***** Adoption - WTF

[fuzzylogix]

went by ***** to pick up some chinchilla dust and there was a 10 gallon tank sitting on a table labeled "adoption". i had to check it out and this girl was in there. got the tank, water bowl, fake plants, lights, and "Minty" (my girls named her) for 10 bucks! i think it's a female, but that's only going by her lack of croaking. she LOVES mealies

 

[Tony C]

Nice addition, WTFs are great frogs for kids.

 

[fuzzylogix]

thanks, and the kiddos really love her. im guessing at "her" though. how hard is it really to sex a wtf? and my kids are kinda reptile advanced. we have around 80 reptiles and they help clean, feed, and even handle all of them.

 

[M_surinamensis]

White's Tree Frogs are great for everyone.

The lack of calling isn't really a definite indicator of gender, the males are the only ones that will call constantly- but the females will sometimes vocalize a bit when scared or stressed (or surprised)- and the males really only do it when cycled to breed and/or in the presence of adult females. Even then they aren't really constantly vocalizing, it tends to be a behavior they engage in around dusk and dawn (as the species is crepuscular during their natural breeding season).

Nuptial pads, egg production... better indicators than the calling, but suffer similarly from being seasonal and requiring external stimulus to manifest.

Ten bucks sounds great though, whites are pretty awesome frogs and- while one photo from one angle isn't a perfect indicator, it seems to be in decent health. I'd fatten it up a little bit if it were me but the tympanic roll isn't completely absent so it's not starving or anything.

 

[fuzzylogix]

he/she is definitely getting fattened up, lol. eating probably 10-12 mealies a night so far

 

[M_surinamensis]

he/she is definitely getting fattened up, lol. eating probably 10-12 mealies a night so far

That is good, a little weight would be nice on her, that said- obesity can be an issue with the species.

They go through seasonal periods of aestivation where they pretty much don't move around a whole lot or eat for weeks at a time when the weather pushes them in that direction. So they are built to digest things thoroughly and efficiently and to pack on weight to get them through those periods of fasting. Since the only reason to push them into aestivation is as a breeding trigger, it is not something most owners will do.

The spot on the side of the head is the tympanum (sometimes written as timpanum), it's an area that is pressure sensitive, essentially it's their ear. Whites are really easy to judge the weight on, because they develop a little roll of fat that starts to cover the tympanum as they gain weight. In really underweight individuals it is absent, in really overweight individuals it can cover the entire thing and obscure it completely.

For a healthy maintenance weight on an animal being kept as a pet, with no intentions of cycling it to breed or making it fast, the tympanic roll should cover about one quarter to one third of the tympanum. If it's less than that, feed more, more often or higher calorie prey items. If it gets to about half the timpanum, cut back a bit and feed less, less often or lower calorie prey items. Pretty easy to eyeball and adjust.

 

[fuzzylogix]

great advice, thanks for the tip. she looks pretty healty to me so far and i have read about the problems with obesity with this species. i will be keeping an eye on her weight.