Sharing the story of a rescued gray tree frog named Charlie

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DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Hyla versicolor, the North American gray tree frog

I moved into a house this past year that borders a natural wetland preserve. Lots of amphibians and other wildlife about my property. I noticed that the nocturnal gray tree frogs would sleep under the cover of my outdoor hot tub, but I did not think anything of it. When the weather started to cool I made sure to shoo away any frogs so they had to figure out the cooling weather.

Unfortunately I missed one frog. One frog who had crawled through a narrow slit and into the filtration area of the hot tub. Which was about 100% humidity, 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and completely trapped once he got inside.

See below on the left is how I found him on November 18, 2018. Starving and near death. I brought him inside, cooled him down over 24 hours. I slow started to feed him every other day. Feed 1-2 crickets. Wait for poop. Feed again. The right side of the picture is November 22.
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These pictures are from December 16. He was starting to look like a normal frog again.
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These pictures are from December 18 to December 24. He was in a small container at first. This was basically quarantine to monitor his recovery.
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I got Charlie his own 10 gallon enclosure. Not that fancy, but he seems to enjoy it very much. My wild boy often tries to figure out the top cover to escape. He is a fighter! Pictured below is him comfy and sleeping in the upper-rightmost part of the enclosure on cork bark. He loves this spot to sleep on.
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Now he sings almost every day. Here is a blurry photo I caught of him singing!
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I was told conflicting stories by different agencies I contacted in my home state. Every one I talk too either says I need to turn over a wild animal to an animal hospital or that it is cruel and inhumane to take a wild animal with injuries and reintroduce them to the wild so he must remain in human care. No one agrees on what to do but they all agree I am terribly irresponsible by not checking my hot tub thoroughly enough. I was at least checking and thinking about the wildlife around my house. For the next fall I know to check the filtration cover as well. I might be able to add a screen or get a new cover that is safe to keep frogs out.

I'm keeping Charlie. His singing tells me he believes he is in never-ending spring and feels great. By his call I am sure he is Hyla versicolor and I am quite sure he is a he. No idea on age. He could be an old frog for all I know. I'm giving him the good life. Later this year I want to give Charlie some neighbor frogs he can sing too, bought from a reputable breeder of course. I've never had White's Tree Frogs and always wanted some. Right now my bearded dragon Devlyn is in the same space and gets to enjoy (or tolerate, lol) his singing.
 

DorgEndo

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Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
CooperDragon":2edy1gju said:
I'm glad you were able to revive him! It sounds like he's healthy and content now =)
I'm aiming to make him happy Cooper

After putting in effort to add color for my dragon I felt bad for Charlie. His cage was the ultimate for camoflouge, because I tend to only see him once a week, but hear him every day. Added frog safe decorations and color. He took to the additions immediately!
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Also featuring that time is looked like I had a single pet cricket in my enclosure xD
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DorgEndo

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Devlyn
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Best picture I ever got of him. After eating, before pooping, looking like the ones king of the tank. He's healthy frog shaped, I promise

Also adding some frog logic - the human won't see me if I stop moving...

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DorgEndo

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Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
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Mini Charlie update. He is at least 2 years old now. Who knows. He accepts feeders from tongs but mostly he gets to hunt his food down. He rarely gets out of his tank, just for bigger cleaning days. Spot cleaning works very well.

He always weighs about 11 grams. Except for his starvation and trapped episode he seems healthy. Gets to live the easy life. Still singing
 
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Things to do:
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