Breeding

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

I've thought about starting a Budgett's frog breeding project, so I need to know the following things:

-All of the necessary supplies and equipment
-Any humane ways to cull the brood size
-How to maintain all of the babies and how to care for the tadpoles

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[John]

You just asked for an entire article on Budgett's frogs, more than anyone has actually written about them in regards to breeding.

Question 2 is the easiest to answer: Caudata Culture Articles - Euthanasia

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

Wow. I really had no idea I was asking for more then anyone's written about them.

[John]

I may have over reacted - it sounded like you wanted a walk through. Here's a quick response.

Equipment:

- Aestivation equipment - you can read this in the African Bullfrog article
- 20 gallon aquarium with recirculating water pump to simulate a rain chamber
- Aquarium heater

Maintaining the offspring: I believe the tadpoles are carnivorous. This means you'll have to feed them very well to avoid mass carnage, or raise them individually (not practical). Other than that, their maintenance is the same as Ceratophrys tadpoles - keep them in the late 20s Celsius (early 80s F), keep the water relatively clean, give them a lot of space and have a lot of food available - they grow fast and metamorphose in a few weeks.

[SethD]

These are usually bred with hormone injections. Not saying it couldn't or hasn't been done without hormones but it would certainly be an advanced level project for a skilled hobbyist.

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

How much room would I need, at the minimum? And is it acceptable to allow the bigger tadpoles/froglets to eat the smaller ones? Because the way I see it, I think the result will be a much larger ratio of strong frogs to smaller, maybe even weaker frogs, as well as a smaller brood size. Also, I've heard that baby horned/ Budgett frogs are very cannibalistic in nature. But I'm not sure if I should do that or not.