Peron’s Tree Frog
Peron’s Tree Frog – Litoria peronii
Our backyard is home to an unknown number of these common but lovely tree frogs. They are there because around 12 months ago I rescued as many tadpoles as I could from a friend’s leaking in-ground swimming pool. ( It was due to be emptied and repaired).
Most of the tadpoles were placed in the frog pond but about 6 were raised indoors in an old fish tank. They grew quickly on a diet of boiled lettuce and fish flake food. Once they became young metamorphs all but one were released down by the pond. Some of them escaped the fish tank and climbed up the nearest wall. It took a while to find them! Below is a picture of one such escapee.
As I said, all but one were released by the pond. The remaining metamorph was kept in a nursery and fattened up with insects caught around the yard. A bright light at night near a white surface is a great way to catch moths etc. Catching enough food is quite difficult so crickets bought from the local pet shop were the main food source. My little frog was released after about a month – a strong, fit fellow and now quite skilled at catching his food. (Some frogs I have raised in a nursery in the past have been hopeless. It is a wonder that any of them survive the early days in the wild at all!)
It is wonderful that a year later some of these frogs are still living in our backyard. One lives and calls from somewhere down by the pond. 3 have taken up residence in a hanging pot. It is one of those with a water well and it hangs from the pergola which is covered with a sultana grape vine. No, we have not eaten any. The birds get them all before they are sweet enough for human consumption. I think the sticky grape juice the birds manage to send everywhere is attracting lots of insects for the trio. They look so cute with their heads poking out the water hole!
The best news of all is that the frogs are breeding and we have tadpoles in the frog pond. 🙂
Click for a slideshow of the frogs
Information about Peron’s Tree Frog ( link to Frogs Australia Network Database)
Frog Call (mp3)
[audio:perons_treefrog.mp3]
Posted on January 6th, 2008 by Sue
Filed under: Frogs
Hi Sue, thanks for dropping in on my blog. I loved the slide show of the Peron’s treefrog. I think you’ll find that the one’s in your pots will be permanent residents, they just seem to love those self watering pots. I had to smile at the two poking their heads out the hole. Similar to mine although one was a Green treefrog, I was just pleased they got on together. Anyway have lots of fun doing your new water bowls. Water is such a peaceful addition to a garden.
all the best.
regards Roy
Had another look at your cool website and think you are v clever. The frogs must just love this gentle rain we are having.
All the best, Chris
Hi Roy, I’m delighted you think my frogs will become permanent residents. I’m concerned about the pots being exposed during winter when the grape vine is bare. I think I’ll need to hang some additional pots with plants capable of providing foliage to cover that area of the pergola – keep the frogs happy
Sue,thanks for sharing the delightful pictures of your gorgeous frogs. My husband and I, with the help of our two very eager to help young children, rescued some tadpoles from a shallow water-plant garden in our yard. They had been steadily being picked off by birds and we were afraid there would not be any left. So, the survivors are now being kept indoors and being fed a diet of boiled lettuce and cabbage as well as decomposed leaves. We look forward to seeing them develop and hope that after they are released (with a mini pond addition to our yard- or some self watering plant pots) that some will decide to take up residence in our yard.
Your frogs look quite happy were they are and as long as you continue to look out for them as you obviously do, I think you will have them around for a long,long time.- Best wishes-Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for visiting my frog pages. I’m so pleased you have enjoyed looking at my pictures and found some information to help you with your tadpoles.
It sounds like you are doing all the right things. For more information have a look through the Forum messages at frogs.org.au for all sorts of helpful tips on frogs and tadpoles. They have a section devoted to Frog-friendly gardening too.
http://frogs.org.au/community/
Also this page from Frog Decline Reversal Project for information on raising tadpoles in containers.
http://www.fdrproject.org.au/pages/POtads.htm
I too have raised some tadpoles in containers ( bowls, old fish aquariums etc) to save them from birds. When my kids were little ( a long time ago now!) I found a little book in my local Library by Alastair Bax on raising tadpoles and frogs and later bought my own copy. He outlines how to make frog nurseries using broccoli boxes freely available from your local green grocer ( if you ask nicely). Broccoli boxes also make great temporary ponds for tadpoles. I used to cover mine with plastic mesh, about 2cm square, to stop the birds.
I just checked and the book is still available here:
http://www.ranafrog.org.au/stuff.htm
I’m sure your tree frog will be back calling near your bedroom window when Spring comes. My Peron’s tree frogs are silent now and I have not seen their heads peeking out of the hanging pots for about 3 weeks. Too cold in Sydney now! The little Crinia froglets have been out by the pond each night – calling and laying eggs! I think they will be quieter from now on.
Here is my latest frog picture taken about 3 weeks ago.
My best wishes to your family and tadpoles/frogs. I must say I am a little jealous – I wish we had green tree frogs here! 🙂
Sue
Hi Sue,
I love your frogs, they are so cool. You have certainly created a wonderful habitat for the little croakers. Terrific photos.
We are both very excited as we may, that is may, have some tadpoles in our mini-pond out the back. They look like tiny tadpoles although we did not have any mass spawning foam. Fingers crossed, we’ll keep you posted. Anyhow, it prompted us to add some rocks and we are going to plant more ground covers and ferns close-by.
Great site, love the design.
Brad C. 😉
Hi Brad,
Thank you, I’m pleased you enjoyed looking at the photos of my frog friends.
I hope you DO have tadpoles in your mini-pond. Even though it is winter some frogs will still call and breed particularly after a bit of rain. I found some baby Common Eastern Froglet tadpoles (Crinia signifera) in my pond about 2 weeks ago. It prompted me to carry out much needed maintenance on my pond ready for Spring.
Not all frogs produce a foam raft when they spawn. The Common Froglet for example often lays eggs singly in shallow water. I tend to find them all over the place attached to vegetation or on the gently sloping areas of the pond walls. Sometimes they will be in a cluster if all laid at the same time. Either way they can be very hard to find.
Adding more foliage around your pond is a good idea. Rocks and logs to create hidey holes are very important especially if you want your frogs to stay. I have good old Mondo grass in clumps close to the edge of my pond – both standard and dwarf varieties. A few pockets of little flowers like Lobelia and Sweet Alice as well as some Rock Daisy (Brachycome multifida.) and Violets. A little further back there are Day Lilies which provide lots of cover as well – they die back a bit in winter but are great once the weather warms up. Rocks are placed around the edge and overlap creating caves for frogs to hide in.
I look forward to hearing more about your pond. Keep me posted.
Best wishes,
Sue
Nice post u have here 😀 Added to my RSS reader
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!
I have tree frog foam in my backyard, with the wet summer in Portland Or this yr…we have a small pond in our front yard for the neighbor hood. I am concern that when the baby tadpoe or frog hatch..I have no backyard pond or water…should I be getting some kind of pond water reaDY FOR THEM??
I live in Townsville and last night saw a perons tree frog for the first time. I usually have big green tree frogs around my place but couldn’t believe when I saw a grey frog with yellow under it’s legs. I looked it up and it is a perons tree frog. Is it normal for it to be this far north? I love frogs and it really made my day. 🙂
The Peron is one of my favourites! 🙂
I’ve just looked at the distribution maps and Townsville does look a little far north. Still, I don’t doubt that you have indeed found a Perons Tree frog at your place. I suggest you take a picture if you can and post it on the frogs.org.au Community Forum so some of the experts can identify him. I do have quite a few Perons pictures on My Backyard for you to check against.
Sue, I took some photos of it and I shall post it on frogs.org.au thanks 🙂
OK, good.
If you would like me to add your picture here, email it to me at sue@mybackyard.info
Sue
I love peron’s tree frogs, they are so cute!!
i love my pet one, love hearing him at night, and i love the ones in my garden down the coast(and the leaf green tree frogs)
they would have to be my fav frog of them all
Hi Sarah,
Ditto your comments about those cute Peron’s Tree Frogs
🙂 Sue
Wow. I was only interested in shooing him off the window sill (he’s been calling constantly the past few nights keeping the kids awake), until I saw the colouring on his back legs. It’s so striking, especially compared to the rest of the body – depending on time of day he’s usually a washed out white/grey/brown colour.
Hi Carol,
Our Peron’s Tree Frogs like to sit on the window sill as well. It is a great spot to catch dinner as insects are drawn to the light that spills out the window at night. Do your kids have a night light? Perhaps that is why your visitor sits on the sill.
I agree the thigh markings are incredible for what, on first glance, appears to be a fairly dull looking little frog. I really love the patterns in the iris as well.
Sue
hello sue, i stumbled across your blog but don’t know where you are. it’s probably in your info somewhere, but do you think it would be an idea for passers-by (such as me) for you to have a tiny box saying what state/city/suburb you are?
For example, i found your blog cause i live in summer hill, sydney, and my pond’s striped marsh frogs have stopped calling and seem to have been replaced by something that calls very much like peron’s frog.
If i knew you were in, say, rockhampton, qld, i would view things differently than if you were 5km down the road. cheers, daniel
I just found a Peron’s tree frog on my bin. We’ve been hearing a frog in our tiny backyard pond for a few months, but not the maniacal cackle I just read about for Perons, rather a single short hammer-like sound every 6 seconds or so. We haven’t been able to see it, and I could hear it in the pond when I saw this one on the bin, so there are at least two. Could this kind of call still be a Peron’s – a female perhaps? Otherwise I must have two different kinds of frog!
Maria
Hi Daniel,
Good point. I will get around writing a profile sometime. We are in the Suburbs of Sydney – North West.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about the Marsh frog not calling. I’ve had the same thing happen in the past. He did come back. I just assumed he was off on a foraging expedition. I have lost some in the pool as they couldn’t climb out. Watch out for cats and dogs too. We keep our furry friend inside at night.
I can tell you that the Striped Marsh Frogs tend to drive off other frogs. My Perons were very quiet when the Marsh Frogs were active.
Sue
My Perons will make a short call as you describe when they are young. Or when someone turns a tap on in the kitchen during the day. The full call only seems to happen when they are calling by the water and then they pick a spot which seems to amplify the sound.
The females do not call but you may have more than one type of frog around. I bet the bin is a great place to grab insects for tea 🙂
Sue
Thanks Sue – I haven’t been on the website since! And I haven’t seen him since, but I still hear him every day. Looking forward to maybe hearing the full call sometime!
Maria
Just need some advice….earlier this year I was emptying my pool for dismantling and had left about 10cm of water in over a number of weeks. When I went to empty this out I found a large number of tadpoles had taken up residence (maybe 100 or so). Since then I have tended to them and nearly all morphed into frogs, I still have some in the last stages. From the calls I heard earlier in the year and from the looks of the young frogs I believe they are Peron’s Tree Frogs. Most so far have decided that my pool and the gap between the lining and the frame is the perfect home. I’m not sure that my backyard can sustain that many frogs.
Just wondering will they disperse or should I look at relocating them?
Hi Lisa,
How wonderful!
I think the frogs will move on if food is a problem. I’ve found frogs around the front of the house at night so I’m sure they visit neighbours or move on if they need to. As the temperatures drop and Winter sets in they seem to disperse and hide somewhere and I guess many don’t make it due to all sorts of natural causes. I keep the garden frog friendly and the cat in at night. That is the best I can do. I believe in letting nature take its course and establishing a sustainable balance in the backyard.
I hope you consider keeping a frog friendly pond in your garden for next year’s visitors 🙂
Best wishes,
Sue
I was wondering how often/much you should feeds fully grown one
Thanks James 🙂
Hi James,
I don’t feed the Peron’s frogs outside at all. They are wild and take care of themselves. I do however have a couple of garden lights to attract insects at night. The pet frogs inside are feed every few days in warm weather, less often in cold weather.