Pre-frog person

[Purpleskull]

Hi, so I'm thinking of getting a frog and I'm new to this whole thing. I just got back from a reptile expo yesterday and saw a whole lot of cute frogs. One question I have is how jumpy are they? And 2, are CB poison dart frogs poisonous or just the wild caught ones?

[1beataway]

Hi!

It depends on the frog. Some are a lot easier to handle than others. Some jump a lot, some don't. Most of the frogs I've seen or handled don't jump too much.

I think captive bred dart frogs are not poisonous (though I think I saw where a couple types might be?). But if you're new to frogs, I'm not sure you want to pick darts as the first ones to try.

[scribbles]

I'm glad you are taking the time to research different species before buying a frog. Some frogs are more "jumpy" than others when handled. Wild Poison Dart Frogs are poisonous because of their diet. So, they're not poisonous in captivity. All frogs have different amounts of toxins in their skin though. White's Treefrogs and Fire-Bellied Toads are great species for beginners.

[John]

Captive bred dart frogs are not dangerous to touch but even though much of their toxin input comes from food in the wild and captive bred animals don't have that, you should always wash your hands after having handled any frog. Dart frogs are a strictly "look, don't touch" frog though - they do not tolerate any handling. If you want a frog you can handle occasionally, get a tree frog. Just be aware that frogs in general are not a handling pet.

[Crystal6]

I advice a White's Tree Frog. Mine is very tolerant and will climb onto my hand on occasions. I have heard others say theirs also do this but I've also heard some say their white's are very shy. I think it's a matter of personality sometimes.

[into]

I advice a White's Tree Frog. Mine is very tolerant and will climb onto my hand on occasions. I have heard others say theirs also do this but I've also heard some say their white's are very shy. I think it's a matter of personality sometimes.

Yeah, It's up to the individual frog. I have 3 white's and they all have to be handled differently. If I had to rate all my frogs on tameness from 1 (terrified) to 10 (no worries), I would rate my littlest one, Scooter a 4. He's now the most skittish of the group. He's still not sure of what my hands will do to him and hasn't learned that my hand coming in means meal time like the others have.

Just FYI, The others would rate as follows

Dumper (white's) : 11 (sometime he seems eager to be picked up)
Jade (white's) : 8
Cisco (green tree frog) : 8
Geico (green tree frog) : 5
Scooter (white's) : 4

I find it interesting that he is less tame than the american greens.

[1beataway]

Mine are two extremes. Baudrillard doesn't really like to be picked up, but once I have him in my hand, he's very comfortable, and will stay there for as long as I want to hold him, as long as he gets to look straight at me. He'll turn around anytime I try to get him to look away from me.

Every night I turn the light off, Luigi immediately goes into action. He'll go to the front of the tank and move all along the bottom, back and forth, until I open the door. Then once I do, he gets on the ledge, and jumps onto my couch. Last night I had to keep chasing him and put him back, and he would do it again. He also seems to sometimes not notice that there's a glass there, and he'll jump at the glass and hit his face. Hopefully that won't cause any abrasions.

[Crystal6]

Cute. I'd rank mine a 9. He generally doesn't WANT to be picked up but as long as I'm not trying to give him a bath or holding him near a cat he seems fine with being held. (After he ate his 7th cricket during his once-a-week-feeding he climbed onto my hand like "Okay I'm done eating let me go back to my cage so I can sleep. Z_Z")

Other note: They're definately durable. Mine has climbed into the filtration device and done other reckless things yet still seems very healthy. Once a cat jumped onto the lid while I was taking him out and it snapped shut on his leg, yet once I'd freed it it was undamaged. I thought for sure he would have broken a leg or something but he didn't. He still uses it just fine and it doesn't appear to be broken or scrapped or anything! I've seen pictures of people's frogs squeezing through lids with such little space but dang!

Goes without saying that despite this I now take the lid all the way off when I take him out. None the less these are definately some impressively-durable frogs.

[into]

Mine are two extremes. Baudrillard doesn't really like to be picked up, but once I have him in my hand, he's very comfortable, and will stay there for as long as I want to hold him, as long as he gets to look straight at me.

It seems the more nervous they are the more they need to watch your every move. Scooter often has a complete lock on to my eyes and when I move my hand around, he never looses eye contact. He doesn't want me to eat him. Dumper on the other hand with look at me for just a second, sometime's he'll croak at me and then start looking around the room. I always thought that frog's eyes were locked in place, but I was watching Dumper on my hand and they do move very slightly.

[1beataway]

It seems the more nervous they are the more they need to watch your every move. Scooter often has a complete lock on to my eyes and when I move my hand around, he never looses eye contact. He doesn't want me to eat him.

Now that you mention it, it does seem like he has a lock on my eyes. If I move my hand, he'll move his head slightly.