These are our Northern Green Tree Frogs - Litoria caerulea
They are found in Northern Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, NE South Australia and northern New South Wales.
They are a beautiful bright green colour but can become a dark olive colour depending on their mood. The females can grow to approximately 12cm but the males are much smaller around 6-8cm. The males are the only ones with an audible voice (listen to the link below). NGTF's have been known to survive in captivity for up to 20 years.
NGTF's are nocturnal,
although ours are regulaly up and about during daylight hours.
They tend to
cat nap during the day but are quite active during the night.
In the wild they eat insects, flies, spiders, cockroaches, lizards and even small frogs. In captivity we feed our NGTF's around dusk on Flies, Mealworms and Crickets. Some reportedly eat pinky mice but we've yet to try that with our collection. The amount needed by your frog will very, but keep in mind that NGTF's tend toward obesity, so try not to over feed. As a general guideline, feed adult frogs (larger than 10cm long) a few (3-6ea) large crickets every second day, adjusting based on the body condition of the frog. Smaller frogs can be offered (3-4ea) 3 week old crickets every second day, and juveniles should be fed daily. The best way to judge how much to feed is looking at the frog's body condition. Look for ridges just above the frog's eardrum - if there are no noticeable ridges the frog is likely underweight and should be fed more. If the ridges become prominent and start to sag or fold over the eyes, then the frog is overweight and should be on a diet.
Our NGTF's are housed in a 60cm(W) x 45cm(H) x 45cm(D) Exo Terra vivarium which half the vivarium is filled with river pebbles, peat and plants; the other half filled with river pebbles and water. Never add untreated tap water to your vivarium, the chemicals can and will kill your amphibians. To increase the humidity we have a Waterwerks Fogger which we turn on and off at different times. Humidity levels should always be above 50%. With the fogger off our humidity sits around 60%, but with the fogger turned on it rises up to 90-95%. An under gravel filter has been provided to keep the water clean and heating is provided by an aquarium water heater and an Exoterra Compact top canopy, using 26 watt Repti Glo compact fluorescent bulbs 1ea Repti Glo 2.0 Full Spectrum (for plant growth) and 1ea Repti Glo 5.0 Desert bulb (for UVB).
We used peat amongst the pebbles so the plants would grow successfully. We have used Sweet Flag - Acorus gramineus also known as Japanese Rush. Also Birds Nest Fern - Asplenium australasicum but this may have to be removed as it grows too large. Baby's Tears - Soleirolia soleirolii and Moss have been used as a ground cover. In the water we have planted Water Hyssop - Bacopa monniera.
Also housed with the NGTF's are our guppies we have a group around 10-15 living in the tank. They don't seem to bother the frogs who occasionally take a leap into the water after them. They either can't catch them or release straight away as I've never seen one taken.
One of the best things about Northern Green Tree Frogs is that they don't mind humans and can be handled without stressing out. It is best to not handle them too much. Also, don't forget, they do like to jump. And will. Before handling your NGTF's, rinse your hands thouroughly to avoid spreading germs to your frog. Don't use soap prior to handling your GTF's, as soap can be deadly to them. After handling your frog, ALWAYS wash your hands thoroughly with soap. The toxins in a NGTF's skin can be harmful to humans.
Listen to their Call: It's a low "crawk…crawk…crawk" sound.
Their call is available in
Windows Media or
Quicktime audio.
Recording Copyright © David Stewart.
Link thanks to the
Frogs Australia
Network .
Photographs open larger in new window
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