Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A couple of months ago I "rescued" a pair of western chorus frogs from a friend's swimming pool. My 3-year-old son loved them so we set them up with a 10 gallon aquarium with a substrate of coconut bark, a log to hide in, a shallow water bowl and a fake flower. We feed them the easily digestable crickets dusted with Reptivite (I think that's the name) every couple of days. They seem to be doing remarkably well.

I'm interested in adding a tomato frog and was wondering if they would be compatible. The guy at the pet store seemed to think so and he's been helpful so far but I want to do my due diligence before adding anything. Their envirnomental needs seem to be similar enough but I'm a bit concerned about the relative size difference. The chorus frogs are pretty small. I would say roughly 1.5 inches long when sitting or maybe 3" - 3.5" full length. I believe they are full grown. The tomato frog at the pet store, which is full grown, is maybe 2" - 2.5" sitting (he was really big around too but I think he was puffed up). They would all eat small crickets.

So would the tomato frog be any threat to the chorus frogs? He didn't LOOK anywhere near large enough to eat the chorus frogs but I've also been quite surprised at the size of crickets the chorus frogs can dispatch. The chorus frogs are reported to be very hardy otherwise.

Any input would be appreciated!

Stuart

I haven't kept tomatoes, but any frogs with that much of a size difference can have problems, especially with the tomato's big mouth. For example, if the tomato mistakes a chorus frog foot for a cricket, there could be trouble... Even just hopping around, a tomato could easily mash a chorus frog.

I've kept spring peepers, gray treefrogs, and bird-voiced treefrogs with chorus frogs. These guys may be more suitable if you really want a multi-species tank.

Frogs are really never good for mixing species. The two species you are referring to especially should never be mixed. Tomatoes do not eat very big prey, but they do excrete some milky stuff that is like glue as a defensive mechanism. Plus frogs can stress very easily, which in itself can cause death. I would get another tank if you get the tomato. Also the two species have different requirements for their living conditions.
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