Seeking frog I.D. and question about metamorphasis

[Brhino]

Last year my step-parents-in-law decided to get my daughter a "leopard frog tadpole kit" for her fourth birthday. Personally I think unsolicited pets of any kind are a terrible gift, but they're not the kind of people that think things like that all the way through, and so a few days before her birthday the kit showed up with three tadpoles and a cracked 2-gallon acrylic container. I didn't know anything about keeping frogs but I am an aquarium enthusiast, so I decided that I'd do my best to provide a proper home for these frogs. I immediately replaced their container with a spare 10 gallon tank (unfiltered and unheated, with weekly 90% water changes) and set about converting a spare 29 gallon tank into a suitable leopard frog habitat with water and land areas.

The instructions with the kit declared that the tadpoles would turn into frogs in 12-14 weeks. This was not the case... not even close. The first one to transform took six months to do so. The second one took 11 months. Unfortunately when this one transformed I thought it was large enough to coexist with the first but I was wrong, and it disappeared a few nights after I added it to the adult frog enclosure. The last one shows no signs of growing legs even now, 14 months after I got them. So, my first question is what is going on here? Why are they taking so long?

My second question is about the species of the frog. The odd thing is that my "leopard frog" has no leopard spots. I attributed this to some quirk of the environment I have it in, but someone who has seen photos thinks it's not a leopard frog at all, but rather a bullfrog instead. So, I would like some expert opinions on what species it truly is. Please see the attached photographs, and let me know if more detailed photos or other information is needed to address my questions. Thank you for your time.

back when the frog was a tadpole:


frog as it is now, belly view:

side view:

[UncleChester]

Some of the larger species of frogs spend a year or even two in the tadpole stage before becoming froglets. This is especially true of the late breeders in northern climates.

You're right, the one pictured is not a leopard frog. From the last picture, it appears to lack the ridges down the sides of it's back? Assuming it's from North America, this would make Bullfrog the most likely suspect. River Frog is possible, but they are supposed to have white markings on their lips. Pig frog is also possible, they have webbing to the tip of the toes on the hind feet a bullfrog doesn't. Brief descriptions of these can be found at Florida Wildlife Extension at UF/IFAS and here's a description of bullfrogs that points out some of the differences Frog Listening Network

You might also look at Guide to Tadpoles to help confirm an ID, this seems to also rule out River Frog.

[deeishealthy]

That makes my eyebrows do this \ / that some company is selling these kits as one thing, and they are another. How are you supposed to research and provide the proper care for the animal when it's not what it says on the box? (And don't even get me started on unsolicited pet gifts... my mother bought my son a gerbil for his 9th birthday and while we were out at Chuck E Cheese his cat jiggled his door and popped it open then smashed the cage to the ground and ate the gerbil. Poor kid was completely traumatized when we walked in the door and saw the cat throw the gerbil up in the air, catch it, then race down the hall with it in her mouth, and if she had asked me first I would have told her that a rodent in a hunting cats home was not a good idea. But I digress...)

[Brhino]

Hey everyone, thanks for the info!

The frog has no ridges, you are correct. It does look rather like a bullfrog, except that most photos I see of bullfrogs they have green heads. This one is brown all the way over. It also seems like this one has a more pointed snout than a bullfrog. If they are bullfrogs then that explains why they're taking so long to change, I guess.

I thought I knew what a bullfrog tadpole looked like, but the guide you linked says that "Rana catesbeiana tadpoles are extremely variable" and has a photo that looks very similar to leopard frog tadpoles to me. Just from looking at tadpole pictures I don't feel confident saying its a leopard frog or bullfrog, though I agree that it looks nothing like a river frog. I ASSUME it's a North American frog but who knows?
a couple more photos of mine:

[UncleChester]

The frog has no ridges, you are correct. It does look rather like a bullfrog, except that most photos I see of bullfrogs they have green heads. This one is brown all the way over. It also seems like this one has a more pointed snout than a bullfrog. If they are bullfrogs then that explains why they're taking so long to change, I guess.

They can be fairly dark as well, American Bullfrog - Rana catesbeiana | Matthew Graham

or search for bullfrog on google images to see a wide variation in their colours (though there are a few misidentified ones in here) https://www.google.com/search?num=10....1.veBXal82Pnc It's pretty amazing the variety you can get within a single species.

The North American assumption is probably pretty safe. I think most of these 'kits' from online dealers probably just collect tadpoles from the wild and likely won't be shipping live animals across borders.

Tadpoles are almost always tricky, but can be helpful for the ID. Leopard frogs usually breed in the spring, but at that time last years bullfrog tadpoles will be touring around, so it wouldn't be shocking if these were collected from the wild and misidentified. Pretty poor on their part, a bullfrog is more demanding food wise than a leopard frog so people will be even less prepared. I don't agree with these sort of outfits anyways, but they could at least be responsible and accurate.

[Brhino]

I don't agree with these sort of outfits anyways, but they could at least be responsible and accurate.

I agree, although honestly I'm more annoying with my relatives. They could have asked if we thought it was an appropriate gift. They didn't... they just told us about it when they were already on their way. They had no idea I keep fish. These frogs are darn lucky they happened to end up in the hands of someone who happened to have spare tanks and the willingness to spend the money needed to turn them into frog environments.

Anyhow, thanks for the ID. From what I've been reading so far the care requirements shouldn't be terribly different now that I know they're a different species than I thought, but I'll continue to read up on keeping bullfrogs.

[GrifTheGreat]

Just to add somewhat of an example of American Bullfrogs showing color variation in juviniles even. Here is one that is very dark. I took these photos over the summer.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

and judging from the color of its neck I would wager it is a female.

[Brhino]

Just to add somewhat of an example of American Bullfrogs showing color variation in juviniles even. Here is one that is very dark.

Interesting... the coloration on mine looks a lot like that one.

and judging from the color of its neck I would wager it is a female.

Better update my pronouns, then. How can you tell? What's the rule? Also, is it only the males that talk, or do both sexes do it?

[GrifTheGreat]

Interesting... the coloration on mine looks a lot like that one.



Better update my pronouns, then. How can you tell? What's the rule? Also, is it only the males that talk, or do both sexes do it?

Both males and females produce a call. The male produces a loud mating call that sounds like someone blowing into the mouth of a large glass jug slowly and the female responds with a call of her own to signal the male, but its hard to describe the female's responce call.

[GrifTheGreat]

Small Tympanum suggests female.

[Psychotic]

It's a bullfrog and a very nice one at that. I would love to have it lol! I love my bullfrogs. I have a baby that is very dark and as he has grown he has stayed very dark. I hope he keeps the dark color as an adult. I know it's a terrible cellphone picture. But you get the idea. As he has grown he has lost his baby spots now and is a very dark brown, looks black. I really need to get an updated picture of him.