Hey guys, so today we're gonna talk about the Giant Waxy Monkey Tree Frog. Now this
is a new frog that we've gotten at our store this weekend and he's pretty
awesome, but his care does vary quite a bit from other tree frogs like him, so
we're gonna go over his care today. So the Giant Waxy Monkey Tree Frog like its
name suggests, it gets pretty big. It gets about 3 to 5 inches long from snout
to vent. And these guys do have a pretty good
average lifespan, about 7 to 10 years. So as far as their tank size, you'll want to
keep, you can keep a baby Waxy Monkey Tree Frog in a 10 gallon, but for the
adults since they're much bigger you should go with no smaller than a 20
gallon tank. You can do a tank like we have here, it's an 18 x 18 x 24, so
you'll want a more vertical tank since these guys like to hang out in trees and
stuff in the wild, so you'll kind of want to imitate that since these guys do come
from a tropical rainforest habitat. We do make sure that they have a bedding that
is absorbent, that can absorb moisture, so we use like either peat moss, sphagnum
moss, or coconut fiber those are all good choices for these guys. So one of the
things that kind of sets these guys apart from other tree frogs is that they
have a higher temperature. We keep their hot spot between 90 to 95 degrees, so
when you compare it to a species like the White's Tree Frog, who only has to
have a 75 to 85 hot spot, it seems pretty hot in comparison. Now
another unique thing about the Waxy Monkey Tree Frog is that it is diurnal,
so you do need a UVB light and a heat bulb for them of course, since they need
to have that higher hot spot. Now that's kind of different,
because the White's Tree Frogs that we have here, they they don't require any
lighting, you can just have a UVB light in there if you want to for the for the
living plants and stuff, but you don't, they don't need it since they are not
diurnal, they are nocturnal. So one unique thing about these guys, is that they
require a drier environment. Now even though they do come from the
tropical rainforest, they are found in the high up in the branches where there
isn't as much humidity, as there is, as there would be closer to the ground. So
yeah, because they live so high up they have a lot of wind and everything up
there, a lot of air circulation that kind of brings the humidity down, so we try to
replicate that in their tank. So we recommend only about 40% to 60%
humidity in their tank, and you only have to like spray their
bedding down maybe two to three times a week at most,
whereas with other species of tree frogs like the White's we spray theirs down
every day. These guys just two to three times a week. So these guys are strict
carnivores. They will eat insects like earthworms, crickets, cockroaches,
mealworms, and they can even eat small small rodents like pinky mice when
they're adults. Their mouths get pretty big so they can they can take down
pretty big prey items. So these guys don't need to eat every day, you can feed
them about two to three times a week we suggest, that's what we do with ours. Just
make sure that you calcium dust their food each time you feed them, except once
a week make sure you use vitamin dust instead of the calcium, that way they get
their vitamins just that one time a week and you don't overdo it. And just one
more thing about these guys as far as handling goes, you should keep handling
to a minimum. These guys have a very waxy substance they secrete from their
skin that helps them store moisture, so that stuff is actually pretty irritating
to human skin, and you definitely don't want to get it
near your eyes or in your mouth or anything. So if you do need to handle
them just use gloves, or if you do handle them and you need to use your bare hands,
try to make it as quick as possible and make sure you scrub your hands with soap
and water afterwards. And like with most frogs, the other reason why you don't
want to handle them too much is because the toxins from your skin can get on
their skin, and they can absorb that and it's not very good for them at all and
they can make them sick. So, yeah. Just another reason why you
should keep handling to a minimum. But yeah, otherwise these guys make great
pets, they're really fun to watch and to look
at, they're just really pretty. These guys almost look like toy frogs,
they almost look fake, some people even ask us if that's a real
frog or not because of how like plasticy they look because of that shiny wax that
they secrete. So yeah they're just really fun, and they they live a pretty long
time. So yep, definitely a cool frog to get.