Scientific Name: Litoria caerulea.
Common Names: White's Tree Frog, Dumpy Tree Frog, Australian Green Tree Frog, and Giant Green Tree Frog.
Distribution: North-eastern Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Islands in the Torres Straits.
Size: 60-100mm.
Sexing: It is quite simple to sex an adult White's Tree Frog. A sure sign of a male is if it can be heard calling (the call is reminiscent of a barking dog). The males often have looser and darker coloured skin around the throat and nuptial pads on the inside of the thumbs, these pads are present all year round although they are more noticeable when in breeding condition.
Requirements: These large heafty Treefrogs live best in pairs or as part of a group, although they are treefrogs and do require some height to the terrarium they spend a lot of time on the ground and so a long tall tank is required, the minimum recommended terrarium size for an adult pair would be 36x12x15" (l,w,h). They require a woodland / savannah border type set up with a substrate of either bark chips, topsoil, composted bark, moss or repti-grass. The tank can be furnished with a selection of thick branches, cork bark, rocks, and sturdy leafed plants (Live or artificial). These items should be arranged in such a way that they provide a number of climbing, perching and hiding areas for the frogs without cluttering the enclosure, it is important to leave plenty of open space. A large water bowl should be provided at all times with clean de-chlorinated or spring water. The terrarium will need to be heated to a daytime temperature of 25-30°C with a drop to 22°C at night. Humidity levels should be around 60% daytime with a slight raise at night. UVB lighting of 2-5% may be provided for a 12-14hr period during the day but is not essential.
Maintenance: Water will need changing daily to avoid the build up of ammonia and bacteria. Whilst changing the water it is a good idea to spot clean the tank and remove, clean, and replace any soiled items. At least once a month the entire terrarium and it's contents should be striped, cleaned, and sterilized using an amphibian friendly disinfectant.
Feeding: For adults a mixture of suitably sized insects including crickets, roaches, morios, earthworms, waxworms, pachnoda grubs and locusts should be fed every three days with a calcium and vitamin supplement used once a week. Young toads will take suitably sized crickets, flies, and moths and should be fed every day with a calcium and vitamin supplement used at least three times a week.
