21/01/2026
Yesterday evening, I had setup a tank to grow out some displaced green tree frog tadpoles.
These tadpoles were spawned in a bucket and before long would have been subject to untenable living conditions.
As an experiment, I decided to allocate a spare aquarium to provide care and a proper environment for them to grow, and from which to observe their growth and metaphamorphasis.
Shortly before bed, and during observation of the tadpoles, a full grown Green Tree Frog emerged from underneath my bed.
He seemed to have gained entry to the house at some point during the previous days, and had become dehydrated, and was suffering from all kinds of dust and fluff and dog hair stuck onto his skin, and was clearly in an exhausted state.
Such was his exhaustion and desperation the allowed me to handle him without much resistance.
I put him into an immediate care plan. He was immersed in a solution of honey dissolved in water for 5 mins, before being moved to a container with some of the cycled aquarium water (dechlorinated).
Note: tap water is highly toxic to frogs due to the chlorine content.
Before long, he was looking much more alert and hydrated.
I kept him contained overnight and by morning he had shifted from a vivid, bright green (stress colour in frogs) to a more subdued olive green.
He was released without incident into the pot-plants at the backyard.
When found, he was bright green and covered in dust and stuff. This photograph was after an initial rinse.
The white on his nostrils indicates that he was stuck somewhere, or iritated due to the conditions.
The fact that he let me handle him is really bad - frogs perceive humans as predators.
He made an attempt to flee, but he was so exhausted he could not jump, and could only crawl around without much balance or coordination.
After an initial rinse, Froggo got a dunk in a small amount honey dissolved and water - this acts as a disinfectant and frogs can absorb the sugars into the skin to regain energy and repair the slime coat
Froggo was moved from the honey bath to a container with a small amount of "the tadpole water"
this water is dechlorinated and high in tannins. Tannins are anatural antifungal and antibacterial agent in water for frogs. He was closed up into a container (with breathing holes) and left to soak overnight. The container was propped at a slight angle so he had a deep end and a dry end.
By the morning, he had turned a lovely olive green/brown although some of his chromataphors didn't get the memo and remained a vivid green, hence the spotty look in this photo.
He was released without incident and had visibly more energy and vitality than the previous night.