The red-eyed tree frog is a bright, but non-poisonous beauty. Red-eyed tree frog description report abstract information message photo presentation Red-eyed tree frog interesting facts

With its large, bulging red eyes, this tree frog uses a defense mechanism called "fright color". When the frog closes them, its green eyelids help it blend in with the palette of green plants around it. If you approach a nocturnal frog during daytime sleep, it suddenly opens its eyes, which instantly discourages the predator, providing itself with a few seconds in order to escape. So big red eyes are by no means a tribute to fashion.

To emphasize the color of their eyes, these red-eyed frogs are bright green, sometimes with a yellow or blue tint. Depending on the mood, the red-eyed tree frog can change skin color, becoming dark green or reddish brown. Abdomen and throat usually white color, and on the sides there is a pattern of vertical stripes of blue color with white border. The fingers are bright red or orange and equipped with suckers that allow them to sleep during the day, clinging tightly to the leaves in the rainforest, and at night to hunt insects and small frogs.

Females reach a size of 7.5 cm, males are slightly smaller - 5.6 cm. Like other amphibians, red-eyed tree frogs begin their lives as tadpoles in temporary or permanent reservoirs. As adult frogs, they are still dependent on water, and in order to keep their skin moist, they prefer to always be near water sources, which are abundant in humid areas. tropical forests.

Red-eyed tree frogs can be found clinging to branches, trunks, and even under the leaves of trees, where they hide from predators. Adults live in the upper and middle tiers rainforest, sometimes they can be found inside bromeliad plants. Red-eyed tree frogs are predators, feeding mainly on insects. They prefer crickets, flies, grasshoppers and butterflies. Sometimes they do not disdain smaller relatives.

Frogs have historically always been indicators of the health of an ecosystem or its impending vulnerability. Not surprisingly, the frog population the globe in last years decreased significantly, studies show that factors including chemical contamination from pesticide use, acid rain, the use of mineral fertilizers, weaken ozone layer, increasing the effect of UV radiation, and can damage fragile eggs. Although the red-eyed tree frog is not endangered, its habitat is under constant threat.

This frog is probably the most popular of all amphibian species with photographers in the world and for many is the epitome of the tropics. The red-eyed tree frog was first described by Edward Cope in 1862. Usually these tree frogs live in the area from Central America to Mexico, especially in Honduras. They are found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. They live in tropical forests and move through the trees, to some extent staying closer to the ground where they hunt at night, while they are always close to water bodies. This frog is also called the Red-Eyed Tree Frog, the Red-Eyed "Monkey Frog".

Today, these tree frogs are considered a fairly common species in these areas and are not threatened.

Description and general information

Family: Tree frogs (Hylidae)
Subfamily: Phyllomedusa (Phyllomedusinae)
Origin: Central America (Southern Mexico, Panama)
Adult Length: Males 50-55mm (1.96-2.16 inches); Females 65-70 mm (2.55-2.75 inches)
Lifespan: 4-10 years in captivity
Content Difficulty: Medium
Breeding Difficulty: Medium
Activity: Strictly nocturnal
Temperatures: Daytime 26-28°C (78-82°F); Night 22-24°C (71-75°F)
Diet: Crickets, moths and other insects

Male with female, (Photo: Dr. Peter Weish)

The red-eyed tree frog is a small tree frog belonging to the tree frog family. The back is painted in a bright lime green color during the day, but becomes darker with the onset of night, the abdomen is usually white or cream. Some individual individuals may have white spots on their backs. The eyes, as the name implies, are bright red with black vertical pupils. Paws are orange, toes with well-developed pads, partially fused, forming membranes. Specimens from the southern part of the range of this species have blue or purple inner surface hind and front legs, while individuals more northern instead of blue have an orange color. Some individuals from the south have wide blue areas on the sides, against which there are 3-8 pale yellow thin vertical stripes; in northern specimens, the lateral regions are rather brownish-red, and the vertical stripes are darker. All the species that I met in the amphibian market came from the southern part of the range. During the day, all the bright parts of the body are hidden from view, and you can only see the green back of the tree frog - at night, when they begin to wake up, they appear before the world in all their glory. That. it is believed that frogs need bright colors in order to scare away possible predators and get a chance to hide.

Red-eyed tree frog "Photo Gorky"

At night during the rainy season, which lasts from late May to December, males singing can be heard from the vegetation, about 1-3 meters from the ground. Plants of such a plan can be found around or near quiet reservoirs, ditches, ditches, small forest lakes. Sometimes tree frogs can be heard at a height of 5 meters or more. By itself, singing can be like clucking, a dull sound on one or two notes. Cases of singing of several hundred males at the same time are registered. Outside the breeding season, they can be found in trees at a height of 10 m and above. During the day, this night frog can be seen on green leaves, making the tree frog almost invisible to the outside world.

The breeding season begins with the arrival of the rainy season. As mentioned above, the singing of males can be heard from the thickets, so they try to attract females. bigger size. When a pair is formed, the male climbs onto the female, grabbing the base of her front paws. Holding the male on her back, the female descends to the water, absorbing some moisture into bladder- without this, the eggs, when laid, may dry out. After this procedure, the female climbs back to the tree or bush and selects a leaf above the pond where the eggs fertilized by the male can be laid. Pale green eggs will be in a jelly-like mass for 5-9 days before the appearance of tadpoles from them, which, after hatching, will fall into the reservoir and continue their development there. It happens that the female lays her eggs not directly above the reservoir, in which case the tadpoles are forced to use their tails to get to the reservoir. Groups of tadpoles sometimes gather near the surface of the water, at an angle of 45° on the sunny side of the reservoir. The final metamorphosis takes 7-9 weeks.

Like most frogs, these tree frogs are insectivorous, and in my experience they are more attracted to more mobile insects than amorphous creatures such as caterpillars. It is believed that they can eat smaller frogs, but this has not yet been proven. But the tree frogs themselves often become victims bats, birds, snakes (for example, Leptodeira willingly eat tree frog eggs).

Agalychnis callidryas

1,500 - 6,000 rubles

(Agalychnis callidryas)

Class - Amphibians

Squad - Tailless

Family - Frogs

Genus - Bright-eyed tree frogs

Appearance

Small brightly colored animals with large bright red eyes with vertical pupils. The body length of females is up to 7.7 cm, males up to 5.9 cm. The coloration is from light to dark green, the sides are dark blue with purple or brownish and yellow or cream vertical and diagonal stripes, the belly is white. The shoulders and thighs are blue or orange, the fingers (except the outer ones) along with the pads are orange. Sometimes there are faint dark green lines on the back (especially in individuals from Nicaragua and Costa Rica) or small white spots. The average number of stripes on the sides of frogs of different populations increases from north to south from 5 in Mexico to 9 in Panama.

Habitat

Distributed in the south of Mexico (Yucatan) and in Central America, up to Panama. One meeting is known in a botanical garden in northern Colombia. It lives in humid tropical forests, mainly in the lowlands, but sometimes in the foothills up to a height of 1,250 m.

In nature

Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. Red-eyed tree frogs can swim, have parabolic vision and a good sense of touch. During the day, frogs sleep on the underside of green leaves, hiding from predators.

While resting, their eyes are covered with a translucent membrane that does not prevent the frogs from seeing. If a predator attacks a red-eyed tree frog, it sharply opens its eyes and their bright red color confuses the attacker. At the moment when the predator froze, the frog runs away.

When night falls, tree frogs wake up, yawn and stretch.

Despite their bright frightening color, red-eyed tree frogs are not poisonous, but their skin contains a large number of active peptides (tachykinin, bradykinin, caerulein and demorphin).

reproduction

They breed during the rainy season (late May to November). Mating occurs throughout the season, but is especially common in June and October. At this time, males make aggressive calls to distance other males and calls to attract females. The dominant frequency of the emitted sounds ranges from 1.5-2.5 kHz. Vocalization begins with the onset of twilight and is especially intensified during rain. The clutch consists of about 40 green eggs, each of which is surrounded by a transparent mucous membrane. The size of the eggs varies from 3.7 mm when hatching to 5.2 mm before hatching. The total body length of tadpoles in the last stages of development is about 4.8 cm.

Red-eyed tree frogs are not whimsical in content and are suitable for beginners.

Type - vertical, from above closed by a mesh cover.

Dimensions: from 80 liters (for a pair of adult tree frogs), at least 60x30x40 cm.

Substrate (): coconut fiber, paper towels or soil (with a top layer of live moss, because dry moss rots easily, which creates conditions for the development of pathogenic bacteria). If soil is used as a substrate, then its thickness should be 10-15 cm.

The terrarium is inspected and cleaned every day. Once every 2-3 weeks, a complete cleaning and disinfection of all decor items is carried out.

Temperature: daytime - 24-26"C, nighttime - 20-22"C.

: using a heating pad with a thermostat.

: Red-eyed tree frogs do not like bright lights, especially white lights. Because These are nocturnal animals, then for lighting at night they use fluorescent lamps LB.

Humidity: not lower than 75%. One to three times a day, plants and the substrate are sprayed with fresh water.

Plants: The terrarium should have plenty of live plants, such as non-thorny bromeliads, creepers, tropical ferns, philodendrons, and epipremnums.

In addition to plants, driftwood, branches, creepers, stones, waterfalls, hollow pipes for climbing are placed in the terrarium. Make sure that decor items are not with sharp edges. The background of the back wall is made dark.

Pond: a bowl of water (5-7 cm deep) where tree frogs will bathe. Water is changed every day.

With a red-eyed tree frog, you can give any soft invertebrates that fit in her mouth: cockroaches, crickets, fruit flies, flies, beetles and their larvae, earthworms, wax moth larvae, small silkworms, springtails, locusts, night butterflies. Adults can eat newborn mice, small reptiles and amphibians.

Frogs are fed at night, food is placed on a saucer.

Feeding frequency: adults - 3-6 insects every two to three days, young (growing) - every day.

Water must be spring or bottled. Changes every day.

Mineral supplements/vitamins: for adult insect frogs, sprinkle with calcium and vitamins every 2-4 feedings, for young ones - 2-3 times a week.

One terrarium can contain up to five red-eyed tree frogs.

Males are not aggressive except during the breeding season.

Breeding is difficult, and charionic gonadotropin is often needed for stimulation.

To stimulate reproduction, an artificial winter is arranged, with an increase in humidity to 70-90% and a decrease in temperature to 21-23 "C. After 1-2 months, the temperature begins to gradually rise. The male and female are moved to a terrarium. 3 days.

The breeding terrarium is divided into two halves: water (a reservoir up to 13 cm deep with an internal filter, there should be a gentle exit to land from the reservoir) and land (with a large number of living plants hanging over the water). The water temperature is 25.5-26.7 "C. Since the tadpoles of the red-eyed tree frog are carnivorous, they are sorted as they grow, kept individually or in small groups.

When oodinium is damaged, gray dots appear on the tree frog's body. In this case, the tree frog is placed in distilled water for a while, and the terrarium is washed and disinfected. If this does not help, the tree frog is bathed in weak chamomile tea for an hour.

Red-eyed tree frogs must be examined for various injuries and skin lesions. If they are found, they are treated with a solution of dioxidine and sprinkled with powdered streptocide.

Life expectancy in captivity is up to 10 years.

The red-eyed tree frog (lat. Agalychnis callidryas) is one of the most beautiful frogs. It belongs to the genus Bright-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis) of the Hylidae family. She has a very funny muzzle with red eyes and a contrasting green-blue-yellow body. This wonderful creature has been living on our planet for about 10 million years.

Behavior

Most of the frog spends on the trees, having learned how to skillfully hide from the ubiquitous predatory animals, and if it is found, frighten them with its amazing outfit. The sly one is masterful at using bright colors to her advantage. Sitting on a green leaf, she pulls her legs close to her body, closes her eyes and becomes almost invisible. When a predator approaches, the amphibian opens its eyes and shows it its bright outfit in all its glory. So she confuses the enemy, and she herself is quickly removed.

Although the frog relies mainly on protective camouflage, it also has poisonous skin. The poison is not dangerous, but leaves a very unpleasant taste in the predator's mouth.

This small amphibian defies gravity by holding onto sticks, leaves and even glass.

On her legs are hexagonal nanopillars that cling to any surface. Between them there are channels through which mucus enters, giving the legs a wet adhesion, allowing, together with friction, to stick to any surface. The red-eyed tree frog inhabits areas near ponds and rivers in tropical forests and wet lowlands from Mexico to the central regions of Panama and northern Colombia. The optimum temperature for these amphibians is 25°-39°C during the day and 18°-26°C at night.

Food

In the daytime, the frog sleeps among the foliage, hiding its bright colors and covered with small yellow spots like a leaf. At night, when the risk to life is minimal, she becomes more active and goes hunting.

The basis of its diet is made up of moths, crickets, flies and other insects. To quickly swallow food, she closes her eyes. Its tiny teeth hold onto prey while its eyes retract into its body and push food down its throat. Although a tree frog can simply swallow food, this technique greatly speeds up the whole process.

reproduction

The male uses vibrations to mark the territory and scare off competitors. Sitting on a branch, he creates waves that spread 1.5 m around. This place is enough for him to live comfortably.

The mating season begins with the arrival of the rainy season and lasts from autumn to the first days of spring.

At this time, males descend to the ground and occupy areas near water bodies, over which branches of trees or shrubs hang.

They begin to give love signals at dusk after rain. On dry nights, the calls of gentlemen are heard from high branches in the canopy of trees. When the ponds are filled with water, a sonorous croaking is heard from the ground or from low-lying twigs. Often during singing, males change their location and send their arias in different directions. Females, having heard croaking, descend from the trees and choose partners, apparently guided by their singing and size.

The gentleman jumps on the lady's back, and they go into the pond. There she draws water through the skin and wets the eggs. Then the couple climbs a tree and looks for a suitable place for masonry. For this purpose, the leaves of plants hanging over the water surface are suitable.

Eggs are attached to the underside of a wide sheet with a sticky mass.

If the masonry is on top of the leaf, then the parents hide it from the sun or predators by covering the top with the free part of the leaf. Then fertilization takes place. Sometimes a pair of frogs in love is attacked by a lone male and tries to nestle on the female's back. Such a strategy is successful, and then the eggs are fertilized by two males at the same time. From evening to morning, the female is able to make several clutches. Before each laying of eggs, she, together with the male, descends into the reservoir for the next set of water.

Since the clutch with eggs is attached to the vegetation hanging over the pond, the hatching tadpoles fall directly into the water. Some of them may end up on land. They have a chance to survive if in the next 20 hours it will rain and wash them into a puddle. Embryos in eggs develop synchronously, but are born within 6-8 days. Some species of wasps and snakes like to dine on jelly-like masonry, so future tadpoles, feeling vibrations or movement, hatch prematurely and fall down.

In a few weeks, they will turn into adult frogs and move up the trees on their own. The amphibian becomes sexually mature at the age of 1-2 years, depending on the quantity and quality of food consumed. Body length does not exceed 5 cm. Females are larger than males.

depending on mood or environment the frog is able to change the intensity of its color. Life span of red-eyed tree frogs wild nature around 5 years, although they may live longer in captivity.

The red-eyed tree frog or red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is one of the most popular and beautiful house frogs in terrariums. The body of the red-eyed tree frog is light green with blue stripes on the sides, interspersed with white, although the frog can change its color so as not to stand out from the environment. Its most noticeable characteristic feature is its bright red eyes, which gave the tree frog its name. Sometimes it is also called the red-eyed jumping frog.

These cute red-eyed frogs are not difficult to keep, if all requirements are met. They are active at night, so they wake up just in the evening when the whole family is at home. They are funny, interesting to watch, and it is especially interesting to watch their color change. Red-eyed tree frogs can change color while hunting from light green to dark brown, depending on their environment.

The red-eyed tree frog is an excellent home terrarium frog, suitable for both beginners and experienced breeders. For the first time in the home terrarium, these frogs appeared in the middle or late 80s, they were brought from Honduras. It is assumed that there are several species of these frogs.

Origin

The red-eyed tree frog is a medium-sized frog, 2.5 - 5 cm. It comes from the tropical forests of the extreme south of Mexico and Central America. They are most active at night, when they can be seen and heard. They live exclusively on trees, during the day they hide among dense tropical foliage.

The adult red-eyed tree frog is usually 2.5 - 4 cm long. Females are almost always larger, both in length and mass, so the sex of a frog can be determined from size.

How long these frogs live in nature is not known, but they are very hardy when kept in a home terrarium. At right conditions maintenance and care, these terrarium tree frogs will delight you for up to 10 years or more. The average life expectancy in a terrarium is 10 years.

Terrarium

All standard glass reptile terrariums are ideal for keeping red-eyed tree frogs. Ready-made frog cages are easy to clean, available in a variety of sizes, retain heat well, and maintain moisture.

The recommended volume of the terrarium for keeping an adult red-eyed tree frog is 75 liters. In such a terrarium, you can keep 3-4 frogs at home. In a smaller terrarium, frogs can be injured when they jump against the glass.

Young animals can be kept in a smaller container, but they grow quickly, so a larger room will be needed very soon.

Light and warmth

Tropical red-eyed tree frogs should be kept moderately. warm temperatures air during the day. In the room where the terrarium is located, the temperature should not exceed 27°C, optimum temperature in a terrarium 25-28°C. Temperatures can drop to 15°C at night, but since these are nocturnal animals, a warmer nighttime environment is recommended.

If you live in warm regions, or in summer months when the temperature is high enough, additional heating may not be required. However, if the temperature drops below those recommended, an additional heat source is needed.

For heating, low-power incandescent lamps, up to 60 W, or heaters that provide soft heat without excessive drying, are suitable. Red lamps are great as they can be left on at night to keep the frogs warm 24 hours a day.

Specialized full-spectrum lighting is not necessary for red-eyed frogs to live normally in captivity, but weak ultraviolet (UVB) lamps will be helpful. Such lamps will not only help you observe animals, but will be useful for planted live plants in the terrarium and provide frogs with UV rays.

Substrate and scenery

There are several requirements for the substrate that is used for the red-eyed tree frog. It must maintain the required level of humidity, but it must also be easy to clean, resistant to mold and fungus. Coconut products such as EcoEarth, CocoSoft and others pressed into coconut bricks or coconut flakes are ideal for this purpose. Orchid bark or sphagnum moss is also suitable. All this can be found in specialized stores.

Red-eyed tree frogs are tree frogs and require a variety of climbing climbing aids. Branching sticks, decorations made from tree bark, live and artificial plants must be used to create a comfortable natural environment for frogs. You can recreate a real living tropical corner that will decorate your home.

Plants (living or plastic) should be chosen with large, broad leaves, as they are more in keeping with the plants that surround the frogs in nature, and are suitable for hiding and sleeping. Living plants must be tolerant of high temperatures and high humidity, as well as to your lighting conditions. You may need an additional source of light if the plants wither.

Water and humidity

In the terrarium, the red-eyed tree frog must have a large shallow dish of water. These frogs rarely swim, however big square The surface of the water is needed to increase the humidity of the environment in the terrarium and will provide the frogs with an emergency retreat if the temperature gets too high.

The humidity level in the frog room should be moderate to high. However, the room should not become damp. In most cases, two sprays of water per day are enough to maintain the required humidity. Water is sprayed from a spray gun onto the substrate, decorations, terrarium walls, etc. You can spray liquid manually, or you can use automated systems especially if you are away for a long period of time.

Feed and feeding

Red-eyed tree frogs are insectivorous frogs, in captivity will feed on crickets (grasshoppers) and other nutritious insects. Some adult frogs will eat a variety of worms, but most prefer grasshoppers at any age. On sale you can find specialized food for terrarium frogs - canned grasshoppers. These are specially dried grasshoppers that preserve all nutrients. But you can feed live food, if possible.

Make sure the food is the right size for the frogs to eat. An adult tree frog is able to swallow even the largest cricket, but babies need tiny grasshoppers, no more than 0.5 cm long.

All foods are regularly sprinkled with high quality calcium and vitamin D3. This is especially important for young, growing frogs, who should be supplemented at every feeding. Adult frogs may take this supplement less frequently.

In addition to the calcium supplement mentioned above, reptiles also need a multivitamin. They are given in powder form once or twice a week.

Always read the instructions for use of both calcium and vitamin supplements for proper dosing, as they vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Appeal

Like most frogs, red-eyed tree frogs do not tolerate excessive communication with humans. Although they are harmless and can be touched for short periods time, these are not tame pets. In addition to being extremely stressful for the animal, the frog has sensitive skin that can easily absorb pathogens or toxins from our hands.