Dendropsophus ebraccatus

This is a very active treefrog species, and resilient in regards to temperature. As young frogs, a staple of fruit flies suffices, but adult frogs require something more substantive such as 1/2 crickets. They can consume rather large prey for their size.

Breeding males will often start calling in the early evening, and call past midnight from marginal plants and the few inches of glass just above the waterline. The leaves of Philodendron verrucosum are a favorite sleeping place and egg laying site. Mating pairs will sometimes stay in amplexus for days at the beginning of a wet season, although the females do not cease hunting typically, and will do so with the male firmly attached. Breeding can be induced by putting the frogs in a rain chamber or flooding the tank (which I find easier and less stressful as the frogs can continue to eat normally). The main trigger seems to be a drop in pressure, and eggs are most often laid in the days surrounding large storms.

There can be anywhere from 30-300 eggs laid on average, but most commonly there results between 40 and 100 fertile eggs that go onto metamorphosis. Eggs develop quickly, and it is clear within 36 hours if they will be fertile. After about 6 days the tadpoles drop into the water and spend another 5-8 weeks in the water before morphing out. A staple of spirolina with occasional fish food works well, and tadpoles benefit from having heated water (I keep them at a constant 74F degrees) and some form of filtration (via sponge filters) if not in a heavily planted tank. Morph out times in my experience have been very similar for tadpoles left in the parent tank and those reared in designated bins.

This frog below was about nine years when this photograph was taken, after he had outlived all his siblings. His jaw is slightly protruded. This seems to be a species that is not very long lived unfortunately. My suspicion is this particular frog lived so long because he resided in a cold basement for half a decade, and it slowed his aging down.


Some offspring about two weeks out of the water.

and one with atypical coloration and almost entirely black eyes,

*A note on raising the offspring- they can be left to morph out in the adult tank with no issue, but I have found it beneficial to pull them to be raised in a more or less sterile setup until they are almost full size.  This consists of a sealed bin with moist papertowel.  I do not use any plants or cage decor and feed them flies every evening until they are large enough to take small crickets (usually around 4 months).

Here, a particularly nice frog with aberrant patterns,

This is the terrarium that my frogs are housed in year round.  Some people use rain chambers to breed, but I find this easier as there is no transition or need to create two terrariums.  The bottom can be flooded or drained as necessary, and they will breed more or less continuously throughout the year in this setup.