Litoria caerulea
Litoria caerulea
Whites Dumpy Tree Frogs are I think the cutest frogs out there. They are also my #1. choice Frog for a pet.
Price - Whites Dumpy Tree Frogs are priced at around $27.99 in most pet stores and require the same care as most tree frogs.
Food - Whites Dumpy Tree Frogs eat meal worms that can be held buy tweezers above your frogs mouth or offered in a small bowl. They also eat crickets that should be fed a vitamin suppliment before being fed to your frog.I bought a small jar of cricket food which helps to "gut pack" the frog full of vitamins. I buy two dozen crickets every one or two weeks ( for my two frogs) and keep them in the smallest "little critter pen" that you can buy at most pet stores. I find that it houses the crickets quite well and has a plastic door at the top that i open and shake the crickets in. I hate bugs and prfer not to touch them so i bought an eyebrow tweezer that I use to pick the crickets up with when ever I have to. Make sure that if you are housing crickets that you keep the area they are in moist.
Living Enviroment - An idea set up for your frog tank is the "vivarium" set up. A vivarium is a dry tank set up but make sure that you have a small water dish for you froggy because frogs don't drink they absorb water through their skin. I suggest buying a 20-29 gallon tank with a screen lid, or even better a tall 20-30 gallon aquarium because Dumpies are tree frogs and love to climb. In my vivarium (For my Green Tree Frog) I put aquarium gravel down on the floor of the tankthen covered the gravel with real moss. ( you can buy this dried out moss from your pet store in a bag and it can be washed and re-used. Do not go and find your own moss from outside because the moss may have harmfull chemicals in it or the moss itself may be harmful to the frog.) The frogs love the real moss because it is soft. A couple of weeks ago I was thinkin about buyin a little house to put in my frogs tank when i thought of a great idea. I took the lid from a plastic juice jug (the ones with the hold to pour the juice plus another hold with a grated opening so that juice can be strained) and washed it out. I put it in my frog tank and it works perfectly as a house becaue the opening is just big enough for the frog and the grated opening allows air to flow in from the other side. The juice lid alson had two deep groves in the top of the lid which I filled up with water and there you have it a frog house/water bowl. My frog loves it and it didn't cost me anything (except now we have no lid for our juice container) I also have many rocks and peices of wood in the vivarium for my frog to climb on. Whites Dumpies Love hollow logs and really long wood so that they can climb high up. I must warn anyone buying wood from a pet store to Be Careful and make sure that the wood that you buy won't hurt your frog when it gets wet. I bought a peice of wood designed for vivariums, terrariums and aquariums and was told by a store clerck that the wood contained no harmful dyes or chemicals andwill be alright to get wet. So I took it home along with my new little Tree Frog named "Chewie". Two weeks later i noticed when my frog would get wet and go on the wood the wood would give off a reddish dye and it would get on my frog. I took the wood out and washed it and put it back in the tank but a few days later i noticed the same thing was happening. I immediatly removed the wood but it was too late for Chewie she died from the effects of the dye. I took the wood back to Petsmart and got a full refund but they are continue to sell the wood in their store. The wood that I have in my tank is working great. Your vivarium does not need to be heated but they like to get as close to the nearest light as possible so i suggest buying a desk lamp with a twisty neck so you can twist it above the tank to a good spot for the frogs.
Friends For My Whites Dumpy Tree Frog? - Yes Whites Dumpies are extreamly friendly and love to have company. They get along great with other Whites Dumpies, Green Tree Frogs and many other species of tree frogs (only house them together if they are around the same size. Only put Whites Dumpy Tree Frogs in with other Tree Frogs because they share the same enviroment. Never put your Dumpy Tree frog in with frogs such as The Pac Man frog or the Pixie Frog or they will become lunch. Don't always go by what species of frogs the pet stores house together. Pet stores often don't know to much about frogs and mix the wrong breeds. Once I saw tree frogs in the same aquarium with firebellied toads and newts. This is a dangerous and stressfull enviroment for the frogs. The floor of the tank was compeletly water with on little peice of bark that the firebellies were all on. The poor tree frogs had no where to go and no where to catch food. The water in the tank was much to deep for the frogs who are not good swimmers.
Disposition - Whites Dumpy tree Frogs have a great personality and are very friendly. They are the only species that I have heard of that actualy don't mind being handled and this makes them a great pet for beginners and Children although thet are not very active.
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