Frogs have always been a fascination for most children. Their pride and joy is a collection of tadpole eggs which were brought home from a friend's garden. The prized collection was then usually placed into "Dad's" fountain or a pond.
Watching the eggs hatch and the formation of the tadpoles growing into frogs will teach children how life is formed and then changes.
In my case, the tadpoles were put into one of my Mother's favourite vases and then proudly placed under my bed. It was a great hiding place until Mum decided to sweep under the bed. Vase, water and tadpoles scattered across the room! And the comment was "Is that where my vase disappeared to". The joy of breeding frogs in our garden pond each year and listening to the evening melody of croaks was always music to my ears!
Leave the frogs, tadpoles or their eggs where you find them. Do not take them away from their natural environment.

FROG LICENCE
It is illegal in Australia to remove frogs from the wilderness and you must have a licence to retain many of our native frog species. Contact your state?s Department of Natural Resources, Conservation and Environment, as licencing specification differentiate from state to state. These licences apply to the sale and purchase of frogs.

UNDERSTANDING FROGS
Frogs are amphibians and they are vertebrates (they have backbones). They are also ectothermic (they depend on external elements for their body heat). They have soft skins which is highly absorbent in taking in moisture. Their skins can absorb pollutants or toxins which is in their environment.
The majority of Australian frog species require water to reproduce in, and their eggs are deposited by the female and fertilized externally by the mail. The eggs incubate into tadpoles, which have gills and a tail. The frogs continuously eat until they develop their limbs and then emerge from the water as air breathing animals. Finally they absorb their tail as a source of nutrience and then the baby frogs gormandise insects.

KEEPING FROGS AS PETS
Before you decide to start a frog hobby there are a few things you should consider.
1/ Buy a book on Keeping Frogs and study it before starting. You may not like the work needed to keep them.
2/ Be sure that the you are purchasing from is a reputable dealer and he has a licence to sell frogs.
3/ You also will need a frog licence.
4/ All their water supply must be clean and free from any chemicals. If you are using tap water, you will need a filter to remove chemicals such as chlorine etc. Collect rain water, by placing a container where it is free from rubbish blowing in it or water running off unclean objects.
5/ Frogs dislike fumes such as;- cigarette smoke, gas, smoke from incense candles, gas and aerosol sprays of any brand.
6/ If you are planning to keep frogs inside, you will need to consult with your dealer, on what sort and size container you will need.

STARTING YOUR TANK
a/ The tank you are going to use must be clean and free from contamination.
b/ It is best if the tank has two drain taps. One for the water area and one for the terra firma.
c/ The water must be pure and clean (refer to keeping frogs as pets item 4/).
d/ You will need lighting suitable for reptiles and amphibians.
e/ Gravel for the base, palm peat, rocks, pieces of wood and plants.
f/ REMEMBER, all material must be clean and free from contamination.

FEEDING FROGS
You can feed them with cockroaches, crickets, fly larvae, grasshoppers and mealworms. Most frogs are active at night so just before you go to bed, (after you have put the cat out) let the bugs loose in their tank. Frogs like hunting for their food, and they will snatch the insects with great eagerness. Small frogs only eat small insects so choose their food supply carefully.
If you have an organic garden with plenty of leaf mulch or straw, there will be an abundance of food supply to collect at no cost.

For more information on keeping these frogs as pets, consult you pet shop.

SPECIES

GREEN TREE FROG (Litoria caerulea)
Also known as White's Tree Frog.
These frogs have adhesive discs on their toes which enables them to hold onto surfaces for climbing. Their distinguishing feature is that their pupils of their eyes are horizontal.
COLOUR
They are most often a bright green and people seeing them in a housing tank, comment "is it a plastic one". These frogs can also change to an olive green and further more they can have white spots. Their underside can vary from cream to off white.
In the wild they can grow up to 100mm.
During the night they call out a deep throated ;- crork.......crork......crork.
POINTS OF INTEREST
These green tree frogs with fat big bodies, make great pets for adults or children. They have a pretentious look on their face and will sleep most of the day. When it comes to crickets, these green fat creatures will keep on eating until of all their food is eaten.
When keeping them as pets, their housing area should not drop in temperature below 10deg C.

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