Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I was coming back from walking my 2 dogs and hanging on my door was this itty bitty frog... cute little thing actually not much bigger than my thumb nail really. From what I can find out... its a Spring Peeper. Its got the dark x on its back like described. I know they don't get very big.. for now I've set this one up in a small sterlite shoebox with cypress mulch and a few dead leaves and some fake green foliage.. with a small water dish he can get in and out of easily. Now, I've read some stuff, but there's not much in terms of captive care that I can find... I did try. Haven't found anything about supplemental heating or UV...do they need it or not? Foods.. I assume he can continue to eat small gnats and mosquitos from outside as well as tiny mealies? I'm keeping him for the winter though this is the first time I've done that with them. I figure start with frogs with something fairly hardy that you can catch yourself...I've had and raised bullfrogs before but that was outside in a small pond.. little different than this. Any tips would be great... thanks.
-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

I strongly recommend letting the spring peeper go where you found it. Over the last few years it has been the consensus on this forum that spring peepers do not do well in captivity and/or do not make great pets. That is directly the reason why you have not found that much information on their captive care, most people do not mess with them. Some of the questions you ask lead me to believe that you are a beginner with frogs, and it certainly would be better to use your learning curve on a much hardier species that will give you the reward of captive herps.

>for now I've set this one up in a small sterlite shoebox with cypress mulch and a few dead leaves and some fake green foliage.. with a small water dish he can get in and out of easily.

-Spring peepers are in the treefrog family and are capable of a lot of arboreal activities. I don't consider a small plastic box to be adequate for this species at all.

>I assume he can continue to eat small gnats and mosquitos from outside

-I don't blame you for this, but I sure do wish the common misconception that frogs eat just flies and mosquitoes would go away!

>I figure start with frogs with something fairly hardy that you can catch yourself

-I agree completely, but this is just not the species to learn with. I highly recommend catching gray treefrogs above any other species. Of course they may not be native to your area
-----
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Check out another forum...
Click here for the link

-----
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

My little one has already started eating... supplemented mini mealies, tiny freshly hatched silkworms and anything else I can get my hands on thats small enough for him to take...I thought, at first he was a baby gray tree frog since we have them out there as well but there's no mistaking the X pattern on his back when I got a closer look at him. So far he hasn't seemed to have any problems with settling in... he hides, climbs, and I don't bother him... just watch him when he's visible.. I'm ordering flightless fruitflies for him as well...

That person has had them for 2 years...and says the only problem is the trips to the pet store for tiny crickets.. I don't have that since I breed all my own feeders.. What else is so difficult about peepers and less so about Grey's?
-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"