Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am semi-familiar with the idea of these "grow a frog" type kits. Im very skeptical though. I keep reptiles (fat tail and crested geckos, and have extensive experience with other reptiles as well) and am aware of the urge to buy from reputable breeders.

I am an elementary teacher and have been contemplating doing a unit on frogs with my students. I have been thinking of getting one of those kits to include in the unit, as it will be both fun & exciting, and enriching for the children.

In case youre not familiar with them, here is a description:
You buy a (temporary) habitat for a tadpole. There is a coupon in the kit redeemable for a tadpole. The tadpole is sent, and the fun begins. You and your students track the development of the tadpole into a frog. Here are links to the two kits I am looking into:
w w w.n a t u r e - g i f t s. c o m / g r o w -a - l i v e-f r o g.html

and

s h o p . s t o r e . y a h o o . c o m / n a t i o n a l g a r d e n i n g / 1 8 - 1 6 2 5 . h t m l

(no spaces)
My questions are:

Is buying one of these things a "no-no?"

I have seen kits with both african clawed frogs and leopard frogs. I have been looking up their care, and leopards seem to be easier?? any input?

Thanks

Hi! I think these frogs are interesting.

I brought from Grow-A-Frog and later found out -- whatta waste of money!

First off, you should join the Yahoo! Group "FroggyFriends"

This group has tons of information and links that will help educate you on ACF (african clawed frogs).

My experience with Grow-a-Frog is that they sell you these "Habitats" which will end up being about 10x too small for the frogs. The frogs should be kept in a 10 gal/frog tank (and they are a community animal, so 2 or more is better). Also, the prices seem rather steep.

The site you -need- to visit is:

http://clawedfrogs.tripod.com

That site is run by Rachel (I believe) and she has tons of great information on these frogs.

So, to sum up, in MY experience, grow-a-frog was a waste of money.

I hope this helped even a little

-Skye

Just to show an example, @ Grow-a-Frog, they list this on their order form:

WHITE Froglet very rare $20.00 $3.00 (shipping and handling)

A white frog, is just an albino frog...at fist2u.com (listed on Rachel's site at the "where to buy frogs" page), an albino frog cost: $7.98, 3 for $23.14, 6 for $43.89, 12 for $83.79.

Quite a bit of difference, eh?

-Skye

EDIT: The above message should read "fish2u.com" not fist.

research the species of the frog the tad eventually morphs into, so you know exactally what you are getting yourself into.

Grow A Frog has told many lies about what types of frogs they supply. but for a fact, their species are Xenopus laevis and Silurana spp. both frogs requiring two totally diffrent environments. both which are illegal in almost a dozen states, how this comapny is even able to ship them to these restricted states is beyond me.....

just for peace of mind, i would not purchase a frog from GAF, only because they are so sketchy with excatlly what they are selling.

rachel
n Depth Information On Common Aquatic Frogs