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Atlas / Library / Terrestrial Frog / Vietnamese Mossy Frog
IntermediateIUCN LC
Terrestrial Frog

Vietnamese Mossy Frog

Theloderma corticaleกบมอสเวียดนาม

Traceable. The figures above appear in the page we cite, which we opened on 10 Aug 2026. That means you can check them, not that we have confirmed they are right. frogpets.com

Photograph: sheilapic76 · 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.

Aquatic · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: 18–24°C, humidity 80–100%

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.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/theloderma-corticale

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature18–24 °C
Humidity80–100 %
Enclosure45×45×60

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
18–24°Ambient

One ambient band, 18–24°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states18-24 °C; optimum 20-22 °C; never >26 °C (heat stress); cool-water species

Humidity

80–100%Target RH

The sheet states80-100%; cold-water misting 2×/day; running water zone if possible (circulation pump) - running water triggers breeding

UVB

2–5%beneficial

The sheet statesUVB 2–5% recommended (beneficial); photoperiod 12 h; low light intensity

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m7–9 cm
1520100400 cm
7–9 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

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
7–9 cm SVL; juvenile ~2 cm
Lifespan
8–15 years in captivity
Legal status
Unrestricted
Difficulty
Intermediate
Cohabitation
Groups possible (same size); social species: groups of 3–5 recommended for breeding

How common this animal is

484Live 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 vertical for 2-3 individuals; integrated aquatic zone (water tank 10 cm) + vertical walls with mosses and cork bark

Terrarium / aquarium
Arboreal vivarium 45×45×60 cm vertical for 2–3 individuals; integrated aquatic zone (water tank 10 cm) + vertical walls with mosses and cork bark
Temperature
18–24 °C; optimum 20–22 °C; never >26 °C (heat stress); cool-water species
Humidity / water
80–100%; cold-water misting 2×/day; running water zone if possible (circulation pump) — running water triggers breeding
Lighting / UVB
UVB 2–5% recommended (beneficial); photoperiod 12 h; low light intensity
Substrate / decor
Walls covered with live mosses (Vesicularia, Java moss) + cork bark + branches; floor coco fibre + sphagnum; water tank with circulation pump
Feeding
Crickets, Dubia roaches, earthworms (preferred), adult sphinx moths; 2–3×/week adults; calcium + vitamins per standard protocol

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
8–15 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
♀ noticeably larger; ♂ more active; no notable chromatic dimorphism
Maturity
18–24 months
Breeding trigger
Running water (circulation pump or continuous misting) + slight nocturnal temperature drop to 18 °C; mixed groups
Egg laying
Eggs deposited on vertical walls above water or in tree holes above stagnant water; tadpoles fall into the water at hatching
Tadpoles / metamorphosis
IMPORTANT: water temperature in the tadpole tank must remain <20 °C to obtain ♀. T° >22 °C produces almost exclusively ♂ (thermosensitive sex determination); metamorphosis 3–6 months
Juvenile care
Robust juveniles; same setup as adults in miniature; small crickets and white worms

Common health problems

Heat stress
SignsT° >26 °C rapidly fatal — cooling essential in Bangkok
Chytridiomycosis (Bd)
Signssensitive species; PCR at acquisition; tank water renewed regularly
Bacterial wound infections
Signstuberculate skin can hide injuries — inspect under raking light
Quarantine
Signs30–45 days in cool vivarium (20–22 °C); cold-water misting; observe active camouflage (sign of good health) and nocturnal appetite

Good to know

  • Thermosensitive sex determination in tadpoles: maintain water <20 °C for a balanced sex ratio: critical information absent from most catalogues
  • Mossy camouflage so perfect it can fool even an experienced keeper: count individuals regularly to ensure none are sick and hiding
  • Running water triggers captive breeding: install a small circulation pump in the water tank
  • Thermosensitive sex determination in tadpoles: maintain water <20 °C for a balanced sex ratio — critical information absent from most catalogues
  • Mossy camouflage so perfect it can fool even an experienced keeper — count individuals regularly to ensure none are sick and hiding
  • Running water triggers captive breeding — install a small circulation pump in the water tank

Common questions

Why does it never move?

That is its whole strategy. It sits still to look like moss, it is mainly active at night, and it will even play dead if startled.

Can I keep several in one tank?

Yes, they are peaceful and a group in a tall humid vivarium with a water section works very well.

Is it hard to keep in Thailand?

The main challenge is that it wants a cool, humid tank. In our climate you will need some form of cooling, which is the real cost of this species.

Can I handle it?

Best kept as a display animal. Wet hands and short contact only if you must move it, since the skin is absorbent and delicate.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 45 × 45 × 60 cmbecause enclosureArboreal vivarium 45×45×60 cm vertical for 2–3 individuals; integrated aquatic zone (water tank 10 cm) + vertical walls with mosses and cork bark
A thermometerbecause temp18-24 °C; optimum 20-22 °C; never >26 °C (heat stress); cool-water species
A hygrometerbecause humidity80–100%; cold-water misting 2×/day; running water zone if possible (circulation pump) — running water triggers breeding
UVB 2-5%, stated as beneficial rather than requiredbecause uvbUVB 2-5% recommended (beneficial); photoperiod 12 h; low light intensity

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

Sources

Others in this group

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.