Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI THERE:

I am about to add an American Bullfrog to my collection in about, well... let's see... half an hour? I keep all types of reptiles and amphibians, even caecilians (I have a herp zoo) and I know that most people have backed off from keeping the American species. Some say they are terrible pets, but I think they sound pretty hardy captives. Most people don't keep them for their large size and need for a semi-aquatic environment, but also because I have heard they are very nervous and high-strung. Has anyone out there "tamed" an American bullfrog? I want him to settle down and feel at home.

DAVE

I've had a male Am. bullfrog for a few years. I got him as a subadult because he was part of a marauding population of bullfrogs at my mother-in-law's pond. They were eating all of the smaller, weaker wood froglets and green frogs. So I figured that one less bullfrog would not be a bad thing, and so we caught him. He had already morphed and been through one winter as a froglet. He was skittish at first. He needed a 55 gal. tank even at that young age, since he had the longest leap on him even then. In fact, he did make a good pet; he ended up calming down after awhile, although I'd never call any frog or other wild animal "tame." I eventually coaxed him to accept big crickets out of my hand, but I would have to remain completely motionless to do so.
Bullfrogs get HUGE, so you have to keep this in mind. I would say, nothing less than a 125 gal. tank for a large female, since they get huger than the males. And my male got to about 6 inches stv. And they need quite a deep water area too, enough spo they can freely stretch those long legs and swim. Just make sure you're prepared before taking the bullfrog plunge!
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looking at my 125 Oscar cichlid tank, I am not sure that even this big tank would be enough for a full grown female bullfrog. I'd probably want to go with something that's the same length but also wider.
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Bullfrogs are NOT tamable. However, mine, a male, knows who feeds him, and he looks up at me everyday begging for food, which has dire consequences that I give in and tend to feed him a lot and he's a huge big fat frog. He will take food from plastic tweezers, but not the type that wants to be jump on me like most of my other frogs.

I completely enjoy my male bullfrog and his cute deep croaks. He is a very satisfying pet. I have him in a 100 gallon plastic container, which I prefer over glass because he sometimes is overzealous about food and hits his nose while leaping for crickets. The plastic storage container is a bit softer than glass. He can see me through the plastic but it's subdued. This seems to reduce stress in the bullfrog.

I have to change his water each and every day. But instead of a pond I put in a shallow dish. I know he would prefer a bigger pond to swim in, but he seems very content with the dish too; just sits in there and soaks; makes for easier cleaning. He sure croaks a lot, so this is a pretty good indication he's happy. i hear him all the time.

One of these days I will get something bigger like an outdoor pond and try to breed them and then let them go in the lakes so I can hear bullfrogs all the time (they are indiginous to florida) as I adore their sounds!

Jade Fox