Whites Tree Frog Enclosure

Continuing on with this month's theme, this post presents my first frog enclosure that is home to my two Indonesian Whites Tree Frogs Pudding and Roarie.  Pudding is female and Roarie (the noisy one) is male.  You can look back on photo blogs (18th March and 12th June '24) to see photos and stories of my Whites Tree Frogs. I joked about wanting frogs for my birthday back is 2024 and ended up heading to Davy's pet shop in Carlow.  

Whites Tree Frogs are a great first frog so an ideal starting point. I bought this enclosure, equipment and everything I needed from Davy's and went home to set it all up.  A few days later, when I was happy with the setup and parameters I returned for my two frogs.  

The Enclosure

I got a Habistat 24x18x18 tall glass terrarium with mesh lid and front opening door.  I like the quality of the Habistat enclosures and the fact that the sides and back are darkened black giving the inhabitants as safer environment.  Whites Tree Frogs generally require heat of approx 85 degrees fahrenheit during the day and lower at night but not lower than 65 degrees.  It is suggested that the enclosure should have low humidity of around 40% and issues can potentially develop if the humidity is constantly too high.  Therefore misting is not recommended.

Heat & UVB Light 

I use an Arcadia clamp lamp with a floodlight on a manual thermostat but during the winter I changed to a 80w deep heat projector (DHP) bulb controlled by a Habistat digital day/night thermostat.  The DHP does not emit light only heat so can be used at a lower temp during the night during cold winter spells.  I have the lamp attached to a Habistat digital day/night thermostat.  I aim to have temperatures approx 85 degrees daytime and not drop below 69 degrees at night (but usually room temp is much higher and DHP does not come on).  

I have an Arcadia ShadeDweller ProT5 7% UVB tube lights are used to replicate sunlight providing a source of vitamin D which is needed to absorb calcium.  Both the heat lamp and the UVB rest on top of the mesh top.  This is set on a 12 on and 12 off cycle.  

Substrate, Plants and Decor

Initially I used coir as a substrate topped with fine orchid bark.  I have some slate tiles to give frogs a clean resting area that is bark/substrate free.  However, for a short period I replaced this with paper towels as I was treating the frogs for a parasite infection. Being non-bioactive the substrate needed to be changed monthly and paper towels tended to be daily.

For decoration I have added two frog dishes and two ledges which are suction cupped.  I have an Exo Terra bendable jungle tree in the middle of the enclosure and Komodo rainforest canopy plants and some silk vines.   I also have two ceramic coconut hides.  And, vitally important I have two water pools.

During the summer (2025) I decided to upgrade the enclosure to a fully bioactive set-up.  This meant that I had to put in a drainage layer (Habistat clay sinking balls), a fleece layer (Lucky Reptile HF-100 Hydro Fleece), substrate (Arcadia Earth Mix Forrest) and top it with Habistat fine orchid bark to stop the frogs getting irritated by the soil sticking to their sensitive bodies.   A bioactive enclosure reduces maintenance when you add a clean-up crew so I added springtails.   I introduced an Arcadia LumenIZE LED bar as a light for the plants which I have scheduled to come on gently and increase the percentage during the day and then reduce the output as the day continues. I bought the plants from the Reptile Department in Newlands Garden Centre.

Food, Water and Supplements

It is vital to provide a water pools for frogs so they can absorb water to hydrate. As adults they eat less, I currently feed the two frogs approx 8 crickets (4th) every second night. These are dusted each time with calcium and each weekend I will alternate one feeding with calcium plus vitamin D or Repashy Calcium Plus. 

Maintenance

It is helpful to automate heating, lighting and misting as it reduces pressure and maintenance.  My heating is on a digital thermostat with a timer, and both lights and the mister are plugged into digital timers.

• I change the water in the paddling pools (using tap water de-cholorinated with Zoomed Reptisafe).
• I feed black crickets (4ths) every second day by putting food into ceramic escape proof dishes.
• I clean glass as needed and remove obvious faeces.
• I scrub clean the pools, ledges, slate and cups/hides weekly.

Lessons Learned

I was sold Nutrobal when I bought the enclosure and equipment and told to dust feeders every feeding.  I now realised that this was too much vitamins and have switched to calcium only during the week.

Get a digital thermostat rather than a manual one and a DHP rather than a floodlight.  Bioactive while daunting to set-up is much easier from a maintenance perspective. 

NOTE: As per other enclosures, the photos of the enclosures and equipment were taken with my iPhone without adjusting settings and without editing.