Tree frogs can make an entertaining and fairly low-maintenance pet. The frogs become active at dusk, and it can be easy to fill an evening watching them climb, hunt, and interact with each other in their habitat. When bedtime rolls around, however, the frog noise at night can frustrate sleepy frog owners. Although it can be reduced, there is no way to completely eliminate frog vocalizations.
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Why is there frog noise at night?
Frogs typically croak when conditions are right for breeding. That includes sufficient moisture and temperature to stimulate the frog's breeding instincts. These favorable conditions encourage the male frog croaking in order to attract a female with whom to mate. Frogs are nocturnal and feel more comfortable mating when they're not as easily visible to potential predators.
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A lonely male frog will croak night after night, hoping to lure a female to his cage. You might be surprised at the wide range of sounds he'll make to find just the right one to get a mate to respond. Tree frogs can do more than make a barking sound; the wide repertoire of sounds includes chirps, snores, and catlike sounds. In all likelihood, he's more likely to get you to respond in a frustrated effort to figure out how to get him quiet so you can sleep.
Making sure your male frog has a female with whom to mate can reduce the amount of croaking. However, in some species, such as the red-eyed tree frog popular in the pet trade, the mating ritual starts with a musical croaking concerto of one or more males. This type of frog croaking sound is much shorter-lived, however, than the lonely male calling out for a mate throughout the entire night.
Change the environment
The conditions ideal for breeding vary among tree frog species; however, it's likely your indoor environment is just right to encourage frog croaking at night. When you bring your pets home from the pet store, you're given instructions about the temperature, humidity, and water requirements that are needed to keep your pet healthy.
Frogs need high humidity to keep their skin moist as well as to breed. However, you can plan to mist the plants in the frog aquarium in the morning rather than in the evening. Higher humidity levels will encourage the urge to mate and inspire frogs to croak at night.
Keep your frogs in a cool location that isn't drafty. This will allow you to lower the heating thermostat and let the temperature come down to the lower end of your frog's ideal temperature range. Red-eyed tree frogs, for example, can do just fine in an aquarium that dips down to 65 degrees Fahrenheit at night. If you keep your house warmer, even room temperature will provide enough warmth for the frogs to breed.
Remove the male
Male frogs are the only ones who croak, so it makes sense that you can eliminate frog croaking sounds by selling or trading any males in the habitat. Females, however, make their own frog noise at night. Some species of tree frogs can make a wide range of sounds, such as screams or clapping sounds.
Keeping a male and female together will keep the croaking at night to a minimum. After all, he won't have to call out for a mate if one is already there. If your male frog continues the frog noise at night, it might mean that she's not to his liking. Try trading her for a different female.
Learn to enjoy it
Although you probably won't be able to sleep through frogs croaking at night if you keep their housing in your bedroom, you can likely position it somewhere in your home where it will be less obtrusive to your slumber. A room with a closed door is ideal, such as a home office or study with a door that closes. This puts two closed doors between you and the croaking frogs.