Cuban Tree Frogs

Of all of the places in the world, New Jersey's plant section at Home Depot is one of the most convenient places to find your typical houseplants, but not many know it's also one of the strangest places to jumpstart your own herpetology adventure. It was the middle of winter when I was browsing the aisle, and somehow picked up a small bamboo plant that happened to have the cutest small frog looking straight at me with its huge round eyes, desperately clinging to the roots of the plant. The next thing I know, I have a new foreign, destructive, bloodthirsty, and barbaric Cuban pet to take care of for the next decade or so.

Rescuing HD

With the help of some Herpetologists online, my new friend (Home Depot/HD) is a Cuban Tree Frog that can live for 5-10 years in the wild and 12.9 years in captivity, given the scientific name: Osteopilus septentrionalis. Adult Cuban Tree Frogs can grow to 2-6 inches long (females tending to be much larger than males) and can change their colors from pale to dark brown/green, patterning from solid to speckled, all depending on how active/camouflaged they are as a nocturnal species. They are easy to recognize from their bulging eyes and large circular toe pads as well. They also have a thin slime coat of toxins that can irritate the skin and eyes when coming in contact, but keeps them from drying out and protects them from predators.

He turns pale when hiding

Here are his markings

But how could this frog have survived the journey all the way from Cuba?

The beginning of their great invasion began back in the 1920s when these creatures clung to the sides of cargo ships, hitching a ride from Cuba to Florida, and many other tropical areas. Cuban Tree Frogs are an exceptionally hardy species that are highly invasive in Florida, and are encouraged to be killed humanely to combat the struggle between native frog species and their foreign competition. Cuban Tree Frogs are well known for their voracious appetite and how they can eat almost anything that fits into their mouths: various insects, small lizards, tadpoles, many other frogs, and even their own species. They can be found almost anywhere, all year round in Florida especially with how they can easily rebound and thrive after hurricanes by rapidly dispersing. 

"Honestly, if clogging toilets and causing power outages
 doesn't seem annoying, I don't know what is."

These frogs pose a very apparent threat to the amphibians of Florida by taking up limited space in areas of increasing habitat loss, aggressively competing for food, competing with indigenous tadpoles and larva, and adding pressure on the overall survival of important native frogs. Their loud mating calls, abundance, and their history of wreaking havoc on native frog species is what truly makes these frogs a pest in Florida. In addition, they can even be found in toilets, vents, and pipes, and are even responsible for short circuiting utility switches. (Click here for more information)

When finding a Cuban Tree Frog in Florida, it is advised to euthanize them with toothache gels or by freezing them in a ziplock bag, since re-releasing them into the wild is considered to be illegal. People can also take a picture and report their location of a Cuban Tree Frog sighting to scientists at the University of Florida.

But as for how I've found my tiny friend, I can only assume he made it to New Jersey in the winter with pure luck and amazing resilience.