Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking at big frogs and am curious what size of an enclosure would be proper for either a goliath or a pixie. Do they need uvb's? Do they tolerate handling? (I know they can bite!) Which is more personable? Thanks for any input.
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pixies require smaller aquariums since they tend to be less active and spend a lot of time burrowing into the substrates, where as goliath frogs are very active and reqiure a much larger and open enviroment. an adult pixie will live well in a 40 gallon breeder, where an adult goliath should have at least a 40 breeder but would be better in a 75 gallon tank. the goliath will be much squirmier than the pixie and harder to handle, BUT YOU SHOULD NOT HANDLE AMPHIBIANS UNLESS IT IS NECESSARY, they are not reptiles and absorb oils and toxins from you through their skin which can make them sick or kill them. it sounds as though you are looking for an amphibian of considerable size to show off, and that is the wrong reason to be holding an animals life in your hands. if you are a serious hobbyist then go for it, otherwise you should be getting a cat or dog to play with, not an amphibian.
I'm not trying to be rude, just sharing my opinion and letting you know the facts.

"it sounds as though you are looking for an amphibian of considerable size to show off, and that is the wrong reason to be holding an animals life in your hands. if you are a serious hobbyist then go for it, otherwise you should be getting a cat or dog to play with, not an amphibian."

He's simply looking for a large amphibian. I find no problem with what he's doing because in all honesty that's why I fell in love with my frog. I love showing off my frog to friends because he's SO big. I was no serious hobbyist at the time I got my frog because it was my first frog. I just knew that it had to be cared for and that's what is important. As long as the fellow is able and willing to care for the frog (which it seems he will be) then it's fine.

It's true that you shouldnt be touching your frog often. So if you plan to show it off, just let people observe it in its tank. Perhaps toss a cricket in there for a nice show.

that is what i was trying to get at, unless you are ready, able, and willing to put forth the time and money to properly take care of the animal you are looking to get, then you should not get it. they are neat pets, but still need to be respected and kept properly. i was not saying that the person was just in it for the size and to show off, i don't know them, they don't know me (as far as i know). i was just stating a point that i thought should be stated. perhaps i did not do it in the most considerate way, but i did not mean any offense by it, if the are serious about getting into the hobby.

I appreciate your advice and no offence taken. I didn't mean to imply I was looking for a frog to play with. I realize frogs are a look at them not hold'em kind of pet. My reasons for asking about behavior is that I do reptile talks in my area to both young and old and I do this for free. I feel it is very important to expose people to animals in a positive way, some of the folks I meet have never even seen some of my "critters". I was worried that putting the frog into a small show tank for my talks would cause it too much stress. The only handling I expected to do is to move the frog from one container to another for my talks. Don't freak out here, I only do about a talk a month so there is not a constant stress factor. It sound like a pixie would be the better choice. I wanted something big because the kids are often to impatient to look for tiny things.
I have owned the same pair of marbled salamanders for over 18 years and did occasionally take them out to be viewed. I used care with my hand washing and never had skin troubles with them. Will a pixie be tolerant to a being picked up occasionally for this sort of activity?
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0.1.0 Blue Beauty Snakes
1.0.0 Banana King snake
1.0.0 Desert King snake
2.7.0 Guinea Piggies
3.6.0 Dumbo rats
1.0.0 Blue Front Amazon Parrot
0.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrot
1.1.0 house cats
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i have both pixie and pacman frogs, and i find that the pixie frogs are more comfortable with being handle when it comes to needing to be moved. neither species really seems to have a problem with the occasional move, but i think that a pixie is a better choice. just remember that they also tend to be very aggressive feeders and an adult won't think twice about mistaking your finger for a prey item, beleive me I know from experience. an adult pixie is quite capable of inflicting a nasty bite with the front two teeth in the lower jaw, they look like fangs and can easily draw blood.

A 40g for a pixie is crazy lol, mine is either in his water bowl or burried. I'd say a 15g long is a good size.

Yeah I'd agree that a 15gal. tank would be perfect for a pixie because mine right now is in a 20gal and there's a significant amount of room between his little den and the water bowl. It looks empty and I'd rather have the tank filled nicely.

I also agree with everyone else that a fifteen gallon is a good size for a pyxie. As for Goliaths, if you are talking about the true goliaths, I'm pretty sure they are illegal to import into the states. There are people that brought them into the states a long time ago when the frog was first discovered. There were several problems associated with this. They live in a river area. There is a certain type of algae that grows there and that is what the tadpoles feed off of. Secondly, these are extremely strong jumpers. A man that i know of that got a couple of specimens had them in a room size enclosure. The frogs still ended up dying bc they beat themselves to death by jumping into the walls. SO...goliath frogs are not a very good choice. I wanted one for the longest time as well..but due to the fact that they havent been captive bred (that i know of) and that their numbers are being depleted in the wild. So there is my two cents...well..more like 25 cents. Have a good one

Clint Wells
cwells@ilstu.edu

Are you referring to the "slippery goliath" frog that has recently been imported? (I believe the latin name is "conrauna alleni." If not, what do you mean when you say "goliath frog?" I was not aware that any specimens of the goliath frog were currently available for purchase in the pet trade, and I believe that those that have been imported in the past have been nearly impossible to properly maintain.

I love Pixie frogs; I think they make nearly perfect display frogs. They get impressively massive but don't need an exorbitant amount of space. Not only that, but there are almost always CB specimens available and they are fairly inexpensive to acquire. If I could only have one frog, it would definitely be a pixie!

Blue Fox makes a good point. CB Pixies are readily available (check the Kingsnake classifieds- they're there now) and if you use your pets to give talks about animals, it may be nice to be able inform your audience that your pet is CB. Either way do your home work and enjoy. Best of luck
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