Amazon Milk Frog

The Amazon milk frog is a large, heavy-set arboreal frog of the rainforest canopy across much of the Amazon basin of South America. Its common name refers to the thick, milky-white toxic secretion it exudes from skin glands when handled or threatened, a defense against predators and a skin irritant to humans. Juveniles are strongly banded in gray, brown, and white, a pattern that fades somewhat with age, and the species has enlarged toe pads for gripping bark and leaves high above the forest floor. It breeds in water-filled tree hollows and other elevated pools rather than ground-level ponds, and its loud, resonant call carries well through the canopy. It is widely bred in captivity and is one of the more familiar large tree frogs in the exotic pet trade.