Calling White's Tree Frogs...

[fr0glet]

Can both genders of WTF's call, or just males?

I was just in my herp room running the routine, and had the joy of a calling frog. It came from the cage of my new WTF that's in quarantine... who I THOUGHT was a female!

Hopefully I have a breeding pair so I'm just looking for a bit of clarification here.

Thanks! :medglasse:

[eyespy]

Sorry, only the males call.

[marisa]

Yeah thats my understanding too, only the males.

My male is loud and clear all the time! *L*

Marisa

[marisa]

oh and YES! I would bred WTF's!!! There are many many to be had but almost 99% up here are WC's. If I could I would definitly start breeding CB

Marisa

[fr0glet]

Well CRAP! My formerly-assumed male is quite a bit smaller than this new one, and too dark brown to tell if "he" has nuptial pads... and has *never* called in the two years I've had "him".

Arg.. wish I had a better way of sexing! My original WTF (Slimy) was CB but my new WTF (unnamed) is clearly WC. I could only convince myself it was OK to purchase the new WC one by justifying "oh yes! I know! I'll breed them and help there to be more CB WTF's in the USA and BC Canada!" :D

[Jeff_Favelle]

Good luck breeding them. I amassed a colony of 14 Australian (the Indonesian ones are lame) White's and I got amplexus for 6 months straight. But trying to get the females to ovulate without hormone injections was damn-near impossible.

So I gave up and decided to do snakes. That was 10 years ago.

[eyespy]

I bred White's for about 4 years. Making a rain chamber for them worked very well, as did playing recordings of thunderstorms. They really like stormy weather for getting in the mood.

fr0glet, I'm concerned about the fact that your smaller male is dark brown, a healthy and happy White's should only be brown when it's sleeping in the cool part of the tank. Is he warm and wet enough? Has he been checked for parasites?

If he was the only frog you had, then he basically had no reason to call. No females to attract, no males to compete with. A solo frog is often a silent frog.

[marisa]

My frog is solo and he is LOUD! Sometimes he calls so loud we can hear him in the basement!
:)
Marisa

[eyespy]

Hee hee, I figured someone would come along and make a liar out of me. I had a solo horned frog that was rather vocal and a solo squirrel treefrog that I thought would get me evicted. Some boys do love the sound of their own voices.

On the few rare occasions I had solo White's the boys were usually very quiet. One of my boys, Flick, was quite the singer though.

[marisa]

Wow. Well I actually don't know much about them. Not to say I don't provide the are he needs but many things puzzle me about his behaviour. Maybe you could give me some hints?

He never ever ever leaves the ground?!?! I have had Ralph for about two years now. At first, when he was a little tyke in a ten gallon he would hop up high at night, and sleep in the floor in the day (hidden) but for the past year and a half (year and a half in a new 30 tall) he has never ever climbed one tiny bit.

Any ideas why?

Marisa

[eyespy]

That is very unusual for a White's or any treefrog for that matter. I wonder if he fell once and now he's gunshy? Or if he just never adjusted to a new cage. Herps are notorious for not taking well to changes.

Do you have any branches or driftwood in there for Ralph to climb? Sometimes they prefer that to sticking on the sides of a glass tank. Sturdy plastic or silk plants that will allow him both to climb and hide might also make him very happy. Or a nice big pothos plant, my guys always just loved them.

But if he's otherwise happy and healthy and just likes hanging out on the cage bottom I wouldn't worry too much. :-)

[marisa]

Yeah I think he just likes the floor.

He has a special smooth river stone that he sits on each night. hehehe :)

I do have branches, and some potted plants as well as some silk leaves that are really large.

So yeah I guess he is a floor guy. He eats and calls and swims so I guess thats it! thanks! :)

Marisa

[eyespy]

Don't you just love a swimming White's? I think it's just the cutest thing.

[marisa]

hahaha yep. They are so cute when they have a swim and a soak. So predictable too! He comes out each night at roughly the same time. *L*

Marisa

[fr0glet]

Originally posted by eyespy
I bred White's for about 4 years. Making a rain chamber for them worked very well, as did playing recordings of thunderstorms. They really like stormy weather for getting in the mood.

fr0glet, I'm concerned about the fact that your smaller male is dark brown, a healthy and happy White's should only be brown when it's sleeping in the cool part of the tank. Is he warm and wet enough? Has he been checked for parasites?

Eyespy, WTF's come in several color phases. Of course everyone knows about blues, and the most common greens (looking brownish when stressed or cold) and then there are the less common browns. Mine is a rich dark chocolate brown, but when stressed or cold he turns mottled green. I have a local acquaintance who imports WTFs and ocassionally has browns for sale (always with white freckles). I had a fecal done on him when I first got him and treated his oxyurids with fenbendazole. I now shotgun treat my whole collection with fenbendazole annually, so he's been treated twice in the two years I've had him. The coolest my herp room gets is 72F at night, and he has a gradient up to 88F during the day (with UVB just in case). I mist him once daily and that gets his humidity up to about 65%-75%, my herp room's humidity never drops below 40% (thanks to the fish tank!).

I saw a great website on making a rain chamber, that is my plan for next year! My newbie WTF is is quarantine for several more months before they'll be housed together and then I'm going to attempt a cooled winter before creating a stormy/rainy season for them.

marisa - Do you have good cover up high? I use stick-on plastic leaves at the top of the tank and my WTF loves to hide behind those. Before I got them my WTF stayed on the floor all the time, even borrowing into the substrate sometimes. Now he sleeps in the stick-on leaves all day!

Mine are totally predictable too, I can almost tell what time it is by what my WTF is doing :D

Also, my pl&co's name is Ralph. Hee!

[marisa]

Hi!

Yep I have branches and leaves from top to bottom. I think he is lazy.

lol

marisa

[fr0glet]

No suprise for a White's, they call them "dumpy" for a good reason you know ;)