Amazon Milk Frog Care Guide For Absolute Beginners

Amazon milk frogs are visually striking, bold, and easily handled frogs that any pet lovers want to keep as pets. But, these frogs have some special requirements. For these reasons, you might hear that only experienced owners are appreciated to pet amazon milk frogs. Nevertheless, absolute beginners can also keep these frogs as pets if they get a complete amazon milk frog care guide.

In this article, I have summed up all information about habitat setup, optimal temperature & humidity, handling, reproduction, and so on. So, if you want a foolproof care guide for milk frogs as a beginner, I will urge you to go through this article.

Are Amazon Milk Frogs Easy to Care For?

If you learn to fulfill basic needs, any frogs will be easy to care for. So, this question is a bit tricky to answer whether amazon milk frogs are easy to care for or not.

Generally, experienced owners can easily pet amazon milk frogs. The requirements are pretty challenging to maintain than some other frogs. Hence, absolute beginners may not find amazon milk frogs easy to care for.

No wonder all pet lovers, irrespective of their experiences, can own an amazon milk frog. But, you should get a complete care guide to ensure its healthy maintenance. Then, you will find your amazon milk frogs easy to care for.

Amazon Milk Frog Overview

Before checking out the complete care guide, you should take a quick look at the amazon milk frog overview. This short overview will help you realize the care level of the amazon milk frog.

Scientific Name	Trachycephalus resinifictrix
Common Name	Amazon milk frog or mission golden-eyed tree frog
Size	3-4 inches
Temperament	Friendly and docile
Optimal temperature	65-85 degrees Fahrenheit
Optimal humidity	50-90%
Diet	Carnivores
Care level	Moderate
Lifespan	Around eight years or more

How Do You Take Care Of An Amazon Milk Frog?

Taking care of your pet means setting up its housing with accurate conditions, ensuring proper feeding and handling guide, etc. Besides, during the breeding period, you should make a breeding-friendly habitat for these frogs. So, you must know about their requirements first.

Let’s start with their habitat setup conditions and care guide.

Housing Setup: How Many Gallons Does An Amazon Milk Frog Need?

You might have known that amazon milk frogs are arboreal. Also, these amazon milk frogs grow up to 4 inches.

Hence, these frogs require large space in captivity. Besides, you should remain concerned about the height of the tank as milk frogs love to climb a lot.

However, the size of the tank depends on the number of frogs you want to keep. I’ve made a small chart mentioning the required size of the tank according to the number of frogs.

Let’s check this out.

Number of frogs	Tank size in inches
1-2 adult amazon milk frogs	20″×10″×24”
2-4 adult amazon milk frogs	18″×18″×24”
Up to five adult amazon milk frogs	24″×18″×24”

On the other hand, if your pet frog is juvenile, you can buy a tank of 10 gallons. Make sure that the tank should not be too large to make it hard to monitor your pet frog.

Usually, the experienced owners recommend buying glass tanks. Such is because glass tanks allow heat to escape and keep the enclosure moderately cool.

After all, these frogs are accustomed to living in slightly humid environments in the wild.

Décor And Accessories

In the wild, amazon milk frogs spend a great time on trees in the rainforest. So, if you want to mimic the wild environment, you should bring some essential décor and accessories. These décor items will enhance the natural vibe in captivity.

Here, I made a list of suitable décor items that you can keep in the amazon milk frog terrarium. These are-

Live plants or artificial plants
Vines
Branches
Moss
Woods
Bromeliads
Cork bark
Water bowl
Bamboo poles
Rocks
Ledges
Sections of PVC pipes
Hiding spots

Substrate

Since amazon milk frogs are arboreal, these frogs spend a little time on the ground. For this reason, the experienced owners do not find any necessity to add substrate in captivity.

These amazon milk frogs give all beginners the advantage of cleaning the tank bottom pretty easily because of the absence of substrates.

However, if you want to add substrate, you should keep in mind a few things. These are-

Easy to clean
Hold much moisture
Not swallowable
Not having any sharp edge
Should not contain perlite or vermiculite
Gravel, bark chirping, reptile cage carpet, soil, etc, should be avoided.

There are several suitable options for the substrate. For baby and juvenile amazon milk frogs, you can use a moist paper towel and sphagnum moss as substrate. In the case of paper towels, you should ensure that they are not soaking wet.

Also, you can use foam rubber and coconut husk fiber as the substrate for your pet frogs. Besides, you can keep an adult amazon milk frog above water instead of any substrate.

I have researched a while to find out the best substrate for amazon milk frogs. Thus, I have acknowledged several positive reviews and recommendations from the experienced owners for Zoo Med Eco Earth and Zoo Med Repti Soil.

Heat: What Temperature Do Milk Frogs Need?

In the tropical rainforest of South America, Amazon milk frogs are accustomed to living in moderate temperatures throughout the years.

In captivity, amazon milk frogs require a constant temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit in their tank. However, these milk frogs can tolerate temperature swings.

Another thing to know is that amazon milk frogs are ectotherms. It means that these frogs rely on the temperature of their surroundings. So, you should adjust the heat source to keep your pet amazon milk frogs warm.

As a beginner, you should take care of a few things to achieve the optimal temperature in the tank.

These are-

1. Creating A Basking Area

You should choose low wattage bulb to fix in the basking area. For this, you can choose a white incandescent bulb. Taking the suggestions of experienced owners, I recommend checking out Exo Terra Night Heat Bulb Reptile Lamp.

The basking area of amazon milk frogs should be 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides, you should keep the shaded area within 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

If your milk frog does not get enough warmth, you should buy a bulb of higher wattage.

2. Setting Up Heat Mat

You can adjust a thermostat regulating heat mat under the glass tank or on one side of the tank. But, the experienced owners advised to set up a heat mat on one side of the tank to ensure the best care of your frog.

Do not forget to balance the temperature of both the warm zone and cool zone. Also, you have to be careful not to let the temperature exceed 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Regulating The Day And Night Temperature

Daytime temperature	80-85 degrees Fahrenheit
Night-time temperature	Can fall to 65 degrees Fahrenheit

4. Monitoring The Temperature Regularly

To take proper care of your milk frogs, you should regularly check the tank temperature with an accurate thermometer. For this, I recommend going for Zoo Med ReptiTemp Digital Infrared Thermometer.

Humidity: What Humidity Do Amazon Milk Frogs Need?

Amazon milk frog loves to thrive in high humidity. In the wild, these frogs remain in the high humidity of 77%-88% all the time. Hence, the tropical rainforest always remains wet and humid.

So, you must ensure the same humidity level as wild in captivity.

Amazon milk frogs need 50%-90% humidity to survive in captivity. These frogs can do well when the humidity level spikes up to 100%. But, this range of humidity should not get lower than 50%.

If you want to care for your pet frog properly, you should ensure the ideal humidity range in the frog terrarium. Hence, you need to mist the milk frog tank twice a day. Make sure to use dechlorinated water or reverse osmosis water for misting the terrarium.

Besides, you can adjust the automatic misting system to avoid any hassle. To ensure optimal humidity all time, you should monitor the humidity level regularly with a digital probe hygrometer.

Lighting

You might have known that amazon milk frogs are nocturnal. So, based on the availability of lighting, these frogs remain asleep in the daytime.

On the other hand, they remain active at night. Hence, you should adjust proper lightings to the milk frog tank.

Besides, you can adjust fluorescent light with the natural color spectrum of 5000-6500K. But, you should replace the compact fluorescent light every six months.

Do Amazon Milk Frogs Need UVB Light?

Amazon milk frogs get plenty of UVB light in the rainforest.

This UVB light helps these frogs synthesize vitamin D3 inside their skin. Hence, amazon milk frogs require UVB light in captivity too. Because of the inadequate availability of UVB, your pet milk frog might suffer from metabolic bone disease.

You can fix UVB light bulbs of 2.0-5.0 strength. Keep it directly over the screen section of the tank cover. I recommend you to check Zoo Med ReptiSun UVB for ensuring the perfect light source for milk frogs.

Diet

Amazon milk frogs are not only insectivores but also voracious eaters. That means these frogs eat any moving things that fit in their mouth.

In captivity, you should choose such insects and small invertebrates that are relatively easy to digest. Besides, make sure that the insects are high in protein. You must ensure a healthy and nutritional diet to ensure proper care of your milk frogs.

What Do Amazon Milk Frogs Eat?

There are several food options in the diet list of amazon milk frogs. A small reminder is to provide live insects to your milk frogs. However, I have made a small list of what milk frogs can eat. Let’s take a look.

Crickets
Dubia roaches
Discoid roaches
Black soldier fly larvae
Black soldier flies
Houseflies
Flightless fruit flies
Locusts
Calciworms
Mealworms
Earthworms
Silkworms
Waxworms
Hornworms
Caterpillars
Cockroaches

How Often Should You Feed Amazon Milk Frogs?

The amount of food depends on the age of your amazon milk frog. To assure the best care of your frog, you should feed the required amount of food to your pet frog.

If your amazon milk frog is an adult, you will need to feed the frog only 2-3 days per week. In each feeding, you must offer 3-10 insects to your frog. On the other hand, a juvenile milk frog requires daily feeding.

Besides, you should feed baby amazon milk frogs twice a day as they grow fast. However, If you want your milk frog happy, you must ensure to fulfill their stomach.

Do Amazon Milk Frogs Eat Fruit Flies?

You must have known the thumb rule of choosing insects of accurate size for your pets. That is to select those insects that are not larger than the space between the two eyes of your frogs.

Fruit flies can be an excellent food option for your amazon milk frog. But, you should not give these fruit flies to baby milk frogs. Otherwise, juvenile and young milk frogs can happily consume fruit flies.

Some frog owners offer fruit flies as staple foods for milk frogs too.

Supplementation

Since it is impossible to recreate the wild diet in captivity, you should gut load the insects beforehand. In the form of supplementation, the owners fulfill the needs of vitamins, minerals, and calcium.

Hence, you must dust the insects before offering your milk frogs vitamin A, vitamin D3, and calcium supplementation. In the case of juvenile milk frogs, you should gut load insects in each feeding.

But, in terms of adult amazon milk frogs, you can use supplements in every other feeding.

Water

You must keep a water bowl with fresh water in the tank of amazon milk frogs. In the wild, these frogs tend to spend a large time in the water-filled holes. So, in captivity, you can keep this replacement with a water dish.

Make sure that the water is dechlorinated and free of chloramine. Also, keep in mind that you can not use plain tap water. Besides, you should change the water frequently.

However, you can also mist the tank regularly to avoid dehydration of your milk frogs.

Handling: Can You Handle Amazon Milk Frogs?

Since the skin of amazon milk frogs is permeable, human touch can cause great harm to them. When any beginner makes the mistake of holding the amazon milk frog, the frog skin absorbs the naturally occurring salts and oils.

The experts and experienced owners strongly discourage holding or touching amazon milk frogs. Especially, in the case of juvenile milk frogs, you must not try to handle or cuddle your pet. These juvenile milk frogs remain pretty fragile to handle.

In consequence, your milk frog might fall sick and eventually die.

However, if there is an emergency, you can handle your amazon milk frog by taking proper precautions. A gentle reminder is to handle your milk frog when it gets 2 inches or longer.

Before handling your pet milk frog, you must maintain several rules. These are-

Wash your hands well before touching your frog.
Then, you should moisten your hands.
Besides, you can use clean, powder-free, disposable gloves to hold your frogs.
After holding your milk frogs, you must wash your hands or gloves with warm water and soap.

Tank Mates

It is pretty difficult to manage pets of different species together. If you are an absolute beginner, you must avoid keeping different animals as tank mates of amazon milk frogs.

Moreover, there are chances of hurting each other when you make your milk frogs share their tank with different types of tank mates.

But, amazon milk frogs remain happy in a group of the same species. So, you can easily house 4-5 amazon milk frogs together. As long as these frogs get enough room in the tank, these frogs do great as tank mates with each other.

Reproduction Care

If you want to breed your amazon milk frogs, you should ensure the environmental conditions as wild in the captivity. So, firstly, you should take care of setting up a proper environment for breeding.

Then, you have to take care of the eggs and tadpoles of your amazon milk frogs.

Here, I shall try to enlighten you about reproduction care of your pet amazon milk frogs. If you are an absolute beginner, this may help you care for your milk frogs.

Although amazon milk frogs can breed throughout the year, these frogs prefer the rainy season for breeding. Hence, you should recreate the vibe of the rainy season in the tank.
For this, you should alter the humidity range and temperature in the tank. Otherwise, you can use a rain chamber to help your milk frogs breed. If you want to know how to create a rain chamber, you can check out tree frog breeding.
The temperature of the rain chamber has to be around 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the wild, you’ll find amazon milk frogs laying eggs in the water-filled tree holes. To replicate this condition, you can use a large water bowl as water-filled holes.
If this is possible, you should put the water dish onto the tree bark or branches. Make sure that the water bowl fits in the bark tube.
Besides, some breeders tend to fill up the bottom of the tank with water. Then, the breeders place lots of suitable objects, including tubes, cork bark, etc. It will turn the entire terrarium into a big tree hole that helps your milk frogs deposit eggs.
Do not forget to change the water daily.
To increase the success rate of breeding, you should fewer female amazon milk frogs in favor of more male milk frogs.

Tadpole Care

You should prepare your mind to welcome hundreds of tiny milk frogs after their successful breeding. Hence, you must make arrangements beforehand.

After each successful breeding, there remain around 100-150 eggs in each clutch. The first step of tadpole care is to remove the milk frog eggs and keep them in a separate container.

Secondly, you must ensure water quality. For this, you can adjust a sponge filter. Otherwise, you have to change 30% water manually 2-3 times a week.

Also, keep the water temperature within 74-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides, you can provide UVB radiation by adjusting the 2.0-5.0 strength bulb.

Lastly, you must ensure a proper diet with vitamin and mineral supplements.

Cleaning And Maintenance

You must clean the substrate daily and remove the poop, urates, etc. Besides, you have to replace all substrates frequently.
Do not ever use soap or detergents for cleaning the milk frog tank and other décor items.
Also, you must ensure replacing the water of the water bowl regularly.
Further, you can scrub the water dish, hideouts, rocks, and other tank items with hot water.
Monitor your pet frogs’ health regularly. Make sure that the milk frogs are gaining proper weight according to their age.
Moreover, if you see any signs of sickness, you must take your milk frog to a veteran.
Besides, you must check the thermometer and hygrometer daily. If the temperature and humidity do not remain within an ideal range.

Final Words