Classification
Order: anura
Family: hylidae
Genus: hyla
Species: hyla arborea
Habitat
This tree frog, as the name suggests, is native to mainland Europe (incl. Russia), Asia and some parts of northern Africa. They can be found in humid forests, along the rivers and streams, near lakes and marshes, in parks and gardens.
Outward appearance
These frogs are quite small; adult males range in length between 3 and 4.5 cm, females are slightly larger and can reach 5.5 cm.
It is a slender frog with long legs. The coloration can change quite quickly depending on the terrain, ambient temperature and the level of stress. The upper body can be green, dark gray or brownish. The belly is whitish. There are dark stripes with white frame that stretch along the frog’s head and on the sides of the body. Males have dark throats.
Character
It is a nocturnal species. At dusk the frog goes down from the trees to hunt and to bathe. At daytime they sit still on a leaf or on a tree stem, and occasionally catch a prey flying nearby.
European tree frogs have adhesive pads on their toes that help them to climb trees. This enables them to climb wet glass too.
They hibernate from the end of September to April in burrows or tree hollows or in the ooze on the bottom of a lake or a pond.
Maintenance care
Tree frogs need a vertical tank at least 20x17x30 cm for 1-2 specimens. It should have a swim area and a land area. The tank has to be equipped with a heater: a filament lamp or a reflector. The temperature at the basking spot at daytime should be around 30-32°С, the ambient temperature in the tank should be 23-26°С at daytime and 16-22°С at night. The water temperature has to be about 20-22°С. These frogs can be kept in a group.
Feeding
In captivity European tree frogs are fed with crickets, cockroaches, mealworms and superworms.
Diseases
Under proper care European tree frogs rarely get ill and in captivity they can live up to 20 years. In the wild they rarely live longer than 10-12 years.
Breeding
European tree frogs reproduce in stagnant bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds, swamps, reservoirs, and sometimes puddles, from late March to June. They croak in the breeding season, even when migrating to their mating pools or ponds. Males will often change breeding ponds, even within the same breeding season. After a spring rain, the males will call females from low vegetation or shallow ponds. About 800 to 1000 eggs are laid in clumps the size of a walnut. Individual eggs are about 1.5 mm in diameter. After 10–14 days, the eggs hatch. Then, after three months,tadpoles metamorphose into frogs.
