Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey. I've got a little female green frog in a 10 gallon tank with a dish for her to swim in and she's doing good. A few minutes ago, I got a call about a spadefoot that had been found at my friends house, and she wanted to know if I could keep it, because she has animals that tend to kill them. I told her I'd take it...but I need to know one thing...

Can they stay in the same tank together and be okay? I know both are nocturnal, and the spadefoot burrows almost constantly. Neither is much bigger than the other, so they won't eat each other.

But my main concern was space. I have a small critter carried or w/e that they sell at petstores, and if needed I can put the toad in that until I can get a bigger tank, but I really don't want to if I don't have to. I don't see why the toad would need much, since it stays burrowed for the majority of the time.

Wherever I put the toad, it won't be there for good, just for a day or two until I can get to the petstore to get another tank. Oh yeah, I had a spadefoot once before, and had it for several months, but it died 3 years ago, so anything you know about spadefoots would be helpful.

I would keep him in the critter carrier if it's only for two days that way you can isolate the new frog and monitor it for any future problems. Plus, you don't want to disturb the frog often, so moving it from one environment to the other isn't a good idea; ie: from friend's tank to your tank, then to critter carrier, then to final tank. I think that's a bit too much stress.

Adressing the issue of keeping it with your other frog, I think it will be safe to house both in the same tank. Both frogs can be found in the same regional area, it's just that spadefoots like a dryer climate. So maybe when setting up your new tank, just provide some bedding for the toad, and have a large volume container with water for the green frog.

Just my two cents, but hopefully that helps.

so..

if i got a 15 gallon tank or so, taking into consideration that the spadefoot stays burrowed mostly, they could be happy and have enough space? I know the 10 gallon would be too small for both of them together.

I think I'll try that. And if it works, I'll have a free 10 gallon tank. Any ideas as to what I can put in that? Because so far, both of them are nocturnal, and as much as I love my little critters, they aren't much fun to look at in the dark.

I think 15 gal. is enough for both. For the 10 gal. tank I believe a pacman frog can occupy that space nicely, that is, if you're thinking about getting another frog. And for the nocturnal issue, you can always get a moonlight bulb so you can watch your frogs in the dark. Although, I don't know how much action you'll be seeing unless you have food in there. Make sure to keep both frogs well-fed.

i made that post about a week ago, and since then i've aquired 3 amphibians, hehe.

in tank 1 (10 gallon), I've got a green frog, who is pretty active at night, and spadefoot toad, which...spadefoots aren't ever active. So far that tank is going well, as all the crickets I put are dissapearing. I was a little scared to put both in there, but really it's not that bad, considering the spadefoots lack of activity, it's like it's not even there almost, except I still feed it.

in tank 2 (20 gallon) I've got 2 fbt's. And that tank is going really well. Yep...