# Frogs & Toads > Tree Frogs >  house tree frogs together

## pinkcloud

is it acceptable to keep mixed species of tree frogs together ? and if so

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## pinkcloud

whats species can be housed together ?uz

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## Jess

Short answer: No.

Long answer: All species of frogs have particular poisons that, though they don't effect humans, would badly effect a different breed of their species if kept in confinement together.  Especially since they'll be sharing a watersource, it would mean a slow, sad, death for one, or both, of the species housed together.  So if you want to keep multiple species, they will need separate housing.

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## froggystyle

My local petstore keeps a variety of frogs in one tank and the guy there told me i should be fine mixing treefrogs. I have 5 treefrogs in a 20gal tank with a cage topper doubleing the space.  2 big eyed treefrogs, 1 whites treefrog, 1 dumpy, and an australian whites trerfrog all happily living together with plenty of space and places to hide. i put about 3 inces stone gravel and fill it with 2 inches water and flush it every couple weeks. I placed an airstone in the center so frogs can collect the moisture. This setup has required the least maintenance for me given the buildup of mixed species poop. I plan to add a couple more frogs soon. Good luck :-D

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## Tyler

Could be a noob question but arent whites,dumpy, and Australian whites all the same just different color morphs? I thought u heard that either way I think it's reckless to mix species and def if there is a size difference just bc it's done at a pets store doesn't mean it's right most those animals are moved fairly quick so they don't have time to die due to the toxins made by their tank mates

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## Kitten

It's definitely NOT wise to mix species under ANY circumstance. As Deac77 said above, just because a pet store does it does not make it OKAY to do.

A "White's Tree Frog" , "Dumpy Tree Frog" and "Australian White's Tree Frog" are one in the same frog, just different names...but all the same species, so there's no mixing there. However, the "Big Eyed Tree Frog" is a different species and I would suggest removing them from the White's Tree Frogs. The White's will get bigger then the Big Eyes and will more then likely eat them as they will be much smaller then them when fully grown.

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## Tyler

new it! lol ok back to the topic at hand

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## froggystyle

Im just sharing that this setup is successful for my diff species in case you wanted to know or were asking. I wasent asking if i should remove my own frogs tho lmao! So Please dont yell at the frog whisperer. XD

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

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## Kitten

I don't care if you were asking or not. If you give an ounce of care about your frog's well being I would remove the 2 Big Eye Tree Frogs from your White's Tree Frogs before something has a chance to happen. Just because you have kept these two species together, for now (I don't know how long you've had them together), does not make it a success or remotely okay. I'm also reiterating for anyone else who may search and find this thread that it is NOT okay to be housing these two species together. Big Eye Tree Frogs get an adult size of about 3" where as a White's Tree Frog can get up to 4.5" and will undoubtedly eventually eat your Big Eye Tree Frogs.

And back to the OP's question again.....NO it is NOT okay to mix species of tree frogs! If you had to absolutely mix species, for whatever reason...then they ONLY two species that I would even consider mixing with no ill effects would be Green Tree Frogs and Grey Tree Frogs, but I still wouldn't keep two different species together.

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## EZweasel

> I don't care if you were asking or not. If you give an ounce of care about your frog's well being I would remove the 2 Big Eye Tree Frogs from your White's Tree Frogs before something has a chance to happen. Just because you have kept these two species together, for now (I don't know how long you've had them together), does not make it a success or remotely okay. I'm also reiterating for anyone else who may search and find this thread that it is NOT okay to be housing these two species together. Big Eye Tree Frogs get an adult size of about 3" where as a White's Tree Frog can get up to 4.5" and will undoubtedly eventually eat your Big Eye Tree Frogs.
> 
> And back to the OP's question again.....NO it is NOT okay to mix species of tree frogs! If you had to absolutely mix species, for whatever reason...then they ONLY two species that I would even consider mixing with no ill effects would be Green Tree Frogs and Grey Tree Frogs, but I still wouldn't keep two different species together.


I do agree with you but have, however, had luck with mixing American green tree frogs and australian whites tree frogs. I kept them in the same tank for over a year. I eventually seperated them because I got more dumpy tree frogs. They were indonesian though so were much larger and would MOST LIKELY eat the green tree frogs.

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## Don

Just some notes on mixed species tanks.

As a rule of thumb, and you will find on every frog specific forum on the web, mixing species is never recommended.  Main reason is that the transfer of what secrets from the  skin of each species is different with every species.  Since frogs absorb what they drink and everything that touches their skin, even the trace left behind when a frog travels the tank is eventually a portability of a contaminant to the other tank mates.

Will it kill a frog quickly?  No, but frogs can live up to 20 years and what they absorb can slowly, over years, kill the frog due to the materials absorbed slowly deteriorating the frog internally.

Now, the argument here is the frog secretions are based on what they eat so over long term they should secrete the same poisons if eating exactly the same meals.  Since I am not an expert on what exactly the break down of poisons are between frogs under these circumstances, and would take years of testing and tests from multiple tanks of frogs compared, it is why no one recommends putting them in the same environment..

Pet stores put them together in tanks for short term housing and display.  Since they are trying to sell many species with limited space, you will find they combine many amphibians and reptiles together.  It is about the money for the retailer and not long term health conditions.

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## Beardo

Just to expand on something Don brought to light (and nailed perfectly I might add), when dealing with animals that are wild caught, as many species common in the trade these days are, you also have to worry about bacteria, fungus and other icky microfauna that may be passed between frogs. 

A white's tree frog from Indonesia has a much different internal microfauna than a Green Tree Frog from the USA......putting them together into a confined space where they are guaranteed to cross contaminate each other combined with the added stress of being captive will no doubt result in a bad situation for the animals, whether they are short-term or long-term. 

In short, like the wise musicians 'The Offspring' once said: 

YOU GOTTA KEEP 'EM SEPERATED!

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## chosen2030

Damn. I was really hoping I could house my Red-eyed Tree frogs with some Amazon Milk frogs.  :Crushed:

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## Kitten

> Damn. I was really hoping I could house my Red-eyed Tree frogs with some Amazon Milk frogs.

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## pinkcloud

ya me 2  :Frown:  i just got a large zoo med terrarium and was hoping i could house multiple species together ........which species is more hardy/ easier to care for , dumpy tree frogs or red eyed tree frogs ?

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## Beardo

> ya me 2  i just got a large zoo med terrarium and was hoping i could house multiple species together ........which species is more hardy/ easier to care for , dumpy tree frogs or red eyed tree frogs ?


Definitely the dumpys.

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## Don

I wouldn't call any of them easier.  It is all setup and then routine.
  Setup the tank so it has the environment they need to feel secure, travel around the tank without needing to walk on the substrate, have a water source to soak in, and have the proper temps and humidity.
  Routine would be to have a schedule to maintain the tank such as picking up excess waste, misting, draining off excess water, changing water dish, preparing water, and having feed on hand.

Not sure how active the Milk Frogs are but Red Eyes are rarely seen since they usually move in the dark and night lights cause them to usually retreat to hiding or their sleeping spot.  Whites care about nothing when they are acclimated and use to you.  Whites will trash a plant in no time, dirty a water nightly, and be very entertaining to watch.  

Red Eyes are what i would call delicate movers and gently move about a tank whereas whites will dive for things and crash right through, walk over anything in their way, and miss many a cricket ending up with a mouthful of substrate.  :-)

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Kapow

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## [DeletedRandom]

Hey everyone. Just a newbie here to resurrect a thread burried in time. 

I picked up a terrarium off someone including 2 White's  tree frogs and 2 Centralian/Gillens Tree Frogs. I've been minorly concerned  that the Centralians are currently a bit smaller than the White's.  People are saying never to house different species together but  I'm wondering if these are safe. They are very closely related and even  look almost the same. The only main difference is slight colour  variation and place of origin. The Gillens sleep directly under the  male Green Tree Frog and I have no reason to believe they're menu items.  At night the Gillens hang out together on top of the  temperature/hygrometer. Sometimes they go together into the male Green Tree Frog's  corner to sleep and sometimes one hides under the water bowl feature. The same one always sleeps directly under the male Green Tree Frog and it's the other one who usually goes into hides. Mind you, the female Green Tree Frog is massive. Neither of them sleeps in her corner and maybe this is why. However, I reckon the heat light being in the male's corner to be the reason why (girl's not been in her corner past two nights yet they haven't done a take-over). I believe the Centralians to be just over half the size of the male. They were transported together in a small bucket without any issues.

I  hadn't been too worried about this because my attention's been focused  on cleaning/improvement of the enclosure and the female GTFs possible stress. After reading about the  poisons unique to each species though, should I be? Or does their close biological  relationship mean they're safe together? Or do I need to put a seperate  terrarium in the terrarium for the Centralians (I couldn't possibly  afford a whole new set up)? To the best of my knowledge they've lived together 3 years. The Centrallians might be a bit younger though and maybe they should grow before being aound the GTFs.

I'm hoping to get two very young Green Tree Frogs and keep them in a little container inside the terrarium or convert an old fish tank until they're big enough. Having two housing units in the terrarium isn't going to work. When I got the terrarium I hadn't stopped to think that green tree frogs would cannabilise young and I'd need another one as well. Likewise I hadn't thought about frog's poisons slowly killing one another.

Centralian Centralian Tree Frog: The Animal Files
Centralian tree frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PS I noticed the forum had inserted "American" in front of Green Tree Frogs. Just to clarify if there are some instances reamining: I have White's tree frogs. I may have also mistyped Centralian. I'm rather tired, sorry. If I'm incoherent it's ye olde sleep deprivation.

Thanks for any recommendations!

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## Lynn

Hello,

Welcome to Frog Forum !

It's best to never mix species. The different species should be separated. The same species/  big size differences need to be separated as well as this can cause lots of problems.  :Frown:   This becomes even more important when , or if, the frogs are wild caught? You risk cross contamination w/ illness, toxicity, and parasites. Sorry

When in close quarters, cannibalism can occur depending on the species. You need to consider the aggressiveness of one frog vs another. Some frogs, who might be more territorial than others can end up bulling the other more docile ones.  This causes a tremendous amount of stress. A docile one might even die.

Review of common problems :
-are cage size needs 
-conflicting environments ie temps, humidity , land , water 
-cannibalism -  it's amazing what a frog can fit in it's mouth   :Frog Surprise:  
-toxicity
-dietary differences

Keeping mixed species is for the very experts in the field! ie zoos
It takes an enormous amount of research, time, space and lots of money.

Lynn

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## [DeletedRandom]

Hey, thanks for your reply. They live in the same environment and the previous keeper was a _reptile_ expert. He knew a little bit about frogs as well. To be honest I think the little guys are more active than the big ones. The enclosure is quiet large. They seem to like one another so the only real concern is toxicity. I haven't found anything about it on the web about it unfortunately. These would have been from a pet shop or breeder.

Pretty much they're the same frog - they eat the same things as one another. They just *look* slightly different because they have white spots (mine also are usually a dark green/slightly reddish tinge but I've seen them as a pure olive green). They have the same call, but I'm fairly certain mine are females or maybe too young.

I'd show a photo but one of them is sleeping on the other's head and they've turned into a blob (the one under is still breathing so it's all ok)...


I'll look into converting an aquarium for them just in case. Maybe if I feed them seperately they can grow a bit better too  :Smile: .

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