Introduction:
I Remember it know, sleeping in a little dirty motel at Daytona beach counting the minutes before Hurricane Charlie was going to hit my hotel room., and thinking man the things I dew for Reptiles! I just wanted it to be morning already. Well the evening was filled with loud crashes, bangs and the occasional scream and I [ad#Google Adsense]remember walking to the Conference center the next morning to the National Reptile Breeders Expo and walking over fallen street signs, broken glass, and tons of beach debris. Well I made it, I was thinking I hope this show is a good one, every show I have been to always has something worth the jetlag and bizarre travel situations thought. Passing through tables and tables of venders and people. I came to a booth that had a particularly interesting set up in it. Just moss, were the creature I was thinking. As I scanned the cage back and forth, top to bottom I glanced at a pair of large eyes. What in the world it couldn’t be, or could it. I had only heard about this bizarre amphibian and never actually seen one in the flesh. It was Theloderma corticale the Vietnamese mossy frog and man was it sweet. Just like the moss I yelled! Quickly looking to make sure know one herd me yell out loud. Once I held it. I was hooked! Within the last year this particularly bizarre semi arboreal tree frog has made its way fast into the herpetological field and pet trade. Until recently being affordable this relatively medium sized frog fairs extremely well in a captive setting and seems to be quite hardy even for the novice amphibian keeper.
Description:
Belonging to the family Rhacophoridae and consisting of roughly 10 species Theloderma asperum (Boulenger1886) Theloderma bicolor (Bouret1937) Theloderma corticale (Boulenger1903) Theoderma gordoni (Taylor1962) Theloderma horridum (Boulenger1903) Theloderma Kwangsiense(Liu & Hu 1962) Theloderma leporosum (Tschudi1838) Theloderma phrynoderma (Ahl 1927) Theloderma schmarda ( Kelarrt 1853) Theloderma stellatum (Taylor1962). This medium sized frog obtains a length of 2 ½ inches to 4 inches its most notable characteristic is its rough knobby appearance and cryptic camouflage coloration ranging from bright greens and tans to shades of white underlining the flanks and purple along its back. Being a tree frog it is equipped with large suction cup like toe pads witch easy allow this amphibian to cling to practically any surface. Active mainly at nigh they are equipped with large colorful eyes that allow for amazing vision at hours of darkness,large vertical pupils except when largely dilated at night. Males are characteristically identified by there large bony projection (Nuptual padding) at the base of there thumb as well as there relatively loud call, were females lack this entirely, obviously more notable on certain individuals. Some females tend to be larger then males in certain situations. This animal’s very interesting coloration and appearance help provide amazing camouflage. The Vietnamese mossy frog is found throughout Northern Vietnam, Vinh Phu province, Back Tahi, and Cao Bang at 700-1500m.
Captive care:
This section is to allow for basic introductory care and husbandry techniques that I have found useful in my maintaining of this species.
I maintain adults and juveniles very similar in habitat construction. The only main difference is the size of the enclosure. I keep usually no more then 3 frogs in one enclosure. This way it is not to difficult to compete for food. This species grows extremely fast almost doubling every other month. I have not noticed any kind of territorial aggression or fighting with this species either. I maintain the juveniles in 20 gallon aquariums and the adults in 30-40 gallon aquariums. The main key in successfully maintaining these frogs in my opinion is the constant access to clean open water. By this I mean that the enclosures are filled about 3-4 inches deep with water. They area extremely aquatic and area constantly around the water or submerged in it. I treat the water with softening agent that stains the water slightly tan. I also use spring water and never remove all of the old water if water changes are needed. I have herd that by doing this can pull all of the beneficial bacteria out of the environment and can consequentially kill the frogs. I create a large bank were the frogs can venture out of the water and hunt for food at night. I use small river rocks sloping it larger to one end of the tank and then place large amounts of New Zealand sphagnum moss on top of that. This way there will always be a moist area and will also allow the frogs to have dryer area to venture onto. I also incorporate several larger stones to protrude out of the water as well as plenty of Poethose plants and several cork tubes. This gives the frogs more of an area to venture to and creates a more naturalistic setting as well as to interact with. Filtration is a very important area to consider as well. I utilize a small submersible filter that cleans the water and circulates it constantlly, witch provides water movement witch the frogs seem to really enjoy.
Lighting / Temperature:
When considering lighting for this amphibian species I utilize a relatively low light with relatively high Ultraviolet output. Consider the area were these frogs inhabit. It it not overly bright but significant ultraviolet lighting does penetrate to the animals. This is both the same for adults and juveniles. I set my timers for 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off depending on the season of course. (I also provide a light misting followed by the light turning on and turning off). This isn’t really necessary since they live so close to water but I prefer to do so for the plants as well.) I maintain all of my Mossy frogs in one area that stays around 72-76 in the day time and around 69-70 at night. I do not recommend allowing these animals to reach temperatures above 80 degrees.
Feeding:
Mossy frogs are insectivores and primarily in captivity feed on crickets. I have been successful at hand feeding one of my large males wax worms but this I feel is a rarity. I offer appropriately sized crickets vitamin dusted every 2-3 days. This species is nocturnal so I usually wait for about an hour after the lights go off to offer there food. Food is offered every other day.
Handling / Conclusion :
Ok they are awesome looking, but I don’t really recommend handling this species for several reasons. One they seem to be very stressed oriented when disturbed in and out of there enclosure and will actually play dead if constantly messed with. Two they jump very fast and far and you don’t really want to be chasing a mossy frog throughout your home. Last they are fairly delicate in my opinion and you would not want to risk injureing the animal if it was startled and tried to retreat away. They are best to be admired in a enclosure. If set up with these methods and cared for as stated above these truly beautiful frogs will flourish in your care and will provide much enjoyment with there unique appearance and interesting calls.
