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Atlas / Library / Tree Frog / Waxy Monkey Tree Frog
IntermediateIUCN LC
Tree Frog

Waxy Monkey Tree Frog

Phyllomedusa sauvagiiกบลิงขี้ผึ้ง

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. exo-terra.com

Photograph: Tomás Carranza Perales · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. The sheet states a night temperature, so the rail follows it.

Arboreal · warm · middlingFrom the sheet: 26–32°C, humidity 40–60%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/phyllomedusa-sauvagii

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature26–32 °C
Humidity40–60 %
Enclosure45×45×60

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
26–32°Ambient
20–22°Night

One ambient band, 26–32°C, dropping to 20–22°C at night. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states26-32 °C; basking spot 35-38 °C warm side; night 20-22 °C; semi-arid species tolerates heat

Humidity

40–60%Target RH

The sheet states40-60% (LOW for a tree frog); do not maintain at 70-80% continuously - risk of serious skin infections; light nocturnal misting 1×/day

UVB

5–10%beneficial

The sheet statesUVB 5–10% recommended (partly diurnal species, natural basking); photoperiod 12–14 h; basking heat lamp

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m7–8 cm ♂
1520100400 cm
7–8 cmNose to tail, adult ♂

The size the sheet states for a grown animal. This sheet gives a figure per sex; the one drawn is marked.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Adult size
♂ 7–8 cm SVL; ♀ 9–10 cm; juvenile ~1.5 cm
Lifespan
8–12 years in captivity
Legal status
Unrestricted
Difficulty
Intermediate (low humidity: counter-intuitive for a tree frog)
Origin / habitat
Cohabitation
Groups of 4–8 individuals; community species; characteristic slow-walking behaviour

How common this animal is

13,004Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

45 cm60 cm
waterUVB tube
50100150200 cm
45 × 45 × 60 cmWidth × depth × height
20dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our dataWarm side: not in our dataHides: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesArboreal vivarium 45×45×60 cm for 3-4 individuals; well ventilated (mesh side); horizontal branches for 'walking'

Terrarium / aquarium
Arboreal vivarium 45×45×60 cm for 3–4 individuals; well ventilated (mesh side); horizontal branches for 'walking'
Temperature
26–32 °C; basking spot 35–38 °C warm side; night 20–22 °C; semi-arid species tolerates heat
Humidity / water
40–60% (LOW for a tree frog); do not maintain at 70–80% continuously — risk of serious skin infections; light nocturnal misting 1×/day
Lighting / UVB
UVB 5–10% recommended (partly diurnal species, natural basking); photoperiod 12–14 h; basking heat lamp
Substrate / decor
Lightly moist coco fibre or bark; large horizontal branches (frog walks and does not jump); drought-resistant plants (Sansevieria, non-spiny cacti); shallow water dish
Feeding
Crickets, Dubia roaches, sphinx moths; 2–3×/week adults; calcium + D3; feeding in the evening rather than morning

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
8–12 yrLifespan in care
8 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Sexing
♀ larger; no notable chromatic dimorphism; ♂ axillary amplexus
Maturity
18–24 months
Breeding trigger
Rainy season simulation (October–May in the wild): increase nocturnal misting, nocturnal T° to 18–20 °C, photoperiod to 12–14 h; large horizontal leaves above a water point
Egg laying
The pair rolls broad leaves above a pool to form a protective cocoon for the eggs (50–200 eggs); tadpoles fall into the water at hatching
Tadpoles / metamorphosis
Herbivorous (algae, spirulina); metamorphosis 6–8 weeks
Juvenile care
Juveniles require higher humidity (60–70%) than adults during the first 2–3 months; small crickets

Common health problems

Fungal/bacterial skin infections if humidity too high (>70% continuous)
Signsthe cutaneous lipid wax loses its effectiveness — maintain 40–60%
Health
SignsDehydration if substrate too dry and T° >35 °C without water access — water dish always available
Chytridiomycosis (Bd)
Signsless sensitive than humid frogs but PCR recommended
Quarantine
Signs30 days; dry and ventilated vivarium (40–50% humidity); T° 28–30 °C; observe waxing behaviour (rubs skin with limbs — sign of good health)

Good to know

  • Unique waxing behaviour: the frog spreads lipid secretions over its entire body surface using its limbs to waterproof its skin: lowest known water permeability in an anuran
  • Partly diurnal species: visible during the day unlike most tree frogs; basking in the sun in the wild
  • Walks on branches rather than jumping: slow and methodical movement (hence 'monkey frog'); wide horizontal branches essential
  • Unique waxing behaviour: the frog spreads lipid secretions over its entire body surface using its limbs to waterproof its skin — lowest known water permeability in an anuran
  • Walks on branches rather than jumping — slow and methodical movement (hence 'monkey frog'); wide horizontal branches essential

Common questions

Why does it walk instead of jumping?

It is a slow climber by nature and grips branch to branch like a little monkey. That is completely normal for this species.

Why do I see it wiping itself all over?

It spreads a waxy secretion over its skin to stop water loss. That is why it can live in a much drier tank than other tree frogs.

Is it a beginner frog?

No, this one is for experienced keepers. It needs a dry ventilated tank with UVB and good lighting, which is unusual for a frog.

Can I keep two together?

A pair or small group of similar size is usually fine, but give plenty of branch space so they are not forced together.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 45 × 60 cmbecause enclosure — Arboreal vivarium 45×45×60 cm for 3–4 individuals; well ventilated (mesh side); horizontal branches for 'walking'
A thermometerbecause temp — 26-32 °C; basking spot 35-38 °C warm side; night 20-22 °C; semi-arid species tolerates heat
A way to check the night figurebecause temp — 26-32 °C; basking spot 35-38 °C warm side; night 20-22 °C; semi-arid species tolerates heat
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 40–60% (LOW for a tree frog); do not maintain at 70–80% continuously — risk of serious skin infections; light nocturnal misting 1×/day
UVB 5-10%, stated as beneficial rather than requiredbecause uvb — UVB 5-10% recommended (partly diurnal species, natural basking); photoperiod 12-14 h; basking heat lamp

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Exo-Terra — Waxy Monkey Tree Frog careVet Verified — Keeping the Waxy Monkey Tree FrogReptile Direct — Waxy Monkey Tree Frog careZilla Rules — Husbandry Handbook Phyllomedusa sauvagii

Others in this group

AxolotlAmbystoma mexicanumYellow-banded Poison Dart FrogDendrobates leucomelasMimic Poison FrogRanitomeya imitatorDyeing Poison Dart FrogDendrobates tinctoriusGolden Poison Dart FrogPhyllobates terribilisGreen-and-black Poison Dart FrogDendrobates auratusStrawberry Poison Dart FrogOophaga pumilioAfrican Clawed FrogXenopus laevis

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.