After much anxious reading of frog forums, the frog has been containerized! In a sort-of terrarium made from one of our large (15") outdoor pots. It has a top made from a large clear plastic catering service salad bowl to keep him inside and safe from wandering, which he was starting to do at night. We choose the pot because it is one of the ones the frogs favor when they are out on the deck where they are supposed to be. In accordance with frog forum research, it has been furnished with some dry leaf litter, a water bowl, a bowl for crickets, and some appropriate plants. He has already found a favorite one to snuggle into during the day, and is eating crickets during the night from his bowl. We hope this will suit him till the end of March or so when he can go back out on the deck.
We know from experience that grey tree frogs are creatures of habit, who tend to settle on a particular place to spend their days (the large outdoor watering cans on the patio are another favorite) so we suspect he was a bit annoyed at being moved from his special place and confined. The second morning in the "terrarium" we found that he had pushed off the cover(!) and escaped(!!) but fortunately he was apprehended clinging to a jug of rainwater halfway back to his fern. The salad bowl is now attached more securely with two pieces of duct tape. He seems to be content and is singing right now.
I attach two pictures as proof of life.
One word of caution. When using duct tape to secure things around herps you want to be certain that there's no exposed adhesive. I once had to peel duct tape off of a white lipped tree viper, Trimerusurus albolabris.
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The first tree frog of spring!
I was surprised to see this little one since it was low 50 F yesterday.
He was on an Amaryllis leaf and VERY reluctant to move.
Size was about a US quarter coin.