these frogs berry themselfs when theres drought but in captivity there is no drought so do they really need soil ?
what setup is ok and whats not ?
1- moist dirt with a water bowl
2- half land half water
3- all water
4- reptile carpet with water bowl
YouTube - Adult Male African Bullfrog eating a mouse
i do a 3 inches of all water but i dont know about the reptile carpet...... i sounds a little more hygienic.
African Bullfrogs, Clawed Frogs, Salamanders, Newts, Bearded Dragons,
The best setup for frogs is one that mimics their natural habitat. True, in captivity, there is no drought, but these frogs are not in water all the time in the wild either. Personally, I think a setup of moist dirt with a water dish or a half/half would be best. Reptile carpet I would stay away from as it is rough and frogs-no matter how tough looking they may be-have sensitive bellies. These frogs will feel more comfortable if allowed to bury themselves a bit and a comfortable frog is a happy frog!
The first two are ideal setups for an African Bullfrog. The third is ok, but not the best. The fourth is horrible. The two main reasons for dirt substrate is to simulate the frogs natural habitat, and to keep humidity up. If you have repticarpet, there will be a very low amount of humidity and the frog won't be able to burrow if it wants to. Also captive pyxies, at least mine, burrow in the dirt no matter if the humidity is up or down.
I agree TJ-my male, Gherkin, was kept in a bathtub for six months before he found a home with me-I can't even begin to describe all the problems I had to correct. But I can tell you one thing-the first thing he did (besides sitting in his nice, deep, water dish and having a soak for three days) was dig. If a frog could express joy, I saw it on his face.
I know what you mean. Plus I've noticed that my baby pyxie uses a hole in the soil to hide out in when one of my dogs come in the room. So without soil there is probably a lot of stress on the frog.
this would make a great sticky
wait was if we did the opposite and made it all water with a dirt tub which was deep
African Bullfrogs, Clawed Frogs, Salamanders, Newts, Bearded Dragons,
It also depends on the frog. If your frog stays in its water dish all the time like mine, it would only need a small area of dirt to burrow in.
Choice comes down to the individual owner. I like to keep frogs in 50/50 setups, gives them a chance to dig down and sleep for months on end if they want to.
How I had mines
I have something very similar for my setups as the above. I always give them enough soil to completely bury themselves...usually I see an eyeball poking up or a frog bum pressed against the glass, but otherwise, it sometimes looks as if I have a wonderful tank of dirt with a water dish. Oh, how exciting!
I am a fan of the large water dish and coco fiber. My frogs seem to go from A(water) to B(hole), not exploring or walking around much. Sit in water or sit in fiber. Anything more then that is purely aesthetics. Both water and dirt should be deep enough to fully submerge. Again this is my experience.
IMO half and half is best. Though I also think you can change to be more or less depending on your frog.
I set chubbz up in a typical african bullfrog tank coco and a water tub. He spent all his time in water. So I changed it to all water for awhile. i didn't see any harm in it. I do feel though that no matter what you do a water dish shouldn't be negotiable. I wouldn't use the repti carpet it doesn't hold humidity well at all for one. 2 It doesn't allow the frog any security and three it probably is rough on their skin as already mentioned.
Even though they're is no drought in captivity, Brumating is something these frogs have evolved to do and I allow my frogs to do that.
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