Bonjour!

Ok so I don't really speak French. But! I recently had a grey tree frog fall almost right in my lap and have decided now is the perfect time for me to take care of her. She is about 2" in length and has the same feisty fighter spirit that I do. I've been observing her for the past 3 days and am beginning to understand her various color changes (tan/beige means content/resting, light green means playful/curious, dark green/brown means upset/stressed) and her daily routine (chill out from sunrise to mid-afternoon, maybe eat/do a poo, then exploring/playing/jumping/climbing all night). She has been eating, which I am grateful for because I'd read that capturing a wild frog can stress them out so much that they stop eating for a day or two. MPG has been eating about 20 small crickets every 3 days or so. I spritz her down every day and keep a small dish with water in it so she can soak to her heart's content. I put her in the terrarium Friday and, though I'm going to clean it today, shouldn't HAVE to clean it but once every week. I'm doing it today so when I put the new items I purchase in, it will be clean and comforting, not with bits of poo and dead, uneaten crickets (out of the 20, there are 5 dead and 2 still alive).

Taking care of this frog will hopefully bring about changes to my habits, routine, and personality that will help me be a better person, a better adult, a better friend, a better caregiver. Something so delicate, so influenced by its environment. My only choice is to improve myself in order to keep her healthy. And her presence in my life will help me understand things like change, and how to deal with it when it happens not only to your personal self but to the environment you inhabit. Frogs are inherently equipped to deal with such matters; losing a tail and growing legs AND being able to survive in water and on land are evolutionary steps that probably breed resilience. But taking a wild frog and putting her in a glass terrarium in a human being's bedroom is a change even MPG has no evolutionary basis for. How she adapts, and how successful I am at making her transition as positive and comforting as possible, will be detailed in future posts. Maybe by the next post, she'll have a name? Or I'll just keep calling her MPG and it will stick and she won't receive a new name until I get a significant other that demands I give her a "real" name. Though most people that would consider being my significant other would be the type that plays along and calls her MPG too.

Things to purchase from pet supply store today:
+ 20 small crickets
+ proper wading dish (I've been using small dishes I had in my room)
+ some sort of treat for not trying to escape when I pop the lid to clean/feed (grasshoppers?)
+ climbing/hiding stuff

Once I have settled down in my new place (moving in September), I'll take pictures of the set-up and my lovely MPG.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this earlier, but now I'm being reminded as I clean MPG's living space. The fact that she, as well as just about every other tree frog, is nocturnal means that cleaning is relatively hassle-free. If I had done this later in the afternoon, when she is beginning to be more active and aware of what's happening in her environment, I would have had to trick her and trap her and outsmart her to keep her from jumping out every time I lifted the lid. Or waited until she lost interest. I've seen her get fixated on playing the 'Escape!' game for a VERY long time so being able to lift the lid, get in and clean and get out is great. And it's win-win: I don't get that gross feeling like I'm playing a mean trick and she doesn't get stressed out. And she's kind of cute, all lumped against her humidity/temp gauge, displaying her content colors.