# Cearulea



## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

Picking up a pair of GTF's today!!!  
They are 8 months old and about 6cm..........Hope more members join this forum soon, I want to meet more froggy folk too. :wink: Pics to come soon !


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## Parko (Aug 15, 2004)

you'll love em Inny, I used to have a couple when i was younger. Very entertaining and beautiful colour. Though very noisy at times, like when you are trying to listen to a good CD, CROAK CROAK CROAK.lol


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## Tommo (Aug 15, 2004)

they are great animals, they live all around my place and ive seen some with some very strange colours


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

Cant wait to hear him Parko, rather that than the idiot box mate  Tommo it will be intresting to see what colors they display most and weather envoromental color (aquarium backing) affects color. Iv seen some beautiful sky blue and vivid gtp green too. :wink:


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## dobermanmick (Aug 15, 2004)

What type of set up do you need for them instar ?


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

They live in bushland always neaer permanent water, they do forage among leaf litter etc but mostly aboreal, so enclosures tend to mimic that, but theres alot of variety in what you can do with that. as long as needs are met, you can use your imagination.
mine is a purpous built frog tank, allows about 6-8 inches of water on the bottom. Im using that to max, i have a small filter in there, to keep water moving (humidity) and I have built up an island in the middle with smooth rocks, live house plants and fake, branches and a frog hammock. Ill post some pics when the kids are in bed! I got a male (im assured) havent heard him croak yet, and a slightly bigger girlfreind with some nice speckles on her. Im rapt, frogs are great! I call them Freddo and Fiona .


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## dobermanmick (Aug 15, 2004)

Yeah pics will be great
Do they really make a lot of noise ? and if so is it all the time or only sometimes ?
what do you feed them ? I am starting to think about getting some now !


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

Oh yeah..I have an aquarium water heater in the water, keeping the water at 24c. air temp is at 22c. Humidity is at 65% on the hygo at the top. Im told by the breeder these are good stats. Im learning ! They are feeding once a week on sevral large woodies each, each feed dusted with herptavite, every 2-3 feeds with calcium, since too much is apparently as detrimental as too little, same per feeding amounts. I will varie their diet with roaches, mealworms (molted) crickets, earthworms, slaters, flys moths (when warmer) grasshoppers etc.
Hopefully more froggers will join and I can learn more. Most looking forward to and hoping to witness them shed and eat it!! And to hear him call, i really hope the breeder got the right one! 

..Mick, Im told they croak for a while at a time thjen fall quiet, but not persistantly, like some others, pobblebonks for example. The adults call is a deep "wraark wraark", i imagine my guys would be a slightly higher version, ill let you know. Apparently certain things can set em off, like vacume cleaners! , music, snoreing! :lol:


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## dobermanmick (Aug 15, 2004)

> snoreing!


whoops maybe i shouldnt get any then as i am told i snore :lol:
Thanks for that instar keep us updated it will be interesting how you go !


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## trader (Aug 15, 2004)

Congrats Instar! GTF's are pretty cool to have. 

We have had 6 since July 2001...we thought we may have had 1 female and 5 males but it seems they are all males.  Which is just fine as they are the ones that croak, (which we really enjoy listening to) and we didn't buy them to breed... :lol: 

Daavid feeds them cockroaches also. Our GTF's usually croak during the night, which puts a smile on our face...as they sound quite nice and it doesn't last a very long time. If you go up to them in their terrarium or enclosure and mimic their croaking sound, within a 1/2 minute or so they will begin to croak back :wink: Did you know they drink from their bottoms?? If you see them hanging over the water with just their bottoms in, that is because they are drinking!!! :wink: Seriously..
Enjoy, Jude


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## Miss_Magickal (Aug 15, 2004)

Then I am definitely out.............razza is a real freight train snorer.....lol............bugger


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## Miss_Magickal (Aug 15, 2004)

Then I am definitely out.............razza is a real freight train snorer.....lol............


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## Sdaji (Aug 15, 2004)

> they are great animals, they live all around my place and ive seen some with some very strange colours


What colours have you seen?


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

Sorry guys, had a bug with uploading...heres some pics. I will try to get better clearer closeups in daylight so you can see the frogs better. Both have some nice white speckles on their backs, hers more prominent.


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## saikrett (Aug 15, 2004)

beautiful animals you have there.


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

I Agree!    Thanks Scott. They are so damn cute!!


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## Tommo (Aug 15, 2004)

mostly i see the normal green ones, but i did find a pink one once, i was out kicking cane toads in pinecreek and i first thought it was a toad!


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

I hope you know the difference Tommo, alot of people probly go out kicking "cane toads" and are killing native frogs and toads because they cant tell the difference. Iv seen pics and video of cane toads but i still couldnt id a live one if i tried, from a native toad or frog. P.s I do realise you live in a cane toad area obviously, so you ought to be sure, but you know what i mean. :wink:


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## moosenoose (Aug 15, 2004)

They look lovely Inny! I had a female GTF for 13 years which I raised from a tadpole - I only presumed she was female as she never croaked...oh! except the very last time! :cry: 

They are amazing creatures! I've heard with plenty of interest ppl recommending calcium suppliments for them! For what? I never used it and the one I kept in the whole 13 yrs never had a single drama! Would have lived heaps longer if it wasn't for my folks!! Oh well, thats another story!!

Your enclosure looks awesome - they will undoubtabley be happy in there!  Good luck with them Instar! :wink:


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks moose, yes ive heard that info re: calcium, from a few reliable sources, so it'll be very easy on the rep-cal, only every few feeds and then not much. looks great dont it! ...........
.........Damn shame about your female :cry: A mate has a 20 yr old [pair
they are fantastic, a few sources have said 10-15 yrs others 20+.


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## Tommo (Aug 15, 2004)

believe me these where cane toad, they have only just arrived to the th earea around darwin and they are massive compaired to the other frogs


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

No worries Tommo, what do the authorities do when people start seeing cane toads in areas previously free anyway?


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## Sdaji (Aug 15, 2004)

What did you feed them moosey? I'm pretty sure that if you only feed them captive reared insects you'll need supplements. When I was a kid I kept frogs without supplements and they were fine for years. Then after a few years without keeping frogs I got some again and went through about 6 (one at a time) within a few months, I was boggled. When I was little I went and caught insects, then when older I didn't have the time or inclination and few them commercially bred roaches. When I started using calcium they were fine.
My ex g/f worked for the victorian frog group and largely because of that I ended up seeing heaps of frogs in all stages of calcium deficiency etc (not the ones owned by her or the VFG). Sometimes you'd get a frog which was so weak/sick that it could barely move, shove calcium powder down its throat and the next day it would be fine. Without calcium, you'll see their toes twitch, and if you ignore this warning sign for too long they'll become really weak and then die. The speed of recovery from the powder is amazing.


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## Tommo (Aug 15, 2004)

they are "humanly euthinized" with golf clubs 

by next wet season they will be in darwin, they are slowly traveling around the coast off australia and most of our native animals are going to go really fast

all of you older queensland member, did you noticea dramatic decline with the snakes in your are, and which species seemed un effected


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## instar (Aug 15, 2004)

so what was your calcium regime Sdaji? do you still have them?


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## Fuscus (Aug 15, 2004)

Tommo, What happened on the gold coast was an initial wave with a huge population and that wiped out almost everything. It used to be common to have a GTF living in a letterbox and they disappeared. After a few years the cane toad numbers thinned out and some animals have returned.

I used to clear out the back yard each night with a golf club ( the quickest and most economic way to deal with cane toads ), would take out a dozen a night.


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## Sdaji (Aug 15, 2004)

> so what was your calcium regime Sdaji? do you still have them?


Not the ones that died! 

I dust every feed with calcium. I might consider not using supplements if I started using wild insects, but unless I get a few full time volunteer staff, I'm not likely to bother catching them


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

I definatly have a male.....Whoohoo! my wife heard him going off this morning! Im still yet to here the little guy myself. better picslater today, both seem happy.


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## moosenoose (Aug 16, 2004)

Sdaji said:


> What did you feed them moosey? I'm pretty sure that if you only feed them captive reared insects you'll need supplements..



I've only kept the one frog for the time I had her. It was a little hobby of mine when keeping them was practically unheard of. I used to raise others from tadpoles but released them back to the creek I got them from when they were a bit older. The one I kept I had for 13 yrs. I lived in Brisbane then so it made the whole thing very easy! Melbourne would definately be a different story!

My GTF lived mainly on moths and whatever bug I could lay my hands on at night, so I classed it's diet as pretty close to a natural one. Canebeetles, cockroaches, mosquitoes etc - very varied diet! 

Another trick is never ever use tap water with them! Always use distilled, or rainwater! I used to collect rainwater in buckets when it was raining and stored it in containers! I think the tap water, particularly Brisbane's tap water is detremental to their health in the long term!

I think hybernation is definately benefitial - mine used to, on memory, shut down for a month or so during the winter - but that was her choice, not mine lol. 

It's going back awhile for me now. I was in yr 12 t school when I gave keeping them away. They are definately remarkable and well worth the effort! It's amazing what 17 yrs makes you forget though! lol


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## Sdaji (Aug 16, 2004)

My green tree frogs will happily continue eating through winter, in Melbourne, without any heating, which I find amazing.
I used to think that fresh tap water would be bad, but all the frog people told me I was being silly and laughed at me , so now I use it.

I'm not suprised your frogs thrived without supplements with a diet like that!


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## moosenoose (Aug 16, 2004)

Big diet lol

My frog met the great Harry Butler! I took what I thought at the time was 'him' lol to meet Butler at a book launch at Myer in Brisbane. 10 grannies lept back on fear when I produced the frog lol Butler picked her up and had a good look over her before handing 'him' back and saying 'fine specimen of a Green Tree Frog' in which I was very delighted! She was 8 or 9 yrs old at the time. Still sad about losing that one! Damned Brisbane heatwaves! You can tell what happened!


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

Latest concenses seems to be that Distilled water should not be used (whites like slightly alkline water) and tap water should be declorinated and allowed to age. 
Fed The little guy a cricket a while ago. Boy did he go it, CRIKEY! lol nearly ate the tweezers too lol


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## moosenoose (Aug 16, 2004)

instar said:


> Latest concenses seems to be that Distilled water should not be used (whites like slightly alkline water) and tap water should be declorinated and allowed to age.
> Fed The little guy a cricket a while ago. Boy did he go it, CRIKEY! lol nearly ate the tweezers too lol



Interesting about the Distilled water, but each to their own. I won't suggest anything new should be ignored or is wrong. I had a very sucessful run with GTF's but I'm sure there are others with the same sort of sucess & a better understanding than I.

& yes, they have an awesome attack on things when they are feeling hungry! I love the way they use their webbed feet/ hands to stuff it all in  :wink:


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

Heres a nice one showing her speckles, his are finer. Soon as i work out how best to use the new cam pics will be better. seems to be taking a really long time to upload.


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## trader (Aug 16, 2004)

instar said:


> Fed The little guy a cricket a while ago. Boy did he go it, CRIKEY! lol nearly ate the tweezers too lol



Hi Instar, Glad you are having fun! The frogs enjoy hopping/leaping after their food too, if you just drop their food in the terrarium or enclosure.  

I have included 3 more pictures taken throughout the years of our little guys. On the top photo you will see what I mean by drinking through their bums. :wink:

Cheers, Jude


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## trader (Aug 16, 2004)

...and last but not least....


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

Havent seen mine do that yet, really havent seen them much at all since i got them home, too busy, but will have a look soon. Nice pics Jude !  dont they look great. Your tank dosent look like theres alot of places to hide? does it bother them? also how long a daily photoperiod do you give them?


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2004)

They are cool!

I used to do roadtrips (for work) to Shoalwater bay, and on the way we would stop in rockhampton and stay at one of the army reserve depots there. In the toilets/showers and anywhere else moist, this place was plagued by the beautiful little critters. Going to the toilet was a mission in itself as you would have to remove the critters or you would get a funny headbutting in all the wrong places.LOL also, the shower block would be dry, but after the first shower they would come out of the drains like a battalion of marching soldiers, literally hundreds of them all over the shower floors..lol And night time was just as funny, you would end up being woken up atleast 5-10 times a night by falling frogs landing on you in your sleep. I havent been there for about 2 years and i wonder if the population is bigger or hopefully not, smaller. 

Anyways, just a little story about our green friends.

Cheers, Alan.

P.s, a mate had a pic taken with one looking out of his mouth, and the unspeakable happened, yep, he copped a mouth full of green tree frog pee. LOL


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

LOl, they really squirt it out too! i saw the female do it. :lol:


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## Fuscus (Aug 16, 2004)

If some huge creature came and stuck me in its mouth, I would react in the same manner. In Fact, I doubt if the "reaction" would only be liquid.


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## instar (Aug 16, 2004)

Just heard him croaking!!  smaller version of the adult but quite deep all the same, plenty loud enough for me to hear easy too. I love frogs!
can a froggy person please tell me if there ismuch benefit for frogs from uvb/uva lighting or not, since they hide away from it anyway???


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## rodentrancher (Aug 17, 2004)

Hi, how does one join the Amphibian Group please?? We have 4 GTF's which we are hoping to breed from. Cheers Cheryl


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## rodentrancher (Aug 17, 2004)

Oh, and forgot to say that with our cricket and Speckled feeder roach breeding, we add calcium powder and skim milk powder to the dry food that we feed to them. That way we don't have to dust them before feeding to the froggies. Cheers


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## herptrader (Aug 17, 2004)

instar said:


> Havent seen mine do that yet, really havent seen them much at all since i got them home, too busy, but will have a look soon. Nice pics Jude !  dont they look great. Your tank dosent look like theres alot of places to hide? does it bother them? also how long a daily photoperiod do you give them?



It does not seem to worry them. One hides between the leaves of the rubber plants in their inclosure but their favourite spot remains on the ledge at the back of the tank. Most days they all hang out there together.  

We have three flouros mounted in the hood. A UV one, a plant one and a normal one. 8) 

The enclosure I am quite proud of. It is very low maintenance and filter in the wate works well enough to maintain the water in a crystal clear state.

The stand and recently completed hood are made from recycled red gum fence posts and looks great. :wink:


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## Sdaji (Aug 17, 2004)

> can a froggy person please tell me if there ismuch benefit for frogs from uvb/uva lighting or not, since they hide away from it anyway???



I know of big, happy, healthy caerulea which haven't seen UV for three generations, I reckon that says something. At the same time, lots of people, including one or two frog experts who I will happily admit know 100 times more about frogs than I am ever likely to, say that UV is necessary to keep them alive. Go figure! I suppose some bs has to get mixed in when you know that much about something?

caerulea are one of the few animals which I know of a UV test being done on, two lots of them kept identically except for one group having UV, the other not. Both grew at the same rate, on average, no difference was discernable. (yes, I've tried to convince the guy to publish his findings).


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## instar (Aug 17, 2004)

Im using a uva/uvb tube anyway, but they hide away. even in the wild i cant figure how they would get much. I spose if it dosent help it wont hurt either in this instance.


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## Sdaji (Aug 17, 2004)

Yeah, I've certainly seen happy healthy froggies which get UV, it won't hurt them


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## rodentrancher (Aug 18, 2004)

What sort of filter would we need to get to keep the water clean please?? We have a glass container sitting in a plastic tub. The glass container has an aquarium heater in it, and the tub has a small pump which circulates the water up into the glass container(big old battery jar). The froggies make a lot of mess in the tub with their daily pooos, and we have to physically lift everything out to clean out the water containers at least once a week. Might be better if we got some sort of filter do you think? Cheers Cheryl


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## instar (Aug 18, 2004)

Cheryl, any decent filter, strong enough (keeping in mind you dont want really fast water, especially with taddys, morphs frogletts) to cope with solids will do. eheim or fluval cannister types work well with bigger tanks and are useful for making a rain chamber/or waterfall. bear in mind its the non solid waste you need be most concerned about. be sure to include chemical filtration (carbon) with any filter. a trio system, (mechanical/chemical/biological combined) is best for any aquatic life imo. Nothing beats reg part water changes for keeping the water "clean" not just clear. monitor general conditions like ammonia nitrate/nitrites and ph regularly, at least once a week, depending on density.(how many animals) 
For changing water easily, constructing your tank with a drainage hole below water area works a treat. just use a peice of pvc same diametre as the drain hole (use a mesh gaurd or froggys escape) long enough to reach above the lowest desired water level. It can be siliconed inplace before hand. That way you just wack a bucket beneath, pull the plug and drain to just below desired level. Plug back then refill (always aged/dechlorinated water). Makes life much easier. 
Always try to have the filter inlet at oppisit side of the outlet (or above if rain chamber) to ensure good circulation of water. Cover the inlet with fine (poo needs to get thru) soft mesh, if taddies or you'll suck em up. lol 
Have fun and please try to scan pics of froggyville soon.


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## rodentrancher (Aug 18, 2004)

Thanks for that Inny


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## instar (Aug 18, 2004)

no worries, say g'day to Dave for me. and the froggys!


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2004)

Before i start, 1st question is, Do i need a different licence to keep the GTF's than my RKL? and how much is it in nsw? 
I have a 24in L x 20in H x 14in W tank and with a mesh top, is this going to be good enough for a few froggies, and i want to breed them in there too hopefully, so any suggestions would be great guns. 
Cheers, Alan.


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## Magpie (Aug 18, 2004)

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Frog+keepers+licence


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## rodentrancher (Aug 18, 2004)

We don't have to have a licence here in SA. Lucky us.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2004)

Ok, what about my other questions?

Cheers, Alan.


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## trader (Aug 18, 2004)

instar said:


> For changing water easily, constructing your tank with a drainage hole below water area works a treat. just use a peice of pvc same diametre as the drain hole (use a mesh gaurd or froggys escape) long enough to reach above the lowest desired water level. It can be siliconed inplace before hand. That way you just wack a bucket beneath, pull the plug and drain to just below desired level. Plug back then refill (always aged/dechlorinated water). Makes life much easier.



Hi Cheryl and Instar, I have included a photo of a portion of our set up showing the drain into the bucket..When Daavid built the frog enclosure he did it so it was minimising the cleaning...as he mentioned in a previous post, the water stays crystal clear all the time. The filter he made from an used juice bottle container, works great. I am very proud of his workmanship.


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## instar (Aug 18, 2004)

Thats it jude! good stuff! Alan, your tank will be big enoughfor 2 or 3 frogs, but not for breeding mate, theres lots involved. you will need at least two other tanks, one will be your rain chamber (where they get funky) and you could raise taddys in it too. another will be for frogletts (shallow) big frogs eat little ones! then ofcourse youll be looking at hundreds of eggs, i.e hundreds of taddys=hundreds of frogletts,. when you decide how many you will keep, you will need additional tanks (no overcrowding ~cept in the rain chamber/no eating) to raise them.
If you want to breed you will have to either source adults or wait till their atleast 2 y.o (some say 3) before they can be safely "cycled" (cooled in snake lingo).


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## Guest (Nov 8, 2004)

I have two adult green tree frogs. 

One is definitly male and will start calling when I play him some froggy sounds. He also likes some peoples voices on the radio and answering machine.

The other I thought was female as it never called until today. I was doing my green tree frog impersonation and to my suprise it was the female??? that replied. She/he only called a couple of times. I then played my frog call CD but she/he didn't repond and will no longer resond to me.

SO do I have one male and a female or a male and a very shy male??.

Regards David

PS what is the best ratio of male to frmales to get GTFs to breed.


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