Red-Eyed Tree Frog
With their vibrant colours and giant eyes, Red-Eyed Tree Frogs make eye-catching and attractive pets. As a nocturnal species, your frog is likely to spend most of the day having a good snooze on a leaf, but once the sun goes down it will be much more active and hop around its enclosure. Because it’s a small and delicate animal, your frog won’t like to be handled too much, so bear this in mind when choosing your pet.

Overview
- Background temp: 22-26°C (72-80°F)
- Basking area: 27-30°C (75-80°F)
- Behaviour: Nocturnal (awake at night)
- Diet: Insects
- Ease of care: Intermediate
- Handling: Intermediate
- Humidity: Daytime 50-70%, up to 100% overnight
- Life span: 5+ years
- Origin: Mexico, Central America, northern areas of South America
- Potential adult size: Males 2.5 inches, with females often slightly larger
- Scientific name: Agalychnis callidryas
- Temperament: Friendly, but can be jumpy
Top Tips
- Although these frogs live in tropical environments, they don’t like things to get too hot, so keep a close eye on the temperature.
- Unsurprisingly, Red-Eyed Tree Frogs love trees! To keep your frog feeling at home, choose a tall enclosure so your frog can get up high.
- Provide some space between branches so your frog can hop between them.
- Red-Eyed Tree Frogs drink water through their skin, so a water bowl is an absolute must.
- Treat all water with a water conditioner to keep it safe for your frog.
Housing
Red-Eyed Tree Frogs live in the trees of Central and South America where it’s warm and humid. They’ll be at their happiest if you can provide a cosy home that has a warmer area towards the top of the terrarium during the day, with all heat and light switched off overnight.
At the top of the tank, you’ll need to provide a toasty basking area of up to 29℃, with the rest of the tank hovering around 22-25℃. At night, this should be allowed to dip to 21-23℃. To help you control the temperature, use a dimming thermostat. You will need to pop its probe through the lid of your terrarium and fix it to a branch near the top of the enclosure. To keep humidity at 50-70%, spray water into your tank a couple of times a day. A hygrometer will let you know if you’ve judged it right.
Light will also be important to your Red-Eyed Tree Frog. A UV tube that has been specially designed for critters that live in trees will be the best fit. Follow the instructions so you can attach it correctly and ensure your frog can’t get too close to it.
When it comes to giving your tank a bit of colour and furniture, pick a bedding such as HabiStat Coir & Moss. This will help your tank to stay nice and moist. At the bottom of the tank, add a water bowl deep enough for your frog to rest its bottom in. As a tree-lover, your frog will also love it if you put in plenty of wood and branches for it to climb, sleep on and hide under.
Care
Once your terrarium is all set up, you’ll need to keep it nice and clean. Every day, make sure you give your Red-Eyed Tree Frog some fresh water and clean the water bowl. It’s also a good idea to give the tank a daily spot clean and to check the air vents. On a weekly basis, disinfect your water dripper and shake out the bedding. Remove any dirty bits and then give the glass and walls a wipe down with a reptile safe disinfectant. Around once a month, you’ll need to replace all the bedding and give the whole tank and its decoration a good wipe down with a safe disinfectant.
Remember: Always wash your hands and equipment with plenty of warm soapy water after cleaning, feeding or handling your Red-Eyed Tree Frog and its equipment.
Equipment Needed
- HabiStat Glass Terrarium 18 x 18 x 24” (45 x 45 x 60cm)
- Heat bulb with a HabiStat Dimming Thermostat
- Arcadia ShadeDweller UV light tube (12-hour light cycle)
- Hygrometer
- HabiStat Coir & Moss
- Wood and branches
- Live or artificial plants
- Water bowl (must be deep enough for the frog to perch on the edge or sit their bottom in)
- Water conditioner such as Exo Terra Aquatize
- Water dripper
- HabiStat Rainmaker
- HabiStat Humidifier
Diet
Whether your Red-Eyed Tree Frog is just a baby or a full-grown adult, it will love to feast on insects. As a night-time creature, these should be fed in the evening. They particularly love to eat crickets, but make sure they aren’t too big for your frog. They’ll also need dusting with some supplements to keep your frog fit and healthy. A calcium and multivitamin powder will do the trick.
Your frog will also need fresh water that is distilled or treated with conditioner. Simply adding a few drops of conditioner will take out any chlorine that could harm your frog, so make sure you do this every time you change the water.

Overview
- Background temp: 22-26°C (72-80°F)
- Basking area: 27-30°C (75-80°F)
- Behaviour: Nocturnal (awake at night)
- Diet: Insects
- Ease of care: Intermediate
- Handling: Intermediate
- Humidity: Daytime 50-70%, up to 100% overnight
- Life span: 5+ years
- Origin: Mexico, Central America, northern areas of South America
- Potential adult size: Males 2.5 inches, with females often slightly larger
- Scientific name: Agalychnis callidryas
- Temperament: Friendly, but can be jumpy
Additional Information
Fun fact! Your Red-Eyed Tree Frog hydrates and gets oxygen through its skin. This is why a water bowl is so important.
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