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Care Sheet: White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

Common Name: White's Tree Frog, Dumpy Tree Frog, Australian Green Tree Frog, and Giant Green Tree Frog.

Scientific Name: Litoria caerulea

Distribution: North-eastern Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Islands in the Torres Straits.

Size: The females of this species often attain a Snout-to-vent length of up to 10cm (4") the males usually slightly smaller.

Life Expectancy: Captive bred individuals can often be expected to live for an average of 15 years although 20+ years is attainable.

Sexing: It is quite simple to sex an adult White's Tree Frog. A sure sign of a male is if it can be heard calling (the call is reminiscent of a barking dog). The males also tend to have looser and darker coloured skin around the throat and nuptial pads on the inside of the thumbs, these pads are present all year round although they are more noticeable when in breeding condition.

Varieties: There are two recognised forms of the White's Tree Frog these are the Australian and the Indonesian both of which are being bred in captivity. The Australian White's colouration ranges from being a bright green or blue-green to a turquoise blue. They also tend to have slight supratympanic ridges over the eyes and eardrums whereas the Indonesian are usually of a dull green colour with rather larger supratympanic ridge's. Selective breeding programmes are being used to produce strains with more white spots and bluer colouration.

Australian

Indonesian

Requirements: Being a rather large species they require quite a spacious terrarium. A 36x12x15” tank would be ideal for a group of 4 adults. They require a woodland / savannah type set up with a substrate of either bark chips, topsoil or repti-grass. An area of live moss should also be provided. The tank can be furnished with a selection of logs, cork bark, rocks, and sturdy leafed plants (Live or artificial). These items should be arranged in such a way that they provide a number of climbing, perching and hiding areas for the frogs. A large water bowl (no deeper than the frog's height at rest) should be provided with clean de-chlorinated or spring water which will need changing daily so as to avoid the risk of ammonia and bacteria building up in the water. The enclosure will need to be heated to a daytime temperature of 25-27°C (75-82°F) with a drop at night to 22°C (72°F). This can be done using an under tank heat-mat controlled by a thermostat. Spot bulbs / heat lamps are not recommended for use with amphibians and so a fluorescent UVB tube should be provided as a light source. The tank should be visually inspected daily and any soiled items should be removed, cleaned and replaced, if this is done at the same time as changing the water it will cause less disturbance to the frogs. Once every two-three weeks the tank and its contents should be completely cleaned and sterilised using an amphibian / reptile safe disinfectant.

Feeding: Young White's should be fed daily with a mixture of suitably sized insects including fruitflies, small crickets and mini-mealworms. These food items should be dusted with a calcium and vitamin supplement two-three times a week. Adult White's will take considerably larger insects including adult crickets, regular mealworms, locusts, earthworms, flour beetles, waxworms, moths, flies and caterpillars. They should be fed every two-three days and the insects dusted with calcium and vitamin supplements once a week.