Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well i finally got a femle bull frog and i am ready to try and breed. I am having no luck in finding info on breeding. i have been breeding geckos dragons and boas for a while but frogs are a whole new subject i was hopeing to find DETAILED breeding instructions. any help?

Try doing something like... Bring the temps down to 50-55degrees farenhight for about 8 weeks or so. Then slowly bring the temps up at about 5degrees per 2 days until the temps get up to around 85-90degrees farenhight. I am almost POSITIVE that this will work.

Try doing something like... Bring the temps down to 50-55degrees farenhight for about 8 weeks or so. Then slowly bring the temps up at about 5degrees per 2 days until the temps get up to around 85-90degrees farenhight. I am almost POSITIVE that this will work.

My baby bullfrog tads.

thanx that will help too but i was looking more for tank set up for egg laying and egg care

Why would you want to breed bullfrogs? Everybody I know that has them are simply too kind to "get rid" of them. They're a destructive creature and in most cases it's illegal to release them. If you sell (or give) tadpoles away they'll most likely be released because, although the tadpole is cute and the idea of raising it is cool, most people aren't thinking about their space (75-100 gal tank) and food (lots) requirements. Therefore, they let them go. These bullfrogs then eat everything that'll fit into their mouths, including the really neat frogs in the world.

Sorry, I don't mean to rant but (especially today) this is personal to me. My son spent the night with his friend and brought back 3 bullfrog tadpoles they got from the pond supply store. 1 was morphed with half of it's tail absorbed, 1 was HUGE with 3 legs (now has 4) and 1 was smaller with no legs at all. I was more upset this time (this same thing happened in February, remember Hoover) because I told the kid's mother that I don't want a bullfrog. Even though we tried very hard to raise Hoover, luckily (OK, go ahead and yell at me) it died. I would NEVER consider doing anything to "get rid" of any of his tadpoles, but I don't want to raise bullfrogs and I will not let them loose to eat all of the wonderful frogs I have living around my house, so I'm stuck. Next time this kid visits I'm sending him home with a parakeet in a shoe box and let his mom figure out the rest.

I would like to breed them cause its fun. its a hobby of mine to breed reptiles and amphibians I have over 30 animals for breeding. its a satisfaction of knowing these animals have created life with your help. as for them being destructive..people fail to realize that when animals such as bullfrogs push other animals out (i.e. redlegged frogs) its because the are better adapted..this is a process known as evolution ( say it with me E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N) it's that thing that has been shaping our planet for a little over 3 billion years. as for frog deformities (missing legs), frogs are very sensitive to environmental changes and they are often the first to "respond" to contamination...in other words buy lots of bottled water and call the EPA. If I come of condescending I apologize, its cause I take my animals very seriously and I don't like when ppl don't understand them...

I know that evolution is a natural phenomenon. But bullfrogs have been spread around into nonnative territory by us humans, not by their own devices. To say that this is natural is untrue; it is human-created introduction of nonnative species (such as bullfrogs)due to our ignorance or failed attempts to protect our crops. Saying that is evolution is like saying that our polluting the waterways is a way for the earth's elements to evolve and destroy aquatic animals, or that our contribution to this earth, global warming, is just natural (when in fact it is human-created.)
To answer your questions... the only way you can breed bullfrogs, im my opinion, is to create a large seperate enclosure, like on the website for the Louisiana Bullfrog Ranch. They bred bulls in large, long buildings which prevented the escape of the captives into the wild population. Since one adult bullfrog alone needs at least a 100-gallon tank (and that is even a cruel fate for one of these large frogs in my opinion) How could you possibly create a proper environment for the hundreds of bulls spawned in an average breeding colony?
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*~Ginevive~*

we are natural... the thing we do are natural to our behavior, the things we make are made of atoms..and therefor natural. leaf cutter ants cultivate fungus from leaves. there are many animals that change the environment. when another animal changes the environment it's evolution...but when we do it its unnatural it's so like us to think we are not apart of the process and are some how above it. many species will die and many more will survive, those who survive will become more specialized and ultimately become new species

I really don't see humans as following the natural order of things here on Earth. I know that it is the natural cycle that everything is born, dies, and is reborn (I am not talking "religiousness" here but logistics; the cycle of life and death as played out in countless (shrinking) woodlands, grasslands and bodies of water on this planet.) Yet us humans poke a stick into the spokes of the wheel of life; we hinder natural decomposition by creating plastic bags to toss our garbage in; I could go on and on about the things we do that run counter to the natural order of things.) I don't think it is logical to call our introducing of nonnative species into other environs as "natural."
Everything on this earth works in harmony with its counterparts save for humans. I can honestly not give one good reason why we are even here. Some say that an intelligent creature had to be created or evolve in order to appreciate it all. But we don't; we only use our outrageous ideas of what beauty is(suburbanites cutting lawns is a great example) and "pave paradise, put up a parking lot." and repent on the nature we have lost while tossing our potato chip bag out the car window or in the garbage can. Either way, it actually goes to the same place. Enjoy it while you can, folks.
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*~Ginevive~*

birds eat berries and carry seeds in their droppings to other places where these seed grow in to plant that were not in these places. huge hurricanes can lift animals out of their homes and carry them miles and miles away to places where they don't belong. many reptiles in habit new lands when eggs are laid in hollow logs and swept away by rain in to the ocean. this planet has changed countless times for countless reasons. we as humans seem to think we are so great that we can change the world literally, honey I got news for ya this planet will shrug us off like a bad case of flees and in a few million years, which is only a few seconds to the planet, there will be a whole host of new creatures and we will all be forgotten...even our plastic. there have been at least 3 cases in this planets history that 99% of the creatures living here disappeared..and yet here we are..and so are the bull frogs. we are here because the planet(or god, how ever you view it ) has put us here. we do what the natural order has let us do , we are not above that. maybe we will pollute the planet till 99% of it's creatures die, but then the order will begin again

That's the whole problem with society, you look at it like it's the natural order for us to destroy the earth. Well it's not. We are doing irreprable harm to this planet and it needs to be stopped. The only thing that will survie after we are done with this planet are cockroaches. Because we will nuke the planet before ewe go peacefully into oblivion.

HA...again over dramatization....even if we launched all the nukes in the world not everything would die...at the least there would be bacteria and like you said roaches...they would evolve just as they have before and continue to do. every day new unknown species are found. the earth will cleans it self just like it did after the meteor that killed the last dominant species (which by the way was about 1000 times more destructive then any nuclear war)
humans give themselves,( don't know why I say that like I am not one) too much credit. for instance, global warming, this planet has gone through hundreds of drastic climate changes before we even walked out of the forest. chemicals in the air? well sorry in the age of dinosaurs the air was over 15 times(if not more) thicker then it was when the first humans walked. this is how giant flying reptiles (often ..and incorrectly, called pterodactyls) were able to fly. when the planet was very very young the air would have destroyed your lungs in seconds but then bacteria and later plants changed that (sorry man isn't the only one who changes the air) but no matter how this planet changes, or why, life changes to adapt this is the basic fundamentals of ...here it comes ....EVOLUTION.
If the forest never changed to savanna we would still be swinging from the trees eating bugs. we, on our own accord moved from our "natural habitat" in to another environment. we then hunted other creatures, some to extinction I am sure. but others survived and evolved to evade us, so we became smarter to catch them....you see where this is going.
And for the record, if animals did not move from their native habitat this planet would be empty except for the bacteria in the ocean because it would not have need to evolve to its new environment. no evolving bacteria would lead to no fish (skipped a few steps) which would rule out amphibians because the fish would not move to the land..and that means no frogs and this conversation would be pointless

You missed my point, I'm saying we are foring evolution, evolution shouldn't be forced. Do you want everything to die? No not unless you are a homicidal maniac. And I personally don't really wanna see anyone, or anything die. Now I am tired of discussing this with you because there is no point in it, you have obviously made up your mind on your view of the subject and I have most certainly made up mine.

you have missed the point, evolution IS forced. every change causes forced adaptation. one or several species changing due to an outside force. that force being everything for weather to man. I don't want to see everything die, but it will. that is the cycle of life.
we are animals plain an simple. we may build using different materials, we may think we act different, but we are, in fact,animals. the only true difference between us and other species is that we think we are above nature. we are the outside force that keeps the evolution wheel moving. so is the tree snake has learned to glide to hunt the gliding frogs, forcing them to glide further. so is the grass that suddenly appeared and caused creatures to feed and become dependent on it, such as cows who have developed 4 stomachs to digest grass (grass by the way is another organism that spread out of its natural habitat, during the age of dinosaurs there was no grass. it is a recent addition). so are the bullfrogs who are moving, part by man and part on their own, forcing other frogs to change or die.
humans are opposed to cretin changes, but regardless of our attempts this planet will change. .either by us or other species. we see things in the present and the future, we see changes and get scared, we fail to look in to the planets past and see these changes are a constant..the only constant. how's it go " the more things change the more they stay the same"
we are the planets new child. the other children have to learn to live with us, just as the older children learned to live with them. we push and force evolution just as much as any other animal. evolution has been forced for eons....it was the loss of forests and the advent of savannas that made humans.....who did the deforestation then?
weather is a tool of nature. comets are a tool of nature. volcanoes are a tool of nature. MAN IS A TOOL OF NATURE!!! all things are tools of nature. nature uses its tools to sharpen other tools and create new tools. get used to it. we may be the diamond plated, water cooled, carbon fibered, ultra high tech tool of the hour.....but trust me in a few billion years we will be as good as a sharp piece of flint. and some ultra new being will be trying to stop our extinction

and by the way all frogs are cannibalistic so all the neat frogs around your house ...are eating all the other neat frogs around your house. these neat frogs are also being killed by your car pollution and the pollution created by many of the things you buy. and don't forget the habitat that is destroyed when ever one of those new (highly over priced and poorly built)housing development clears a wooded area. remember there was several human like creatures in the beginning but when the environments changed only one continuously survived and strangely enough the descendants of these creatures try to medal with the same system that ensured it's dominance. I have no problem with industry hell I own 4 cars but if your going to blame someone for dying frogs...blame humans and if your not going to give up modern life then let the bull frog do what it does...survive in our mess

I live in what used to be rural Georgia. That is until Publix, Kroger & Ingles and Eckerd's, CVS & Walgreen's and Sam's, Costco & B.J.'s and K-Mart, Target & Wal-Mart and... (well the list goes on) moved in. I hate it every time I see land destroyed because someone, somewhere, thought that somehow we all need more than 3 almost identical stores within 2 miles of our front doors. I, too, own vehicles and live in a house.

I also know that bullfrogs are a non-native species, they were introduced. This is not evolution, but more an environmental change which could destroy the native frogs that are supposed to (because of evolution) live around my house. I don't want to be too exclusive because there are tons of toads, newts, salamanders, anoles, snakes, birds, bats, squirrels, chipmunks, etc... that I also don't want eaten by a bullfrog. And all of these animals are eaten by bullfrogs.

I also know that many frogs can be cannibalistic. As long as one native frogs (that belongs in my yard due to evolution) eats another native frog (that also belongs in my yard...) I see that as nature and I'm OK with it... because it's supposed to work that way.

It's not that I don't understand bullfrogs, I just don't much like them. I would never do anything to harm one, but I do see them as being almost as destructive to the native frog population as the devistating environmental changes I see daily.

By the way, just because the bullfrog can "push out" other frogs (after all they'll eat anything that fits in their mouths) their survival cannot be compared to human evolution.

I know, it really aggrevates me here in "rural" NY when a large tract of wilderness is sold to make a trailer park, or cleared so some rich guy can build a brand new home on 100 acres of flat grass. Then their job tells them they have to move to another state, and the new house is put up for sale. Total pointlessness. A large habitat destroyed for nothing, really. Luckily at least, our landlord said he will never sell his 250 acres of woodland, where wood frogs, lots of salamanders and green frogs make their homes. Hopefully it will not be turned into cheap prefab housing anytime in the future.
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*~Ginevive~*

No it's not evolution, it's what we humans are also doing. Taking over everything that we can and killing everything we can for the survival of our species. Only problem is our species is growing too fast and destroying too fast for anything to keep up, so we will destroy the earth ourselves and blame it on others.

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.
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Heather

truer words were never spoken n/p
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*~Ginevive~*

I had that same thought after I sent my post. Humans are also non-native species introduced by God. We use and abuse this earth and just like the bullfrog we take anything we think we need, might need or want, with no thought to how it impacts other non-native God introduced species.

Do you think sometimes God wonders if He made a mistake when He put us here? Won't matter because we won't be here much longer if we don't take this gift a little more seriously and exercise more responsibility as we navigate this thing called life on Earth.

introduced....no evolved and migrated....just as all animals have done at some point in history...we just seem to be one of the more recent. we are an environmental change...that's the great thing about nature in incorporates everything ...even us...into evolution. that's how it happens one, better, stronger species moves in and the weaker dies out... if you don't believe me ask cromagnum man...that damn homosapian did a number on him

news flash.... humans are animals and therefor part of the environment... right wrong or indifferent we, with our chemicals, have the same drastic affect on this planet as the first plants did when they took our once unbreathable atmosphere and created oxygen our changes to this planet are part of evolution like it or not. evolution is indiscriminate. 95% of all creatures that ever lived on this planet are extinct....we didn't kill them all or even most. it's more like .00000000000000001% if that. the difference is we can change it. but lets start with the DIRECT CAUSES. and remember class the first rule of science is CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION!!!! there are at least 17 native species of frogs in my state,(New Jersey), the bull frog being one of them. they seem to have done well living with the bull frogs. with all the pollution we create it seems to me that bullfrogs are a scope goat. as I said before, frogs are very sensitive to the environment and pollution. we are adding chemicals to the water, we are removing habitat, the few water ways left for these frogs are often to fast moving for them to lay eggs. bull frogs seem to be more tolerant. so when you have fixed all these problems and the frogs are still disappearing then call me .... but then I will probably tell you to remove all the other animals the don't belong there such as cats, dogs, pigs, and a plethora of other animals that have been killing frogs destroying habitat. I am sure you are all drinking bottled water as we speak....ask yourself why....then ask what animals with out the luxury of bottled water are doing!
up until recently camels, an introduced species to Australia, was thought to the cause of many environmental problems such as the loss of native animals.... but when they did real meaningful research they found this to be false. in fact they eat plants that very few if any animals eat and cause very little if any impact. then people had to face the facts HUMANS ARE THE DIRECT CAUSE!!!

all frogs eat anything just as ferral cats and dogs do

I agree with preferfur here, it's not like we need more bullfrogs, red-ear sliders and burmese pythons. You will find no detailed instructions because there are none. No one bothers breeding these animals as long as they are considered "trash species" and their larvae are readily available.
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*Humans aren't the only species on earth... we just act like it.

".the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without
spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

*Humans aren't the only species on earth... we just act like it.

seems fitting then that you have decided we don't need these animals and you think they are trash species.....
maybe it's time to change that quote

you know wolves and foxes were at one time thought as trash too...so they hunted them down...now there is an over population of deer and rabits..now they are trying to breed and release these same trash animals...ironic

In your effort to find fault with anybody else's argument, you neglected to see the quotation marks I've put around the term "trash species". These are intended to show that the words are not mine but of others.
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*Humans aren't the only species on earth... we just act like it.

".the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without
spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

I do not find fault I merely point it out. I wanted some info and it turned in to an all out argument because of false information people have been getting about bull frogs. and although you may not use the term "trash species" you proliferate it's use and obviously agree. we humans have no vote in what animals we need no more of. if we need more they will breed if we need less something will come along and eat them. my intention is not to anger anyone, i love a good debate...don't you are anyone else for that matter take it personally

LOL breeding bullfrogs is like breeding cereal killers
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Heather

so is breeding domestic cats

No one should breed domestic cats. Spay and neuter them. there are way too many, and it is our fault. wish people would do what i did and adopt one from the spca and NEVER let it outdoors.
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*~Ginevive~*

cats escape,you can't stop that. all it takes is 1 pregnant female to get and in a few years there will be hundreds. you could never stop breeding cats people will pay thousands of dollars for certain breed, hell my pain in the ass Egyptian mow coast over 700. as for spaying and neutering..that is cruel...there are too many stupid people...should we "fix" them? its a no win situation.. things are changing on this planet...we have to get used to it. have you ever seen the yin and yang symbol? looks like 2 tadpoles chasing each other. what people don't realize is the most important part of that symbol is the center where they meet...it's a little of both... moderation. you have people who truly don't care about this planet...they carelessly dump chemicals in to the ocean. and you have the tree hugging hippies who try to save every creature. both of these are contributing to the destruction. the first is obvious..the second isn't. so species are meant to fade...let them go. there are changes we cannot stop, but trying will make things worse. you have to be that center...moderation. recycle your tin cans and let sea bass go. Around here years ago deer were the species of the day and wolves were the problem...now the wolves are mostly gone and the deer are the problem. man interfered with the fading deer...and now we are over run...we need to stay out of it all together...we never help we make it worse. crested geckos were thought to be extinct till the 90s..no one did anything about them.....now the island where they live is bursting with them, so much so that they sell on the pet trade for about 25-30 bucks for you generic crested...so do what you can but don't go out of your way..it's blunt but true

If you want to "seriously" breed bullfrogs maybe you should talk to the people that breed them for consumption. There are large-scale bullfrog breeders that sell their product (or at least parts of it) to restaurants. That's the only reason anybody should breed bullfrogs, IMO.

yes thats an idea..and they are tasty too

Tastes like chicken. Funny, even though my son loves his bullfrog tadpoles I still don't think he'd pass up frog legs on a buffet.

If you breed for that purpose you won't have a problem with food. Just lob off the good part and throw the rest back to the cannibals.

nah they wont usualy eat the dead...eyesight is movement based thats why they eat everything movement=food

I see no reason not to breed your bullfrogs, people just like to argue on here. Just if you go to get rid of them and they aren't native to your region then make sure they get to their region. And I'll see what I can do about finding some breeding instructions.

dont worry i caught them around the corner:}
i live in new jersey they are everywhere

I say you should breed them to if you want to. and i also will try to find any info i can for you.

frogs are cool

thanx

This thread seems to have went off on a tangent, I'll try steering it back onto its original course; bullfrog breeding. I am not against you for wanting to breed frogs. Out of curiousity, why do you want to breed bullfrogs in particular? It can be very rewarding to breed animals, but there are already so many bullfrogs in the wild. All you really need to do to see them breed is set up a large outdoor pond in their native area and let nature take its course. I have wood frogs and green frogs, which breed similarly to bulls, breeding in our pond and swamp. I guess I did not breed them per se, but I did create the environment that some of them bred in (a small pond), so I did play a small part. I would not encourage the breding of non-native animals such as bullfrogs if there are programs to exterminate them due to their being formerly introduced. This could have a horrible effect on already-weak natives.
Do you want to sell the frogs as pets or food? Or release them? There are factors that need to be considered here; frogs that are bred in captivity could carry some harmful bacteria from your home into the outdoor ecosystem. Sometimes pet stores will buy some frrom you or let you have credit in exchange, but this is hardly ever a good idea because most shops sell them to unwitting people who have no idea how big a bullfrog gets or how much work they are. Also, a breeding pair will produce a LOT of eggs and the young are quite hardy, which means that a lot of them will survive.
I would not recommend trying to breed bullfrogs indoors unless you have an indoor pond or huge tank. Otherwise they'll probably spend their time trying to get out of the tank or trying to eat one another, or even fighting for territory.
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*~Ginevive~*

I live in an area where bullfrogs are native. so breeding will not destroy the ecosystem(if such a thing can truly be done) not that I intend to release them. I enjoy breeding all my animals... its kind of a god complex thing :} some would be given to my friends who get a kick out of mine and want one for their own but a reluctant to deal with wild caught. and most I must admit will be food for the several medium to large snakes I own ranging form tree boas to viper boas to various pythons. my bearded dragons may even find the small ones a nice treat. as for large tanks....I have over 30 reptiles and amphibians....my house is aquarium. my biggest question is about incubating the eggs.....how do you get them to "hatch". my male and female have no problem ............getting it on ( for lack of a less graphic term)