Common Name: Australian Green Tree Frog, White’s Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Litoria caerulea
Family: Hylidae – Tree Frog family
Locations: Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea
Introduced Location: United States – Florida
Size: 4 inches (10 cm)
The Australian Green Tree Frog is a large, arboreal frog. They are known to eat mice and even bats in the wild! The Australian Green Tree Frog is not always green but can be brown or blueish in color. They change their colors to match their surroundings. Their scientific name – caerulea, comes from the blue color of the first specimens that were shipped to England in the 1700s. The tree frog is a common frog in the pet trade due to their hardiness and ease of care. They can be referred to as the White’s Tree Frog or Dumpy Tree Frog. The frog is named the Dumpy Frog after the fat deposits that can form on obese frogs’ head. If taken care of, the frogs can live over 15 years long. They have a huge appetite so if housing the Australian Green Frog with other frogs, make sure they are the same size. It is believed that the pet trade introduced the species to Florida but luckily, the frogs haven’t been spotted in Florida since 2010. Please never release your pets into the wild as it can have bad consequences.
Breeding for the Australian Green Tree Frog occurs during the rainy season for November to February. Males will call from water bodies to attract females. Once the females show up, the male will grasp her from behind in the amplexus position. Then, she lays her eggs while the male fertilize them from behind. The female lays up to 2000 are laid. No parent provides any care. The eggs hatch shortly into tadpoles that take around 6 weeks to complete their metamorphosis before winter arrives.
