Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo - Animal Fact Sheet


WHITE'S TREE FROG (Pelodryas caerulea)
Range:	These frogs are endemic to northern and eastern Australia and New Guinea. They have been introduced into New Zealand.
Habitat:	Found in woodlands and shrubby areas close to bodies of water (either natural or artificial). They are commonly found around human development, such as new homes, water towers, farms, mail boxes, or even toilet tanks.
Diet:	They have a varied diet consisting of large insects, other invertebrates, young mice and smaller frogs.
Approx. Dimensions of Adult:
Lifespan:
Reproduction:	The adults mass together around ponds in the summer to mate. Females may lay up to 3,000 eggs. Tadpoles will begin to change to froglets in 4-6 weeks.
They grow to a length of 2-4 plump inches. The color is a bright apple green above, fading to white below. The skin is smooth with a prominent fold of skin above the tympanum or eardrum that extends down to the arm. The tips of both front and rear toes have large adhesive disks called toe pads. These frogs will hunt either during the day or at night. All vocalizations are done by the males. Young frogs are usually not a bright green, but a murky gray instead. The green color is thought to develop through exposure to high levels of fight. Captive White's tree frogs are also often grayish-green, possible due to a lack of natural fight. Sexing of the adults is fairly easy since the males are usually smaller than the females and they have a relaxed vocal pouch on the throat.