Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I bought two more froglets today and put them in the same tank I had the other froglet in. I cleaned the tank, of course. But I want to make sure I'm doing nothing wrong, so I'd like to get some advice on the following questions.

1) Should the water be heated for froglets? The temp's outsid are a good 26 degrees centigrade. I wonder if its okay to just leave the water at room temperature.

2) Do froglets need a lot of sun, like turtles? I can put them outside during the day. I wonder if they need to get their body temps warmed up.

3) What's the best setup for frogs? A lot of land, more water, a filter and a heater? How about a sunlamp?

4) Are mealworms okay to feed froglets?

5) How often should frogs eat? Or not eat? What's the best way to feed them?

6) What are some common diseases, or dangers, to watch out for in froglets?

Well, this sums up my questions for now. I really want to make sure I'm doing my utmost to raise these little guys well enough. If there's a website on bullfrogs I'd appreciate it if someone let me know.

We need some more info before we can answer, what kind of froglets? approxamitly (sp?) what stage in development are they in?, do you have a tank light? how big a tank? etc.....
Demon

I said they were bullfrogs. They're about three-four inches at tops. I bought them at a pet store, so I don't know how old they are.

They seem to be eating voraciously and doing well, but I don't have a light for them. I keep them by a window. It's about 25 degrees centigrade now, so I think a heater is unneccessary.

I just want to know if mealworms were the culprit, because the other two are doing fine. Those mealworms bite, you know, and contain an awful lot of calcium. I can't figure out why else that other little froglet died.

No, mealworms are not the cause. I kept a bullfrog for a while that I raised from a tadpole that I fed mealworms without a problem.

What kind of freshwater shrimp were they? And, when you said you used cleaning chemicals, what kind of cleaning chemicals did you use?

Is this a mixed tank? What other species are in with these froglets?

I honestly think you should try to get another kind of frog and not a bullfrog. Bullfrogs make awful vivarium subjects. They are very nervous frogs and get HUGE. They would need a tank at LEAST 50 gallons, but they like deep water. They have enormous appetites, and unless you have a breeding group of crickets or lobster roaches, they will eat you out of house and home. They are noisy as hell too, even their splashing was enough to scare the sh*t out of me in the middle of the night. If you really want to keep this frog, its best to keep them in an outdoor pond once they grow up.

I wouldn't keep them in a big tank until they are at least three to four months old. Keep them in a simple critter keeper with an inch of water and a hiding pot with some gravel. Just be careful the gravel is big enough so the frog doesn't accidently swallow it. It is very unwise to put frogs immediately in a tank without quarantine, as you will have to strip a tank and reclean it to prevent pathogen spread. Not a fun thing to do over and over again.

Thanks for the info. I've checked all my bases, and the new frogs are doing fine.

About bullfrogs being bad pets, I think you're mistaken. I've had them before and they were quite interesting and rather intelligent.

It might've been the shrimp that killed the last one. I'm still reluctant to feed the new ones mealworms, however, as I think their stomachs might just be too weak.

They're doing fine so far and eating crickets and worms. I just wonder if it's necessary to get them a heater or if they could just manage at room temperature. I also wonder if I should get them a sunlamp.

But as for them being nervous, I don't think that's exactly factual. They can sit in one spot for hours and rather like to hide. I've had three of them before in a medium-sized rubbermaid that used to escape 9" sized slider turtles that way. Most of the time, however, the sliders would not tamper with them anyways.

Mealworms can bite the insides of the frog. This could have been the reason your other one died.
I have raised a bullfroglet in the past, and I got good results. I kept him in a 20-gal long tank for starters, until he grew to about three inches in length, at which time I put him in a 55-long tank. I fed him on mainly large crickets, but he was VERY skittish as a froglet, and I had to sneak the crix in the tank and tiptoe away and watch from a distance as he ate. I also used Reptivite calcium supplement every few feedings to prevent MBD.
Are you sure it is a bullfrog? It could end up being a much smaller, green frog or leopard frog, which look very similar to bullfrogs as tads. Bullfrogs, especially females, need very large tanks in excess of 100 gallons. I ended up releasing my male bull in an enclosed pond at a local nature preserve, where bullfrogs are found in abundance.
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2.1 Ball pythons: Goblin, Ashes, and Bela
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator: Apache Fog
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog: Bene
1.0 Tiger salamander: Slasher
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs: Mr and Mrs Piggy
1.0 black kittycat, Inky
A bunch of Oscar cichlids, one giant pleco, huge breeding lot of "fancy" (read: deformed) goldfish, and me an' the boyfriend.

I have two BULLFROGS NOW, and YES, I'M SURE! They're used, somehow or another, AS FISH FOOD HERE! I'm in Taiwan now. BIG FISH COUNTRY!

They feed 'em to the big fish, once the tadpoles become froglets, and I saw about fifty of them in a small tank. Can't blame me for taking a couple.

Aboutthe mealworms, I agree. Those little nasty critters can even bite (into) my skin!! Ny sliders even have a hard time downing them!

Again, I must say, BULLFROGS ARE NOT NERVOUS, OR "SKITTISH!" This is a true story, and I relate, I HAD ONE BULLFROG JUMP OUT OF A 30 GALLON TANK RIGHT INTO A 50 GALLON RUBBERMAID FULL OF TURTLES(the rubbermaid was beside the tank,) and it only jumped out because it wanted more space. As I observed, it also jumped onto the rocky ledge surrounding the rubbermaid in case of emergency!
Otherwise, it cleverly hid itself underneath a contrived hiding place, and that of my own making. This is just to say that "Skittish" may not be the correct word.

Yes, they are VERY OPORTUNISTIC!! AGGESSIVE EATERS! DYING FROM ACID RAIN IN THE ADIRONCACKS, SQUASHED BY CITY KIDS!!

The way they look at me, is almost pathetic. Everyone here wants those DAMN CLAWED FROGS! Study A MALE BULLROG, AND TELL ME ABOUT VERSATILITY!! HERE'S A REAL AMPHIBIAN FOR YOU!

I'm old now, an ex-athlete. People that use these creatures for dissection, or experimentation, are lame losers. I never did like Science!

Sorry if you have been offended in any way, but would you please refrain from yelling here?

The reason why I ask if it is truly a "bullfrog" is because many frogs in other countries such as Taiwan are called "bullfrogs." Even in South America, a Leptodactylid frog is called "South American Bullfrog," but is not related at all. I know you said you have red eared sliders, which are American. Are you still talking about Rana castabeinana? "North American bullfrog?" Could you find out where the baby froglets were imported from?

About them being skittish, not all Ranid frogs are like that, *mostly, I repeat, *mostly from accounts, myself included, of Rana castabeiana. If your frog is not a true "american bullfrog" chances are it may not be nervous.

That mealworm thing is a myth. However, they are very hard to digest, and could potentially stop up a baby frog's intestinal tract.

Now that I know the source of where you got those frogs, chances are they were quite stressed and already sick in that abusive, fish food container. I had a Mantella that also ate, but within a few days, I found it dead as a doornail.

As a final note, what is wrong with Xenopus, clawed frogs?

2.0.0 B. orientalis
1.0.0 D. tinctorius
1.0.2 E. tricolor
1.1.1 M. betsileo

oh yeah, one reason why you must make absolutely sure it IS rana castabeiana is because that tropical ranids from Taiwan will need much different temperature and humidity, whereas bullfrogs from North America will survive near freezing and need to hibernate. That would definitely help with the "heater" issue you may have.

About the other frogs dying, once again, ever bought feeder goldfish for pets, and half or all most all die? They have already been stressed. Most don't survive. I've had fish AND wild caught imported mantella eat before, but later die. It just happens. Just keep a close eye on the little ones. However, I still think you might think about making a little garden pond and house your turtles and frogs in it. Therefore, they would have a good variety of natural foods and experience seasons, but I don't know what they are like in Taiwan.

I in know way intended to be crass, or "to yell." My statements were only a way of refuting "the myth," that American bullfrogs-and yes, they are American bullfrogs-are "skittish." If you don't mind me saying, what frogs aren't skittish! It's in their nature to be so.

Needless to say, I do not know the scientific name of the frogs I bought. I can't confirm their identity either. But from personal experience, I'm quite sure-and most of the Chinese understand the word American-that I got through upon buying them at the pet store. Matter-o-fact, I saw a huge male sitting in a pond at a city park which just about confrims my beliefs.

But I just get a little abrasive whenever I talk about bullfrogs on this board, seeing no one really seems to consider them of importance, and nobody seems to give a hoot.I've often sat by my tanks and observed them eye to eye, feeling in some way or another that this amphibian is of a fascinating, if not intelligent, character.

You've got these people raising these ACF's, which only sit under the water most of the time and aren't the least bit interesting to me, and which are often "too fish-like" to really make a real frog lover hear a good sound croak "Hello" or "How are you" whenever you want to experience that aspect of satisfaction that "nature is truly present."

Again, I'm not trying to be crass. Bullfrogs are one of the more ultimate of predators. If I knew more about science I'd study them, and res's, to get a good grip on their savvy survival-hood, a survival-hood that probably out-equals most of the aquatic world, a fact which, by the way, stuns me that professionals on this board would consider negligible to say the least, seeing they're dying in the Adirondacks by the scores due to acid rain and are quite often the only frog to bear the brunt of abuse and human neglect!

Well, if I'm crass I'm a little concerned about the two little froglets I have, that's all. I saw a couple of ACF's at the local zoo, but only one bullfrog. It was sitting stolid stiff in a five foot aquarium, awaiting to be eaten by a 6 foot snake!
Yet it wouldn't move or even flinch at the screaming children pounding the glass. Its eyes were like a dog's eyes, pleading, penetrating. I guess this sounds sentimental, but what the hell, I go to the reptile house to see safety, security, and I find my friend a food item in a foreign country. Then I think how much this animal might mean to us nature lovers back home, and what a nastalgia this animal represents for those who love the sound of nature. But you see, it's used as medicine over hear in China in order to prevent bed-wetting!. They only lop off the legs.

You ARE a little right about these frogs being skittish. I see now what you mean. They just SCATTER at your approach,and are hard to feed.

What I thout you meant was that they moved around a lot. This I know they don't do too much. I think when they get older they lose that skittishness too.

Well, the little froglets are still a live and kicking. They're eating crickets, mealworms, worms, and even little fish. I wonder about feeding them live fish, but I don't think these are gold fish.

This must mean the water temp is okay. One appears to be a male, however, and was dominating over the other one. The other one is starting to stand its ground.

I hope I hang on to them. It just stresses me out to see them die.

Give me any more advice if you've got some experience here.