Amphibian Care Sheets
Common Name: Green Tree Frog
Latin name: Hylidae cinerea
Native to: Southeastern United States
Size: 1½ to 2 inches
Life span: 2 - 5 years
General appearance: Small bright green frog with a white stripe along each side. May have golden spots on head and body.
Housing requirements:
Enclosure: Minimum 10-gallon tank (taller rather than longer). Glass aquariums work the best. Foliage is a must. Sticks, branches and driftwood provide climbing room. Arrange branches where foliage provides hiding places.
Temperature: 72° to 75° F is desirable.
Heat/Light: Green tree frogs are nocturnal so no special lighting is needed, except for viewing purposes. If desired, you may use an under tank heating pad with a rock situated over the heat source. Or a 15-watt nocturnal heat lamp may be used.
Substrate: Potting soil, astro-turf or reptile carpeting may be used. Avoid Reptibark due to danger of ingestion.
Environment: Semi-tropical. Mist daily with dechlorinated water. A small water dish should also be constantly available
Diet: Green tree frogs are insectivores and will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. Dust crickets with calcium & vitamins 3 times a week. Feed frogs daily.
Maintenance: Remove everything from tank weekly and clean thoroughly with hot water (no soap). Tank should be thoroughly scrubbed.
Common Name: South American Ornate Horned Frog, Pac Man Frog
Latin name: Ceratophrys ornata
Native to: Tropical Rain forests of South America
Size: Males grow to about 7 inches, females 9 inches.
Life span: Normally around 6 years. Have lived up to 12 years in captivity.
General appearance: Pac man frogs are large, fat frogs, that seem to consist of two parts, a stomach and a mouth and appear to be designed solely to eat. They are often very colorful, usually green with dark red to black markings along their back, females slightly larger than males. Usually round in shape, with a mouth disportionately larger than the body appearing to look like Pac Man characters, this is one of the few frogs that do have teeth.
Housing requirements:
Enclosure: Minimum 10-gallon aquarium, with a lid.
Temperature: Prefer 72° to 82° Fahrenheit
Heat/Light: Pac man frogs do best in a 9 - 12 hour photo period. Longer periods may cause them to stop eating. Fluorescent is preferred because incandescent may dry out the skin.
Substrate: The tank can be lined with paper towels, aquarium gravel, reptile bark or Astroturf with clumps of sphagnum moss and artificial or live plants. Frogs are very sensitive so make sure products used are reptile safe.
Environment: Must have a shallow bowl of water where it will spend most of its time. Have enough loose material to simulate the loose leaves in the forest for hiding spots. High humidity is required so mist daily.
Diet: Feed a variety of crickets, fish and mice. Juveniles should be fed every 2 - 3 days. Adults should be fed once a week and then every 10 - 14 days, as it grows older. It is important to not feed prey items that are too large. Offered food should be no larger than half the size of the pac man frog. Use a vitamin and calcium supplement once weekly with juvenile pac man frogs and every 3 - 4 weeks with adults.
Crickets can be put in the aquarium and fish may be placed in the water dish or you can use small tongs or tweezers to hold the prey items in front of the horned frog.
Note: Pac man frogs will tend to bite anything that moves. Never use you bare hands when feeding to avoid bites. Many frogs are killed when a hand is quickly drawn away from a bite and the horned frog is flung against a wall.
Maintenance: Periodically clean out dead crickets and cricket parts. Water should be freshened daily if evaporating and changed at least once a week. Handlers are advised to wash hands thoroughly after handling animals or animal related products.
Common Name: Fire Belly Newt
Latin name: Cynops pyrrhogaster
Native to: Japan and parts of China
Size: up to 6 inches
General appearance: Dark brown to black in color with the ventral (belly) side being orange or red with dark patches.
Housing requirements:
Enclosure: A semi-aquatic aquarium will be needed. Fire belly newts need to climb out of the water and have a land area to bask or hide. You can do this in different ways:
- Dividing the tank in half using a piece of Plexiglas to create a dry and water area.
- Add gravel and slope it out of the water to create a land spot.
- Use rocks or platforms at the waters' surface for the fire belly newts to climb on to.
Temperature: Room temperature at 68° - 70° F seems to be fine for them.
Heat/Light: A normal fluorescent or incandescent aquarium light can be used during the day. Turn off the light at night to produce a natural setting.
Substrate: Large aquarium gravel should be used so it is not accidentally ingested. Plants, rocks, moss and wood can be used to create hiding areas and land portions.
Environment: Semi-aquatic
Diet: Fire belly newts will take live insects including crickets, wax worms, and bloodworms. Make sure the prey is small enough for the newt to eat it. Some will eat fish food such as shrimp pellets, brine shrimp, or turtle floating food sticks.
Maintenance: Water will need to be added if it starts to evaporate. The filter should be cleaned and rinsed every two weeks. Clean entire aquarium as needed. Handlers should always wash hands thoroughly after handling the fire belly newts or related products.
Common Name: Oriental Fire Belly Toad
Latin name: Bombina orientalis
Native to: China, Korea, and Southeast Asia
Size: Generally from 2 to 2½ inches in length
General appearance: The fire belly toad's coloration ranges from grass green to forest green with black blotches. The underbelly ranges from a flame red to a weak orange in color. The brightly colored belly acts as warning coloration to other species. The fire belly toad secretes a toxin when stressed.
Housing requirements:
Enclosure: A 10-gallon aquarium with a secure lid should be adequate for a pair of fire belly toads. When housing toads together it is important that they are the same size as they can be cannibalistic. A 50/50 ratio of land to water is usually the best way to maintain these animals for breeding. A strictly forest floor type of enclosure is fine if you will not be breeding.
Temperature: Air temperature should be maintained at 68° to 75° F with a basking spot of 74° to 85° F. Water temperatures should be 76° to 78° F.
Heat/Light: Room temperature is usually adequate for fire belly toads. Using heat bulbs can create basking spots. Water temperatures can me raised by using an aquarium heater.
Substrate: Materials like Bed-a-Beast®, sterilized potting soil, or sphagnum moss can all be used as substrate. Gravel is not recommended as the top layer of substrate because the toads may ingest the gravel and cause an impaction.
Environment: Semi-aquatic
Diet: Fire belly toads can be fed crickets, mealworms, and wax worms. Adults have also been known to eat pinkie mice.
Maintenance: If using a forest floor type of setup, spot clean regularly and replace the substrate as needed. Fresh dechlorinated water should be offered daily. If using a 50/50 ratio of land to water setup, spot clean the land portion as above and use a filtration system for the water. Partial water changes are recommended weekly. Be advised to not hand the toads excessively since the oils found naturally on our hands can harm the toads with frequent handling. Whenever handling the toads or cleaning the cage or cage accessories it is always recommended to wash you hands thoroughly when finished.
Common Name: White's Tree Frog Dumpy, Smiling, or Australian Green Tree Frog
Latin name: Litoria caerulea
Native to: Northeast Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia and the Torres Straits
Size: White's tree frogs average 4 inches for males and 5&frac2; inches for females
Life span: 20 years plus
General appearance: The White's tree frog has a smooth green rubbery skin (can turn brown occasionally or have whit speckles) and has a fat and flabby appearance. At one year of age, breeding males grow nuptial pads (puffy pads where their "thumb" and "palm" meet). White's tree frog tadpoles are large, 1.75 - 4 inches (45 - 100 mm), dark green or dark gray-green in color.
Housing requirements:
Enclosure: Larger is better for this species, a minimum of 25 gallons for an adult pair is recommended. An arboreal enclosure is the best choice, as White's tree frogs will spend most of their time being high in the enclosure. Plants and hollow logs/branches provide shelter and security. Can be safely housed with other White's tree frogs or with other similar sized tree frogs.
Temperature: Temperatures should be up to 86° F (30° C), but can be reduced to 68° F- 75° F (20° C) at night.
Heat/Light: White's tree frogs are nocturnal. There is no specific lighting requirements. Live plants will require a full spectrum light. An under tank heater can be used but do not use heat rocks.
Substrate: Potting soil, peat moss or a few sheets of damp paper towels on the bottom. Avoid using small bark and gravel due to danger of ingestion.
Environment: Semi-tropical - A moderate amount of humidity is required. This can be achieved through misting of the tree frogs and enclosure two or more times a day. Additionally a large water dish with a depth of about four inches is required.
Diet: White's tree frogs are insectivores. They will eat crickets, cockroaches, locusts, moths and beetles. Dust crickets with calcium & vitamins 3 times a week. Feed the tree frogs daily. They are known for overeating and obesity. Fat is stored in the supratympanic ridges. An oblast frog's supratympanic ridges will cover the tympanic membrane ("ear") Feed only what is consumed in a few minutes.
Maintenance: Clean the enclosure weekly. Remove dead insects and clean water bowl several times a week or as needed, but no less than weekly. You may wash with a mild bleach solution (5%) or liquid soap and thoroughly rinse. Regular handling should be avoided. Hands must be washed and rinsed prior to touching the frog and should remain wet.