Help with northern green frog enclosure!

[FroggyLubber]

Please help with my tank setup. I know it's supposed to be semi-aquatic setup (50/50) and what to feed them and how big the tank is suppose to be. mine is 16 gallons and I hope to get a female green frog.
but anyway! here is the problem am I suppose to have uv light like all the websites say. But I don't like buying things unless I really need it. I heard somewhere herps need sunlight (D3) to digest calcium. So anyone please help!

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF! Think a 16 gal. tank is small for an active frog that can grow up to 3.5 in. and a 20L is better. Also would split area to give more wet than dry (60/40) because they will spend lots of time in the water.

What websites are stating a Northern Green Frog requires UVB? Frogs and toads in captivity get their Ca/D3 needs from food supplements. Have read some tree frogs might benefit indirectly from UVB; but they still require Ca/D3 and multivitamin supplements in their diets. Good luck !

[FroggyLubber]

Thank you! I have got the tank set up just need a frog! I'll probably get one in the spring/summer. I wasn't able to do 50/40 but it should be ok. But I have another question, do they NEED crickets? Because they are noisy and stinky, so I don't want to have to raise crickets, so more of a reason for my dad not to let me. Thanks bye.

[Mentat]

Your frog will need a varied diet of insects, night crawlers, and other treats. Crickets need to be gut loaded with carrots, lettuce, cherios, and oats 24-48 hours prior to feeding frog. They need to be same size as distance between frogs eyes. You could also feed Dubia roaches; but imagine if keeping crickets is a no no; Dubia roaches will be no go too.

Only option then would be to feed night crawlers. You can get those at Walmarts and fish bait stores. Need to be not dyed and might need to cut from pointy end in mouth sized chunks until frog is couple in. long and can handle whole ones. NCs need to be kept in the refrigerator!

Other "beetle worms" like mealworms can be fed as treats, but they are mostly fat and their high chitin skin can cause impaction.

[Mentat]

Forgot to add; if your tank is an aquarium and can hold water; you might want to consider an aquatic frog instead? African Dwarf Frogs (smaller) and African Clawed Frogs (bigger) make great pets and can be fed live/frozen food and can even eat pellets. No need to feed insects to those and even a small 5 gal. can house a couple of ADFs. A pair of ACFs would require a 20L tank .