diamond, bredli and central beardies. Would to much traffic hrough the room stress them out? They all seem to be in good shape, i have only seen 2 or 3 of them eat about a cricket each as the dont seem interested in the crickets straight away when i place them in the tank, but come next morning i cant see any left so i assume they are being eaten. How hardy are Green Tree Frogs, do they get sick easily?

 

[tadpoles]

GTFs are pretty hardy little fellas. One of the hardiest tree frogs we have in australia The main problems are from incorret keeping and desease transfer.

I don't heat mine but they live in my reptile room (a spare bedroom) so it never gets too cold.

Stress might be a factor, I dont have a snake but my frogs dont like the beardies watching them, so i recon the snake(s) might scare them if they can see it.

 

[Packhouse06]

its so hard to tell, they dont seem stresses but then again what does a stressed frog look like lol

 

[tadpoles]

Normally a stressed frog is off colour.

I've only had 3 little fellas die from stress, and that was after transport (2) and after being a demo frog ( 1) (but he was a BTF)

They were definatly off colur (brown with a litle burgendy hue to it)and just didn't show much interest in food, might have eaten a little but it took them 2 and 3 weeks to die. They just got weaker and didnt move much. They were baby frogs too.

I'd cover the frogs at night with a dark sheet or something, just to rule out predator stress.

I often keep new frogs covered for a week or two when i get them to cut down on stress.
Just make sure to check them daily for any problems.

See what they are like in a another fortnight. If they are otherwise healthy except for the colour mabe you just got rather brown Green trees.

 

[Packhouse06]

Sounds good, ill start covering the tank at night times with a sheet and see how that goes. Thanks for all the advice mate