Thinking about getting a white tree frog. Need help

Hey everyone,

I am thinking about getting a White's tree frog and I just want to make sure I have thought about everything before I make a commitment. I have never owned an exotic animal before. I read that noise could be stressful for white tree frogs. Is this true? And how much noise is stressful? I live in a college apartment and some of my friends that come over are a little loud. Plus the TV is on constantly. I am trying to figure out if I have too much noise in the living room to handle owning a frog. I could put the frog in my bedroom but if he/she croaks a lot I don't think I would want them in my room. What ever suggestions any one has would be very helpful. I want to make sure I think of everything before buying a frog. I am really interested and think owning a frog would be lots of fun. Also I am studying to be an elementary teacher and would like to keep the frog in my classroom in the future. Is this a good or bad idea? Thanks for any help.

Welcome to the forums, Mandy! I answered this over on the other site as well. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want.

Just my opinion. Whites are very tolerant frogs and can handle some noise. I think they would be ok in the living room as long as they were not too near the t.v. I think terribly loud noises are stressful on any animal, but most on animals in enclosures, as they cannot voluntarily leave the room. I don't think Whites make enough noise or call for such long periods of time that you could not have them in your bedroom and a lesser traffic area would be overall better for them. Many people keep their frogs in their bedrooms.

I think it would be great to have a frog for a classroom pet, but, they should not be handled often and are nocturnal, so they may not be what you are looking for.

Hope this helps some.

Mandy K wrote:Hey everyone,

I am thinking about getting a White's tree frog and I just want to make sure I have thought about everything before I make a commitment. I have never owned an exotic animal before. I read that noise could be stressful for white tree frogs. Is this true? And how much noise is stressful? I live in a college apartment and some of my friends that come over are a little loud. Plus the TV is on constantly. I am trying to figure out if I have too much noise in the living room to handle owning a frog. I could put the frog in my bedroom but if he/she croaks a lot I don't think I would want them in my room. What ever suggestions any one has would be very helpful. I want to make sure I think of everything before buying a frog. I am really interested and think owning a frog would be lots of fun. Also I am studying to be an elementary teacher and would like to keep the frog in my classroom in the future. Is this a good or bad idea? Thanks for any help.

Well you can definately keep a frog. Noise will not freak out the frog much if it is normal and not like a cat hissing and shows its teeth at the frog. If the frog is female you can definately not count on it croaking at all. Males do all the calling. So you could keep it in your room. Welcome to PhatPhibs.

Thanks for all of your guys help. Sheri I saw both of your replies. I joined both forum to get as much help as possible. Thanks so much. I will most likely have lots of questions when I get a frog.

Some more questions for all of you.....

I want to get a terrarium for a WTF this weekend so I was curious to know how big of a tank you all recommend getting. The guy from Petco said a 10-gallon would be good. Is that okay or to small? Also what all do you recommend putting in the terrarium to make a WTF very happy? I want to do everything that I can to make this little frog happy. Also keep in mind that I am in college and don't have very much money. That is why I am trying to take my time and spacing out my purchases. But I want to make sure that I do everything correctly. Thanks for all your advice. I am so excited I found you all. I am glad to make new friends.

I am excited for you! A 10 for a White's won't last you very long at all. I would recommend a 20 minimum and preferably taller rather than longer as Whites love being up high. Do you know how old/big the Whites is that you are getting? A lot of the answers depend on their size.

Also, if you are interested, I wrote a somewhat detailed caresheet in for Whites in the caresheet area of this site. I tried to answer many of the questions I had when I got my first Whites. Maybe it would help you?

I also wrote a care sheet on frog water!!!! That might come in handy depending on what part of the country you're from!!! Just make sure to follow the directions to the T or it could disastrous for your tank!

wickerstone wrote:I also wrote a care sheet on frog water!!!! That might come in handy depending on what part of the country you're from!!! Just make sure to follow the directions to the T or it could disastrous for your tank!

And that is for the water in their bowl and to mist them? Do you mist whites in twice a day? I live in Washington. Does this change anything?

I'll let wickerstone answer your first question as I use bottled spring water for all my tanks.

Misting is based solely off of your humidity levels in your house. If you have the furnace/heater on a lot during the winter months, you will find yourself coming up with creative ways to add humidity to your tanks and misting more frequently. During a humid summer day, you may not need to mist at all. The best way to tell when to mist is to buy a two in one digital temp/humidity gauge to put in your setup. I get mine for around $10 at Walmart, brand name Acu-Rite.

sorry if I scared you....I was only kidding about the frog water !!! If you do use tap water you do want to put a conditioner in it. Once you do that you should be fine. I used both tap and bottle water. I try not to use tap water when I'm cleaning their dishes, I use treated. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I feel better taking the extra step to prevent anything from happening. Once you get used to this forum, you'll find there's a lot of joking around, though we are very serious about the health of the phibs. No question is a dumb one. I should know, I'm the one who wrote the book!!!!

Thanks to both of you. I am just really curious right now. I have never owned a frog and I don't really know of anyone who has so this is ALL BRAND NEW information. I have learned so much in the couple days. I have been reading, reading, and reading. I am just trying to learn as much as I can before I buy my frog. I want to make sure I do everything correctly, or at least as best as I can. I am learning lots and ready to hear whatever advice people have. I think this is a fun forum and I have noticed joking. I guess it will take time to realize and get use to everything. Thanks again. The water is helpful because I was really curious to know which to use. I have heard the water around where I live is pretty hard so I don't know if I should use the conditioner that was mention or spring bottled water. How do i find out what is in the water where I live?

You can buy water testers pretty much anywhere. I know I have a tester for my fish tanks, tells me the hardness there and what the PH is. But I don't blame you for being cautious. Frogs absorb chemicals through their skin, that's why I never really pick mine up with my bare hands. When i need to move them, which is never because they have such a big tank, but when I do I wear rubber gloves. But I think you should be fine with the water as long as you put the tap conditioner in, which you can fine at any pet store.

I just spent the morning looking at terrariums and was wondering if a 12x12x18 glass naturalistic terrarium is big enough

That equals about 11 gallons. Ideally one adult Whites should be housed in a 20 gallon tall minimum. A baby Whites would be ok in that for a little while but then you would have to upgrade. I wouldn't waste the money if I were you. A great place to find tanks is craiglist.com. Have you looked at one in your area? You might be able to find a good deal.

Sheri wrote:That equals about 11 gallons. Ideally one adult Whites should be housed in a 20 gallon tall minimum. A baby Whites would be ok in that for a little while but then you would have to upgrade. I wouldn't waste the money if I were you. A great place to find tanks is craiglist.com. Have you looked at one in your area? You might be able to find a good deal.

Yeah. I have been looking. I haven't found anything yet. A lot of long terrariums but I can't find ones that are tall. Or if I do find one it is way out of my price range.

I hate to do this, but I have to agree with Sheri. JK. Whites are big tree frogs and room should be in consideration. A 20 gallon for 1 WTF minimum. If you cannot find one on craigslist, go to a ma and pa pet store. I know mine sells tanks one dollar a gallon. They sometimes might get a damaged tank, maybe a small crack that won't hold water, but would hold an amphibian. Check around and you will find deals. I know those kits you were looking at go for some money. You'd spend less buying a tank and a screen top. Just my opinion and hope this helps.

You could also stand the tank on one side to make it taller.

I know exactly what you mean. Tanks/enclosures are pricey, aren't they? Keep an eye out for sales at Petsmart and Petco also as they do carry the Zoo Med and Exo Terra enclosures that open from the front. Sometimes they have great deals, but I also find they don't stock the larger tanks, more of the dimensions you first mentioned. Good luck!

**EDIT**wickerstone, I see YOU!!!

He has a great point, Mandy about standing a long tank on it's end. If he was really nice, he would post a picture of the one he is working on for you to get some ideas. **wink, wink**

Ha ha thanks guys.

So you would recommend getting a 20 gallon long and adjusting it to stand it up right???

I would say so. Okay...Sheri.....here's pic of my 30 gallon on it's side


I used Great Stuff and drift wood and plant pots on the back. After it dried, I rubbed on some black silicone then put some coco husk. It's still a long way from being down though and Tammy has the camera so I can't put up any new pics sorry.

i just noticed how horrible my house looks in the pic. I'm in the middle of redoing my living room and the hard wood floor used to have a tan rug on it, which you can see under the 70 gallon fish tank. Also you can see where I had to scrape all that glue off the floor, wasn't that a pain in my ass! Any way, I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but, hell....alright, you got me!!! I can be a slob at times!

Are you going to leave the hardwood? I love love hardwood floors. Is that also your wedding picture in the right corner? Hehe!

Leaving the hardwood....yes. Is that my wedding picture....yes. Not that I keep it on the floor at the side of my fish tank, where water could splash on it at any time, no I wouldn't do that!!!! What you saw was a selfish plug to show myself all dressed up in a tux, because frankly I think I have that GQ image down pact. I mean I could be an Abercrombie model. Hell, I've seen the self centered black and white photos hardly dressed, baring six packs, and I think to myself....shit, that ain't nothing. They ought to see me on Sunday morning, wearing my nightmare before christmas pj bottoms, with my hair styled sideways, and seven o clock shadow on my face. Now that....that's mere poetry in motion!!!

You goofball! I just love your humor! Mandy, I hope you don't mind our banter. Join in if you want; it's part of what makes this forum so great to be a part of.

Sheri wrote:You goofball! I just love your humor! Mandy, I hope you don't mind our banter. Join in if you want; it's part of what makes this forum so great to be a part of.

I also love your banter. It is fun to read. I think that is what I spend most of my time doing. Reading banter. ha ha. One of these days I will be brave enough to join in.

Wickerstone this may sound like a stupid question but how do you open your 30 gallon? Do you open it from the top or the side? And also how did you do it? I am interested in knowing how. I think switching a long to tall is a good idea, if it isn't too hard.

You could always buy a regular aquarium and stand it on it side. There was something on Dendroboard that converted 20g into 20h. Might help