New guy wanting to get frogs

[Frognerd]

Hi guys i`m Jerry.I was wondering if you could give me info on what kind of frogs I should get,what kind of terrarium,what kind of substrate and information like that.Is it possible to put other humid-liking animals in the terrarium with frogs?Do frogs eat tadpoles?Would it be possible to have a terrarium with water on the bottom and have a breeding of pair of frogs so they can lay eggs in the water?Would the eggs survive?
I`m really sorry for all the questions but if I get a new species I usally have about a million questions...Thanks and any help is appreciated!

[Kurt]

First, let's not get ahead of ourselves by thinking about breeding at this point. Let's just get your husbandry skills up to speed.
How you set up an enclosure depends on the type of frog selected. Treefrogs require good ventilation and taller cages than most other frogs. Typical Ranids, such as American bullfrogs and leopard frogs will require large semi-aquatic enclosures, as they are skittish and have powerful jumping legs. Fire-bellied toads will require similar enclosures, but on a smaller scale. True toads, Pac-man frogs, and tomato frogs are terrestrial, so most of them will do fine with a standard 10-gallon tank. Clawed frogs and Suriname toads are totally aquatic, so they can be kept like fish. Poison dart frogs and mantellas can be set up in enclosed greenhouse-type terrariums, but these frogs are considered too advanced for the beginner.
Do not mix amphibian species. There a few reasons for this. Most amphibians produce skin secretions that can be toxic, while at the same time they have porous skin that absorbs moisture, pollutants, and toxins. So mixing species will cause them to poison each other, or as it is often referred to as cross-contamination. Most frogs offered for sale are wild-caught and are usually carrying gastrointestinal parasites and other pathogens that are native to where they were collected. So mixing frogs from different lands is to cross-infect your frogs with pathogens that they may not have any immunity to. Captive bred frogs are sometimes introduced to these as well in pet shops and similar situations, so mixing them would be the same deal. There are a few more reasons, but those can wait.
So there you have some basic protocols in frog husbandry.

[Frognerd]

Thank you for your reply Kurt.Do you know any reputable dealers or breeders?I was looking into getting a indonesian White`s tree frog.Is it a good choice?
Thanks

[Kurt]

Indonesian White's are all wild caught. If you get one it definitely will need to be dewormed. Overall White's are good beginner frogs, but try to get captive bred specimens. Captive bred frog are always your first choice whenever possible. Other good starter frogs are fire-bellied toads, gray treefrogs, green treefrogs, barking treefrogs, tomato frogs, & tiger-legged monkey frogs. Most of these frogs are almost always wild caught, but occasionally tomato & tiger-legged monkey frogs are captive bred.

[Mrs Frogley]

My suggestions for good "starter" frog/toads would be:

A common species of Bufo toad -- sedate

African Dwarf aquatic frog -- totally a swimmer, eats granulated food, no bugs to deal with

White's tree frog -- needs the tall tank setup but mellow

Fire-belly toad -- they can be lively jumpers and I had one that could even climb a bit, so be careful when cleaning tank.

I had American bullfrogs; they were jumpy and more afraid of humans, but cool -- if you have a good net and a big tank or pond.

Northern leopard frog -- more active -- hard to catch if they escape.

My experience has been that it's best to keep one frog or toad per tank; I've had some instances where one of a pair would start to hog the feeder crickets and then the shyer one would start to starve. I even lost a few before I figured out the pattern. Often it was a male/female pair and the female would not let the male eat. This can be solved by feeding them separately, although sometimes handling them makes them nervous and then they aren't interested in the feeders.

That's one reason why I just have Bluebell now, and if I get future frogs or toads I think I'll do the one individual per tank thing.

Hope this helps!