Newly raised frog from a tadpole question

[lisaf]

Hi Lisa and welcome to FF. Do you have any pics of your frog? I guess from habits you describe a 1/4 land 3/4 water set-up would be appropriate. Will wait until you post pics (even from cel phone camera) but do dechlorinate tank water if from tap or anything other than bottled spring .

Thank you so much for your response! These pictures were taken in late May. It has gotten really hard to take pictures of him now because he is really skittish and hides immediately when I approach his tank. I'm not sure how to get him to relax more around us.

[Gnag the nameless]

I think you've got yourself an American Bullfrog (Rana Catesbeiana) right there

Bullfrogs are typically skittish, but if they become used to you they may not mind you at all. My own bullfrog, Gnag, doesn't even mind me watching her hunt these days.

For a bullfrog, I'd recommend a 1/2, 3/4 or even almost fully water setup. Make sure your little guy has somewhere he can climb up onto and be out of the water. Giving a kind of "Edge of a pond" look to his setup would be great. Personally, I recommend using small pond stones as substrate. Just make sure they are too big to be eaten. As for tank size, as a froglet he'll need a 20 gallon, but my rule of the thumb is: every inch the frog is, 10-15 gallons. So, a 3 inch bullfrog would go into a 30 gallon tank (exception being a 4+ inch bullfrog should go into a 55 Gallon at the very smallest.) Despite this, the bigger tank the better.

As for feeding, you can feed him crickets smaller than the space between his eyes daily. I would say let him eat about 5-10. Also, I STRONGLY recommend you pick up some Calcium + Vitamin D3 Reptile powder, and Multi-vitamin Reptile powder. Dust his crickets every other feeding with the Calcium mix, and once a week with the Multi-vitamin (never on the same day, though.) To dust, simply place a pinch of the powder in a bag, drop the crickets in, seal the bag, shake it about for 10 or so seconds, and the crickets should be covered in the dust. Then, go ahead and feed. As he gets bigger, you can feed him earthworms (make sure the worms are from a fertilizer/additive/pesticide free source). I recommend any kind of Nightcrawler. For every inch the frog is, he can have 3 inches of earthworm, although for little ones I'd go smaller before bigger. My 3.5 inch bullfrog can gobble down a 10 inch worm, so I don't think it'll be a problem for your guy to eat a 3 inch worm.

Could we have a few photos of your setup?

Good job keep us posted

[lisaf]

Thanks to everyone so far for you help! Here is a picture of where he lives.... I've been feeding him wingless fruit flies. He doesn't seem to be eating the frog/tadpole bites that he ate as a tadpole anymore. Thanks for the tip about dusting the bugs with the supplements. Has anyone been breeding their own flies? I'm thinking about doing that, but wasn't sure about how many flies that my frog will eat and if it will make it worth it to breed the flies myself. I'm noticing that the crickets that the crickets that Caspian is giving his/her frogs seem to be pretty big. ugh!

[Bombina Bob]

The setup is great!, Im suprised he's feeding as well! You can get
a friut fly culture at some pet stores and online and will breed like
crazy within a week or two.

[Gnag the nameless]

I like the tank as a froglet, he'll do well in it. Just make sure he has a day/night schedule and I also recommend an aquarium wallpaper for the back. You can tape it on, or simply use water. It'll reduce stress, make him feel more at home. Having a bit more greenery here and there would make him feel more comfortable, too.

Well, there's different sizes of crickets. There's pinhead (0-1 week) which can sometimes be the size of large fruit flies. As your frog gets bigger, you can feed him bigger sizes. I used to feed my bullfrog 2 week crickets, but now she can eat 5-6 week (adult) crickets.

Wingless fruitflies will do for now, but as he gets bigger they will not suffice. My big bullfrog doesn't even pay attention to any smaller crickets I place in her tank now.

[Bombina Bob]

Ive gone fishing for bullfrogs in my area and
they eat anything including the tinyred lure!
im in the same scenario with one of
my other bullfrog tadpoles