Red-Eyed Tree Frog

An arboreal species that needs height and dense planting: a small group is comfortable in a tall, well-planted vivarium of at least 45 x 45 x 60 cm, taller being better. Furnish heavily with live plants such as pothos, bromeliads and broad-leaved foliage, plus vines and branches at many heights, giving the frogs broad leaves to sleep on and climb across. Use a moisture-retaining substrate such as a bioactive soil mix over drainage, with leaf litter and moss, and provide a clean, dechlorinated shallow water area. A humid, living, vertical space is essential.

An insectivore fed at night. Offer a varied diet of appropriately sized gut-loaded insects such as crickets, small locusts, dubia roaches, flies and the occasional waxworm as a treat. Dust feeders with calcium at most feeds and a multivitamin once or twice weekly. Feed juveniles daily and adults every two to three days, offering food after lights-out when the frogs are active. Because they hunt by sight of movement, live insects allowed to climb the plants encourage natural nocturnal foraging.

Keep a daytime temperature of about 24 to 28 C with an important cooler night drop to around 18 to 24 C, avoiding hot basking lamps that would dry the skin. Maintain very high humidity of around 60 to 90 percent by day, rising toward 100 percent at night, using misting (ideally automated) and live plants, with good ventilation to avoid stagnation. A low-output UVB tube giving a basking UVI of about 1.0 to 2.0 is beneficial for these frogs. As amphibians absorb water and chemicals through the skin, only ever use dechlorinated water. Run a 12-hour light cycle.

Social enough to be kept in same-sized groups, which is common and often preferred, provided the vivarium is large and well planted with ample resting and feeding space so no frog is outcompeted. Always house similarly sized frogs together to avoid one eating another. They are fragile display animals and should not be handled routinely, as their permeable skin is easily harmed by the salts and oils on human hands; handle only with clean wet hands for essential moves.

A rich, living, arboreal environment is the enrichment: dense foliage, broad leaves to sleep and climb on, vines and branches at varied heights, and a misting cycle that mimics rainforest rhythms. Live plants, gentle water features and hunting live moving prey after dark all support natural behaviour. A tall, bioactive, well-planted vivarium that lets the frogs climb, hide and forage is far more valuable than any handling.