Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay -

Any experts out there on visually sexing these guys? I have six of them all the same age that I raised from tiny froglets. Some are a little smaller and seem to have broader heads but nothing that definitive. Is there anything I can look for (other than calling) to be able to sex them?

Steve

They can be visually sexed, but they need to be adults, and it's still not 100% accurate. Frogs can be wierd becuse they have this cross sexual thing going on in their genes that takes the exact science out of it. Anyway, if they are all the same age and adult, the smaller ones are almost always male...that's the easy way. The other way to sex them takes a keener eye and can best be told when the frog is asleep. When you look at the sleeping frog from the top, you will notice that their head and rib section is basically the same width going from the head back. Their body then tapers back to where a tail would be in most animals. Where this taper begins is longer in males, takes up more of the body and has a smooth angle to the taper. This taper is shorter in females (takes up less of the body and a more drastic angle to the taper). I guess this is because the female needs more support and protection for her internal organs than the male does. And, of course, males have that distinctive single squeeky croak..."burf".

Thanks. I'll have to check this out when I get home tonight.

Thats an interesting observation. I have checked some of my adults and feel that this has merit. I will need to check some more. Another visual clue has to do with the cloacal region when the frogs are at rest of the side of an aquarium. Males seem to have a smaller end to thier bodys than do females. This is very apparent in many adults but needs further study before it can be used with any certainy. Using more than one visual clue will increase your odds of successfully determining the sex.

I've also been told that females have a more trunculate snout then the males.