Red-Eyed Tree Frog Care Sheet

Published Nov. 4, 2024

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Red-Eyed Tree Frog Species Overview

Red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) get their name from their vivid red eyes. These frogs are arboreal (tree-inhabiting) and nocturnal (active at night). During this time, red-eyed tree frogs become animated and loud!

Red-eyed tree frogs are also known as red eyed leaf frogs. They are native to tropical jungles and rainforests in Mexico, Central America, and Colombia.

Generally, red-eyed tree frogs have a green body with blue legs and sides, orange toes, and a white belly. Some frogs also have yellow stripes that separate the blue and green on their body.

To protect themselves from predators during the day, red-eyed tree frogs can camouflage themselves by closing their eyes and tucking in their legs. As they sleep, they make their body small to reduce their exposed surface area and to reduce water evaporation.

Frogs are amphibians, not reptiles. However, like reptiles, amphibians are ectothermic (cold-blooded) animals that rely on external heat sources to regulate their body temperature.

Red-eyed tree frogs are sociable and do best when kept in small groups of their own species.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Characteristics

Difficulty of Care	Intermediate
Average Lifespan	Up to 8–12 years with proper care, depending on species
Average Adult Size	2–2.5 inches long for males, 3–3.5 inches long for females
Diet	Omnivore
Minimum Habitat Size	10+ gallons for one adult, 20+ gallons for three or four adults

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Handling

In general, frogs should be handled only when necessary. Human skin has bacteria and oils that amphibians can absorb through their skin, leading to irritation and illness.

Note: If frogs must be handled, they should be touched only with disposable, non-powdered gloves that have been moistened with dechlorinated water. You can remove chlorine from water by boiling it for 15–20 minutes. Distilled water is dechlorinated; however, you don’t want to use it because it doesn’t include any of the vitamins, salts, or minerals that frogs need to stay hydrated.

All frogs are potential carriers of infectious diseases, including salmonella bacteria, which is zoonotic (transmissible to humans). You should always wash your hands before and after handling your frog or the habitat’s contents.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Supplies

To keep a red-eyed tree frog happy and healthy, you’ll need to have these basic supplies on hand:

Appropriately sized habitat

Substrate (material used to line the bottom of the enclosure)

Sphagnum moss

Water and mealworm dishes

Live insects

Climbing decor

Plants

Heat light

Heat fixture

Under-tank heater (must be paired with a thermostat)

Thermostat

UVB lighting and fixture

Multivitamin supplement

Calcium supplement with vitamin D

Cricket keeper

Cricket food

Cricket quencher

Thermometers

Humidity gauge

Mister

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Habitat

At a minimum, an adult red-eyed tree frog needs a 15-gallon enclosure. You can keep a small group of up to four frogs in a 20-gallon habitat or larger.

As their name suggests, red-eyed tree frogs are an arboreal (tree-dwelling) species. Habitats should be tall with plenty of vertical space for climbing. The enclosure should also have a snugly fitted screen top to prevent escape and allow for proper ventilation.

With proper care, red-eyed tree frogs reach their adult size within one year. You will need to upgrade the size of your frog’s habitat as they grow, and you should always provide the largest habitat possible.

Tank Mates

Male red-eyed tree frogs should not be housed together due to their territorial nature and tendency to fight. However, a single male frog can be housed with one or more females of the same species. Just keep in mind that males and females housed together might breed.

Any frogs kept in the same habitat should be around the same age and size. Frogs should be introduced to each other gradually and under close supervision to ensure they are compatible. If two frogs fight, separate them.

Never keep different species of amphibians or reptiles in the same habitat.

Temperature

A red-eyed tree frog’s habitat should have daytime temperatures from 68 to 70 F and nighttime temperatures from 75 to 80 F. Make sure your frog’s habitat never gets hotter than 80 F. Because frogs overheat easily, even short periods of exposure to temperatures over 80 F can be fatal.

Check the temperatures of your frog’s habitat daily. Place two thermometers in the enclosure—one in the warm area and one in the cool area—so you can check both zones at once. You can also use a digital point-and-shoot thermometer to read habitat temperatures instantly.

Light and Heat Sources

Provide your red-eyed tree frog with 10–12 hours of fluorescent light each day. A low-watt incandescent day bulb can provide both light and a small amount of heat to the habitat’s basking area during daylight hours.

Place the bulb above a high perching spot and make sure your frog has access to at least one hiding spot where they can get away from the light.

If your frog needs additional heat, you can install an under-tank heating pad or ceramic heat bulb to supply radiant heat in the habitat. If you use a heat bulb, the wattage needed will vary depending on the size of the enclosure, the distance of the bulb from the frog, and the ambient temperature of the room where you keep the enclosure.

Adjust the wattage of the bulb to maintain the recommended temperature gradient within the tank.

Note: Some light bulbs provide not only light to the tank but also heat and/or ultraviolet (UV) light. Check the light sources you are considering to be clear on their function in the tank.

Place large rocks over under-tank heating pads to absorb heat and create an area for your frog to rest.

If you use an under-tank heating pad, it must always be connected to a thermostat to prevent your frog from getting burned.

Hot rocks should not be used because they can get too warm and may cause injury.

White lights should not be left on continuously, as they will disrupt the frog’s natural sleep cycle and negatively affect their overall health. At night, turn off lights inside the frog’s enclosure or switch to a nocturnal or an infrared light to ensure your frog can rest.

UV Light

Use a low-level (2.0 or 5.0) UVB bulb to provide your red-eyed tree frog with 10–12 hours of UVB light every day. Frogs need daily exposure to UVB rays so they can produce vitamin D in their skin, which in turn allows them to absorb dietary calcium.

Without adequate UVB exposure, frogs are at a greater risk of developing a range of life-threatening illnesses, including metabolic bone disease.

Replace bulbs every six months (even if they still emit light), as their potency wanes over time.

A day/night timer can make it easier to maintain a consistent day-and-night cycle.

Humidity

Humidity levels should be maintained at 70–80% and monitored daily with a hygrometer (humidity gauge). Red-eyed tree frogs should always have access to a shallow, un-tippable bowl of dechlorinated water that’s wide enough for them to soak in. The water inside the bowl should be about 1–2 inches deep. You should clean, disinfect, and refill your frog’s water bowl daily.

Mist the plants and other decor in your frog’s habitat to maintain/increase the enclosure’s humidity level.

Bedding

Red-eyed tree frogs have delicate, porous skin that needs to stay moist. Line the bottom of your red-eyed tree frog’s habitat with a mulch-type substrate that holds moisture well, such as coconut fiber or moistened sphagnum moss. You can also use as substrate river rocks that are too large for your frog to swallow.

Do not use gravel or small pieces of bark that are small enough to be swallowed by a frog, because they can cause a life-threatening gastrointestinal tract obstruction if ingested.

Avoid reptile carpet and other artificial turf; it is too rough and will damage a frog’s sensitive skin.

Decor and Accessories

When decorating a red-eyed tree frog’s habitat, don’t overcrowd the tank. It’s more difficult for frogs to find and catch live insects in a cluttered enclosure.

Climbing Decor

In the red-eyed tree frog’s natural habitat, as their name implies, they spend most of their time exploring and climbing in trees. You can arrange live and/or artificial plants, driftwood, cork bark, or other types of branches at a diagonal to create places for your frog to leap from and climb.

Connect climbing decor from the floor to the top of the enclosure to allow frogs to move around.

Visual Barrier

Cover the outside of the habitat’s rear wall with dark-green paper or slabs of cork bark (secured with suction cups). This creates a visual barrier that mimics a natural environment, and will help keep your frog feeling secure and lower their stress.

Hiding Areas

Frogs need at least two hiding areas in their habitat—one on the warmer side of the enclosure and one on the cooler side. Aside from offering the frog some privacy, hideouts can help frogs regulate their body temperature, as they give the frog a space away from their enclosure’s direct basking area.

However, monitor your frog’s behavior to be sure they are not hiding all the time. If they do, they won’t have a chance to benefit from UV light exposure.

If you are housing more than one frog in the same habitat, you can decrease territorial behavior by providing each frog with their own set of hiding places.

Frog Tank Cleaning and Maintenance

Spot-clean your frog’s habitat daily, removing any discarded food or droppings. Clean and disinfect food and water dishes daily.

You’ll need to thoroughly clean and disinfect your frog’s habitat at least once a month with either an amphibian-safe habitat cleaner or a 3% bleach solution.

To clean your frog’s habitat, follow these steps:

Using latex gloves moistened with dechlorinated water, move your frog to a secure habitat. Be sure to handle your frog gently to avoid harming their sensitive skin.

Remove any old substrate, decor, and accessories from the habitat.

Scrub the empty tank and any furnishings with an amphibian-safe habitat cleaner or a 3% bleach solution. Leave the bleach solution on the habitat for at least 10 minutes to ensure that the surfaces are properly disinfected. If you’re using a commercial habitat cleaner, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Rinse the habitat and accessories thoroughly with dechlorinated water, making sure to remove any trace amounts or residual smells left by the cleaning agent or bleach solution.

Allow the habitat and its contents to dry completely before placing new substrate and clean accessories into the habitat.

Return the frog to the clean habitat. Always be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handing your frog or the habitat’s contents.

What Do Red-Eyed Tree Frogs Eat?

Feed your red-eyed tree frog a varied diet of gut-loaded insects (feeder insects that have been fed a nutrient-rich diet) and worms. Frogs should always have access to a shallow bowl of clean, dechlorinated water for soaking, since they absorb water through their skin rather than drinking it in the same way many other pets do.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Diet

Juvenile red-eyed tree frogs eat daily. Adults less than 3 inches long should be fed every one to two days, while adults greater than 3 inches long should be fed every two to three days.

Juveniles should be given a calcium supplement with vitamin D daily. Adults should be given a calcium supplement with vitamin D two to three times a week.

Regardless of size or age, all red eyed tree frogs should be given a multivitamin/mineral supplement once a week.

Red-eyed tree frogs will overeat if the opportunity is there and can become obese. Therefore, as a general rule, you should offer your frog no more than three to six insects at each feeding.

A well-balanced and nutritious diet for a red-eyed tree frog consists of gut-loaded (recently fed) insects and worms, including:

Crickets
Calci worms (feeder worms that have a high calcium content)
Roaches
Small hornworms
Silkworms
Waxworms
Mealworms

Bugs with hard exoskeletons, like mealworms, can hurt a frog’s gastrointestinal system when fed too often and should be given only as an occasional treat.

For a happy and healthy frog, feed a variety of insects rather than the same ones every day. Feeding a frog the same food every day can lead to malnutrition.

Prey should be no larger than the width of the frog’s head.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Vitamin Supplements

Before feeding your frog, dust the feeder insects with a powdered vitamin supplement. Red-eyed tree frogs need a calcium supplement with vitamin D and a multivitamin/mineral powder designed for amphibians.

To dust insects quickly and efficiently, place them in a bag or disposable plastic container along with a powdered supplement. Then, shake the bag or container lightly until the insects are coated evenly in powder.

Clean, Dechlorinated Water

Make sure your frog always has water available. Since frogs absorb water through their skin to stay hydrated, their water dishes must be large and shallow enough for them to soak in.

Clean and disinfect your frog’s food and water dishes daily.

Do not use distilled water, which doesn’t include any of the vitamins, salts, or minerals that frogs need to stay hydrated.

How To Gut-Load Insects

Gut-loaded diets are fortified with vitamins and minerals to help provide optimal nutrition to the reptiles and amphibians that feed on them. To gut-load prey, place insects in a container with a gut-loading diet that the bugs can gorge on.

Gut-load insects for at least 24–72 hours before dusting them with a vitamin supplement and feeding them to your frog.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Care Tips

Handling

Handle your red-eyed tree frog only when necessary. Always use powder-free latex gloves moistened with dechlorinated water when handling your frog. Human skin has bacteria and oils that amphibians can absorb through their skin, leading to irritation and illness.

Frogs have glands in their skin that can secrete toxins. Never let a frog’s secretions come in contact with your eyes, mouth, or an open wound.

Use a fine-mesh net to move or block frogs during routine habitat maintenance.

Shedding

Amphibians shed, or “slough,” their skin regularly. Some frogs will shed their skin daily, while others will shed every few weeks. Younger frogs that are actively growing tend to shed more frequently than adults.

Your frog’s skin might turn cloudy or milky in color when it is ready to shed. Frogs usually assume a crouching position while shedding.

Generally, healthy frogs should shed their skin in one complete piece. Most frogs will eat their dead skin after shedding it to absorb nutrients and to avoid having predators track them by their shed skin.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Veterinary Care

Annual Care

Red-eyed tree frogs should be seen annually by a reptile/amphibian veterinary specialist or by a veterinarian with special training in the care of exotic animals.

Take photos of your frog’s habitat at home, as well as their diet and any supplements you are providing. That way, your veterinarian can evaluate all of these items during the appointment.

You can transport your frog in a secure pet carrier or a plastic container that has a tight-fitting lid and holes for ventilation. Put an inch of sphagnum moss on the bottom and mist the container well to keep the appropriate humidity. You can also make hiding spots to keep your frog’s stress level low.

Make sure to keep the temperature in the container as close to their normal habitat temperature as possible. You can use Styrofoam coolers with supplemental heating as needed to insulate the carrier.