Blue leopard frog?

[MCCPC]

Hi all! I just joined this forum. I love reptiles & amphibians- I have 4 red sided garter snakes, two wandering garter snakes, a Florida bluestripe garter snake, a painted turtle... and now possibly a frog!

I went to the park today to (temporarily) collect a frog or two for a little pond-life presentation I'm doing for my daughter's 3rd grade class on Thursday. I frequently go to this particular park to catch & release frogs & snakes with my daughter. We have allot of fun catching critters, having a look at them, and then letting them go.

I especially love seeing all the color variations in the leopard frogs we find from normal, to super pale, to bright bright green. My favorite coloration is super pale with iridescent green spots Today I had a bit of a shock when I found an iridescent blue leopard frog. When I first spotted it, I thought it was a candy wrapper! I have it in a 5 gal temporary holding tank at the moment and I keep peeking at it expecting that it won't be blue anymore I just really can't believe my eyes!

In all the years I have spent outdoors catching, watching, and photographing wonderful amphibians & reptiles, I have never seen a leopard frog this color! I did a google search and it only came back with one hit & really not allot of information. I am wondering if anyone can tell me more about this coloration? Is it fairly common? Genetic? He looks like the super pale variety I sometimes find at the park, but his back is pale iridescent blue instead of cream colored. I'm waiting for my camera battery to charge and then I will try to get some good photos of him.

I'm seriously thinking about keeping him... I have had leopard frogs before, I have the proper set up and I know how to care for them. I'm usually strictly catch & release when we go "frogging" but this guy just seems like a once in a "blue moon" find, lol. It's perfectly fine from a legal standpoint in my state (I always check laws!).

Thoughts?

[XDragonFrogX]

I have no idea so im no help lol but im curious about him! Could you post a picture?

[UncleChester]

Add 'axanthic' to your search terms and you'll have more luck. It's genetic and caused by missing or messed up yellow pigmentation. Yellow+Blue=Green, and the yellow has been taken away.

It seems to be fairly rare, but you do get local populations. I have a few Rana clamitans with blue heads at my pond, but no full on blue yet. Here's a population of Rana clamitans with some that are full on blue: Parks Canada - Thousand Islands National Park of Canada - It isn't easy being blue

Someone on here has a blue Hyla cinerea, and I've seen a few more pictures of them on the web.

Can't wait for pictures of the Leopard that you found!

[MCCPC]

Thank you Brian! I knew there had to be a term for it! Very cool interesting stuff. I got the photos & I'm downloading them from my camera now... not sure if I'm going to have them up tonight though. Loooong day and I don't know if I have the patience for going through them & re-sizing and loading them into image shack at the moment, but if not tonight, then I'll have them up tomorrow I promise! Picked up some crickets today & blue frog ate them right up

[MCCPC]

Oky, here we go! Blue frog photos:



*Wanted to add, the normal frogs will be going back to their stream today. Blue frog will be staying with me

[FriedrichsFrogs]

holy **** that is awesome! the gold and black against their blue looks realy cool

[Psychotic]

What a lovely frog and lucky find! I'm always on the lookout for unusual wildlife. I have never found a fully blue frog (that wasn't naturally blue). I have found a green frog with a blue head before.

Do you have any plans to attempt breeding? I'm not sure about this gene but I would assume that it is recessive like albino.