A few questions about leopard frog care - thanks in advance!

[Naturesdawn]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to the forum and new to leopard frogs. (I had Pacific Chorus Frogs a few years ago, and they only survived a year. I want to learn how to care for frogs better.)

My class raised 2 leopard frogs from tadpoles and now I am a frog mama! Mowgli went through his metamorphosis a month ago and seems to be doing fine. Lily's tail is almost fully absorbed and should be eating live food any day now. I've set up a semi-aquatic terrarium for them. My questions are:

- What type of lighting would be best for them? I live in a shady area, so I don't get much natural light though my windows. The pamphlet I got from Petco about terrestrial frogs says I need low level UVB lighting 10-12 hours a day, but then I looked at the Exo Terra UV rating system and got confused about what to buy. I'd appreciate any advice on this, because as of right now, they are in a fairly dark environment.

- Are there any other kinds of food I should be feeding them besides small crickets and mealworms? Fish? Other worms or insects? My biggest frog is only about 2" at the moment. How much food is right for a growing frog of that size? I don't want to over or under feed them.

- What about supplements? My crickets are being gut loaded with high calcium food and drink - is that enough? I've read that I need a calcium supplement also. I bought Reptivite Vitamins, but was unsure about the calcium since I was feeding it to the crickets. Can they get too much calcium?

- Do they need a heat lamp? My house typically stays between 68 and 75 degrees both summer and winter.

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise! I know I have a lot of questions!

~ Dawn

[limnologist]

welcome to the forums . You can just use incandescent bulbs. No florescent. It would be good to vary their diets: fish, worms, flies, grubs, mealworms, super worms, wax worms, roaches, and grasshoppers. As much as they will eat every other day. The food would be best half the size of their heads. Technically if you feed the feeder well,you have no need for supplements, but, others will tell you to get calcium supplements. I haven't heard of a frog getting too much calcium. Those temps sound fine but a little extra heat in summer helps.

[LilyPad]

Hello and welcome! I use 5.0 Uv on my tank. I have noticed my frogs are more active and have better coloring compared to when I didn't. So I would always recommend it, can't hurt.

Here us a care sheet that should tell you most of what you need to know -- Frog Forum - Leopard Frog Care - Rana pipiens (Schreber, 1782) and R. sphenocephala (1886)

I would dust your crickets with calcium and vitamins at every feeding while they're this small. There is a vitamin schedule somewhere on this forum that you can use once they're older. Getting some worms (like earthworms) in their diet when they're bigger is a great idea. I would use caution with super worms and wax worms though, that should be an occasional treat and not a regular part of their diet.

I would watch the tank temps and determine from there if you're going to use some kind of heating.

[Naturesdawn]

Thanks CAYTON & AMY for your welcomes and for responding! I really want to do what's best for them and your responses were very helpful! Amy, that Care Guide was awesome - I've been looking for something like that!

As for the lighting, I'm still confused. There's so much conflicting information out there! I've read that incandescent bulbs are better (as you advised Cayton) because florescents flicker and stress them out, but I'm having a hard time finding an incandescent bulb that produces UVB rays. I'm only finding flourescent bulbs that have it (I checked out the one you have Amy). I've read some places that they need UVB light for vitamin D production and calcium absorption. I've read other places that frogs don't need any special light at all. I don't want to fry them or have them die from lack of sunlight - thanks for helping me figure this out!

[LilyPad]

The vitamin D production and calcium absorption applies to reptiles, not amphibians. They do not NEED UV, after noticing such a huge change in my frogs though, I will not go back to non-UV bulbs. The hood on my tree frog tank broke about a month ago and I've been using an LED light since then, they are nice because they don't put out any excess heat. I just ordered another hood and new UV bulbs though because I do like them better. As for flickering, I've never had one get to the point of flickering. I replace them every 6 months.