Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult male BF spends the whole night in his water trough, where he'll consume large amounts of minnows. He eats crickets sometimes, only if I slowly walk up to his tank at dusk and handfeed them to him. But here's the thing. Every morning he buries himself in the substrate, digging in like a spadefoot toad or something. I have a nice log hideaway in there and plants, but these are not good enuff i guess, and he feels the need for complete burial every day. Is this anywhere near normal? Anyone else ever see this before?
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*~Ginevive~*

Just this afternoon my 2 year old daughter and I tolk a walk over by the pond we had released a souple Southern Toads. I was hoping to maybe find some eggs.... Anyway, I was working my way under a couple over hanging branches along the edge of the pond when I noticed two eyes poking out of what looked like a small pile of dirt. When I got a bit closer out jumps a GIGANTIC bull frog. I of course jumped back not expecting anything like that. He disappeared into the pond and I looked back to where he came from. The hole is had himself in was a good 4 inches deep.

So after seeing that today I'm guessing that perhaps it's normal?

BTW it is very hot here in Tampa today, maybe he was keepin cool.

I have had bullfrogs bury themselves by day...sometimes if it is too hot. What are the temps? As long as he is eating, though, it is probably not all that big of a deal. Andy
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Andy Maddox
The Reptizone

Who are you who can say it's ok to live through me? Alice In Chains

My 2 bullfrogs will spend the night in the water where they'll catch fish (if available) and call. During the day they'll sit quietly under the foliage. During the winter, I'll see them sometimes hide under the substrate but not since the advent of Spring. If yours are still eating and active at night then I don't see a problem with their current behavior as this is their natural tendency anyway. I'm curious though... minnows are cold water fish and they don't seem to last long in room temperature water (at least the ones I used to try from a bait shop). It would be great if I could get them to survive long enough to use as a food source instead of feeder goldfish. I did float the bag for a gradual temperature change and I keep the water clean but alas, in the morning they'll be belly-up. At least the crayfish have a meal. Do you use any special type of minnow? Do you keep your tank water at a certain temperature? Do your frogs eat them so quickly that they wouldn't make it thru the night anyway? My water area is large and naturalistic which means it has numerous hiding places for fish... maybe putting the minnows in a large bowl of cold water would work? Thanks!