California Zoological Supply | Red Eyed Tree Frogs

CALZOO'S REFERENCE SHEET > Red Eyed Tree Frogs

Latin name	Agalychnis callidryas	Maximum length	Males 2 inches Females 3 inches
Native to	Central America	Approximate life span	3 - 4 years

GENERAL INFORMATION
Red Eye Tree Frogs are one of the most commonly used frogs in magazine and television advertisements, due to their bright green skin and ruby red eyes. With a little care put into their environment, these cartoonish looking frogs will do well, and even breed in captivity. Provide them with plenty of cover and climbing branches. They will do best in larger groups of 4 - 5 pairs in large well-planted terrariums. Red Eyes are available as both field collected adults and captive bred juveniles. Juveniles will grow rapidly, but must be fed daily. They will reach maturity in 1 - 2 years. At almost twice the size females are much larger than males.

ENCLOSURE
Any well-ventilated enclosure that can hold water. Taller enclosures are recommended as red eyed tree frogs are solely arboreal animals. A 10 gallon aquarium with a screen cover should work fine for 1 pair, increasing the size by 10 gallons per pair.

SUBSTRATE
Keep on a mixture of peat moss mixed with top soil about 2 - 3 inches deep. Make sure both are pesticide free. Change the substrate about every 3 - 5 weeks. A layer of Zoo Med REPTI BARK™ and damp sphagnum moss may be added to help keep up the humidity level. Broad leafed live plants over hanging water work well with these exclusively arboreal frogs. The leaves will provide both cover and possible sites for depositing eggs. Make sure the live plants have no insecticide on them. Wash all leaves before use.

TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY
Red Eyed Tree Frogs are from the lowland humid rainforests of Central America, so a humidity level of 70 - 90% should be provided. Misting once or twice daily will help keep the humidity level up. Always use de-chlorinated water. However if water droplets form on the glass then your environment is too humid. Breeding is stimulated by rains, so misting more frequently after a dryer period will help this along. Daytime temperatures should be in the mid to upper 70's, 76°f is the optimum temperature. Nighttime temperatures should be in the lower 70's. Newly acquired adults are usually a little under weight so keep them warmer during the day about 84 °f until they have acquired sufficient weight gain.

HEATING
If you feel the temperature needs to be raised use an appropriately sized Zoo Med REPTITHERM® UNDER TANK HEATER (U.T.H.). For easy heat control use the U.T.H. in conjunction with a Zoo Med RHEOSTAT™. Do not turn the tank heater off. Leave it on 24 hours a day. To help provide the correct temperature gradient heat only one half of the tank. Always use a thermometer and humidity gauge in all reptile & amphibian enclosures.

LIGHTING
Red Eyed Tree Frogs do not like bright light. A low wattage bulb should be fine. UVB light is not essential. All reptiles and amphibians need a photo period (light cycle). A plug in timer (for your lights only, do not use a timer for your heating devices) works well to develop a regular photo period of 12 hours light, and 12 hours dark. Nighttime lighting is important with Red Eyed Tree Frogs, as they are a completely nocturnal frog. You must not use any white light during the evening. Reptiles and amphibians cannot see the red light spectrum, so a low wattage red bulb is ideal for night time viewing of your Red Eyed Tree Frogs. They will only become active and feed after dark. They spend all of their daylight hours under cover, or clinging inactively to the side of the terrarium.

FOOD & WATER
Red Eyed Tree Frogs will eat a variety of insects including crickets, flies, moths, spiders and grasshoppers. The easiest are the commercially available crickets. Always feed your crickets assorted fruit and vegetables or a prepared commercial cricket diet 12 - 24 hours before feeding the crickets to your pets. Once a week dust crickets with Zoo Med REPTIVITE® vitamins just before you feed them off. Don't over-feed or feed a food item too large! Small frogs have large appetites, feed them 1 - 2 week old crickets daily, adults can be fed every 2 days. Always feed just after the day time lights are turned off. Provide a shallow plastic water dish sunk into the substrate that the frog can easily get in and out of. The water should be no deeper than ½ the frogs height when at rest. Water should be kept clean and free of obstacles. Frogs absorb water through their skin, so the water should always be clean. Change water at least every other day with de-chlorinated water. Change more often if the water appears dirty.

NOTES
Always wash your hands before and immediately after handling reptiles and amphibians. Never leave live food long term with reptiles & amphibians. They can inflict severe harm, even kill your pet. If your animals take some time to eat or you feed them at night, leave a slice of potato, carrot or dry dog food for the live food items to eat. Your local pet shop is an ideal source for reptile and amphibian related books and supplies. Please make sure you read and become familiar with any instructions provided with reptile support products you may purchase.

For further information on reptiles and amphibians we recommend you read REPTILES MAGAZINE and THE VIVARIUM. California Zoological Supply hopes you have enjoyed reading this reference sheet on Red Eyed Tree Frogs. We hope that our guidelines will assist you with the care or possible purchase of your new pet.

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