SMALL WONDER – GREEN TREE FROG
While not a very commonly seen pet, the Green Tree Frog can make a great companion for the right person.
You probably have seen the Australian Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) peddled as an easy to breed and long-lasting companion at local pet shops. However, be cautious from the get-go, since there are plenty of irresponsible shops that capture wild frogs and sell them as pets — such activities are detrimental to the environment and should not be supported. As far as possible, purchase pet frogs that are born in captivity and bred locally.
Like all frogs, the Green Tree Frog ribbits as well. If you think you might be bothered by this, try to get a female frog as the males are a lot noisier. This is because they are the ones who begin the mating calls while the females only respond briefly. You may also want to avoid placing the tank in your bedroom. Frogs make distress calls occasionally, especially when they are being handled — which they dislike — so pick them up sparingly.
This cute critter is one of the easiest pets to
maintain and you should start with a plastic or glass tank about 50cm in length. The best home for a frog, however, is a terrarium. Frogs are amphibians, so a home with both wet and dry areas is necessary. The tank or terrarium needs a well-ventilated cover and the inner environment should be kept warm and humid, which is easily accomplished in Singapore.
When taken good care of, the Green Tree Frog can live an average of 16 years. They are quite docile creatures and are unafraid of humans. Unlike larger pets, keeping a Green Tree Frog is easy and inexpensive. Most of them will reach around 10cm in length and do not require space to roam. The Green Tree Frog lives on a fairly simple diet of crickets, mealworms and other insects. However, you should beware of overfeeding your frog as most frogs do not get sufficient exercise in captivity and might end up obese, unlike their wild cousins. One cricket a day is a good guide.
Green Tree Frogs are happy alone and do not usually require companionship. If you do intend on getting more than one frog, ensure that they are of the same species. You should also keep the new frog in a separate enclosure for three months to ensure that it is disease-free before introducing it to your other frog. Do note that a female frog can lay approximately 1,000 eggs at one go which means that one successful mating session can result in the successful hatching of hundreds of tadpoles — and eventually, many little ribbiting frogs. If that sounds like a terrifying scenario, keep all your frogs to one gender and simply purchase additional frogs from your pet shop when you feel like expanding your froggy family.