How can I not kill it while I learn? Very basic information request

[ibycus]

About a week ago, my nephew was visiting my place and was quite excited to see a little frog in my yard. He caught it, looked at it, was very interested, and was quite upset to release it again. My sister later regretted making him release it, as he was showing a lot of natural curiosity about it.

I promised her that if I saw another, I would catch it. Well my dog found it, (didn't hurt it, but would have). So now I've got him and still know very little.

I suspect he's a chorus frog given what I can see as far as native species go.
Looking for basic requirements. Obviously
temperature -- he's a local so I imagine minimal heating cooling required, but any 'preferred range'?
Humidity --- obviously I have to worry about desiccation or over moist environment (pretty dry climate, so reluctant to rely on pages quoting 'normal household moisture', but certainy don't want to over do it.
Food ---what should he feed? I doubt I can buy 'Purina Frog Chow' at my local pet store . I read some reports of crickets being fed, but I know there are also some dangers associated. Would prefer as SIMPLE as possible (ie something my 8 year old nephew can manage, and not set free over my sister's house)
Common medical complaints?
I imagine minimal direct handling is preferred. Any common parasites in a wild caught guy like this?


P.S. the local wetland which is likely this guy's home is (a) a ways away, (b) being drained at the moment, so his lifespan in the wild (even if not being eaten by my dog) is limited.

[DigitalPunk]

I don't know much about chorus frogs, but look for posts from forum moderator Lija. She has 4 or 6 of them and is currently build them a tanks. She would be a great source of information for you.

[ibycus]

Oh and what about UV lighting recommendations?

[ColleenT]

what you will learn is- the frog is cheap/free, the vivarium costs a fortune. well put him a Quarantine tank for now, use papertowels on the bottom as substrate for now. let them be damp but not wet. buy crickets at the pet store- no bigger than the space between his eyes. i dust my crickets in a container i dump a few in and 'shake and bake' them. cover them and let them crawl into the enclosure. only one or 2 until you know he's eating. crix can chew on frogs. dark quiet area for a while. in the meantime, read all you can about them and their care and find a nice setup, or release him if it sounds too overwhelming.'

i am not a fan of kids having reptiles and amphibs. so much can go wrong, and handling them stresses out the animal. if the kid was to have it, i would not allow him to play with it. it would have to be taken care of by an adult who could monitor the situation.

[Lija]

About a week ago, my nephew was visiting my place and was quite excited to see a little frog in my yard. He caught it, looked at it, was very interested, and was quite upset to release it again. My sister later regretted making him release it, as he was showing a lot of natural curiosity about it.

I promised her that if I saw another, I would catch it. Well my dog found it, (didn't hurt it, but would have). So now I've got him and still know very little.

I suspect he's a chorus frog given what I can see as far as native species go.
Looking for basic requirements. Obviously
temperature -- he's a local so I imagine minimal heating cooling required, but any 'preferred range'?
Humidity --- obviously I have to worry about desiccation or over moist environment (pretty dry climate, so reluctant to rely on pages quoting 'normal household moisture', but certainy don't want to over do it.
Food ---what should he feed? I doubt I can buy 'Purina Frog Chow' at my local pet store . I read some reports of crickets being fed, but I know there are also some dangers associated. Would prefer as SIMPLE as possible (ie something my 8 year old nephew can manage, and not set free over my sister's house)
Common medical complaints?
I imagine minimal direct handling is preferred. Any common parasites in a wild caught guy like this?


P.S. the local wetland which is likely this guy's home is (a) a ways away, (b) being drained at the moment, so his lifespan in the wild (even if not being eaten by my dog) is limited.

Cochrane, huh? Hello neighbour Welcome to the forum! Love ice cream from that little shop on a main street

Lucky... Ive never seen any frogs around Calgary unless in tanks. How about we proper ID your guy and will go from there? Can you please post pic of the frog. Meanwhile place him in a quarantine, wet papertowels, cover 3 sides of your tank, water bowl, something foresty looking - plastic plant or two from the pet store. Use water conditioner for all your water, i use prime ( fish stuff). Get crickets - size no bigger then the distance between his eyes. That cute little store you have should carry them. I buy mine at riverfront aquariums by barlow and memorial drive.

After we proper ID the guy we can carry on with set up, dusting stuff, etc. and deworming it too.

[ibycus]

Hi Colleen,

Thank you for your reply. You can rest assured that I know the requirements of keeping this guy happy/healthy are going to be more than just sticking him in an old aquarium with some dirt and water!

Its not so much about 'hey the frog is free' that we're going for, but more about igniting a passion in a kid who really needs something to be passionate about. A big part of the interest is that this guy was found in nature. (otherwise they would pick one up at the pet store with much better documented requirements).

When I was in school I did some labs on 'care and feeding of exotics' (snakes, bearded dragons, red-slider tortoises), so I know enough to know just how much I don't know about the specific requirements of these guys. Most of the so called 'care' guides I can find don't really cover what you need to know to actually care for them. I'm hoping, given this guy is a local, and not some rainforest refuge, his care requirements won't be *too* onerous.

I'm not sure about sourcing crickets of the size you mentioned, I've certainly never seen them for sale--doesn't mean they don't exist, just I've not seen them around. I'm wondering about blood worms? Any thoughts there?

Things I still need to find out:
1. A diet he will eat. I suspect this might be one of the harder requirements to meet, given that he is wild caught, he may not recognize some of this stuff as food.
2. Moisture requirements (% humidity, depth of any water, etc).
3. A diet that will be balanced for him long term.
4. UV lighting requirements? (Does he need any special UV lights? I suspect he does, but can't confirm).
5. Long term substrate?
6. Filtration systems?

I've reached out to the local zoo veterinarian (who is an acquaintance of mine) to see if he can help me out with some of the specifics (I imagine they have some in captivity at the zoo).

Dale

what you will learn is- the frog is cheap/free, the vivarium costs a fortune. well put him a Quarantine tank for now, use papertowels on the bottom as substrate for now. let them be damp but not wet. buy crickets at the pet store- no bigger than the space between his eyes. i dust my crickets in a container i dump a few in and 'shake and bake' them. cover them and let them crawl into the enclosure. only one or 2 until you know he's eating. crix can chew on frogs. dark quiet area for a while. in the meantime, read all you can about them and their care and find a nice setup, or release him if it sounds too overwhelming.'

i am not a fan of kids having reptiles and amphibs. so much can go wrong, and handling them stresses out the animal. if the kid was to have it, i would not allow him to play with it. it would have to be taken care of by an adult who could monitor the situation.

[ibycus]

Sounds like you know Cochrane fairly well . I'm in Fireside (just south on 22). I imagine this guy's home is the nearby wetlands that are actively being destroyed to make room for more houses (they are 'constructing' some wetland to mitigate the destruction, but obviously wouldn't help this guy out). I hear them quite frequently when I take my dog out in the evening. Had a couple I've rescued from my lawn mower since I moved in. I'll miss having them around. The other day one jumped in to my wheel barrow.

As far as quarantine goes, he is a singlet, so no worries about infecting an existing population. The pet store my sister went in to was remarkably unhelpful. She has him now, so I'll have to wait for her to send me picture before I can post.

What do you recommend for deworming? Common parasites? (if you had the choice of anything --- prescription included).

Which little pet store do you mean? There are a couple in town, but most cater to the cat/dog market.

[LilyPad]

We need pictures for identification before we can tell you temp/humidity and other requirements. Most wild caught species take just fine to crickets.

[Lija]

Sounds like you know Cochrane fairly well . I'm in Fireside (just south on 22). I imagine this guy's home is the nearby wetlands that are actively being destroyed to make room for more houses (they are 'constructing' some wetland to mitigate the destruction, but obviously wouldn't help this guy out). I hear them quite frequently when I take my dog out in the evening. Had a couple I've rescued from my lawn mower since I moved in. I'll miss having them around. The other day one jumped in to my wheel barrow.

As far as quarantine goes, he is a singlet, so no worries about infecting an existing population. The pet store my sister went in to was remarkably unhelpful. She has him now, so I'll have to wait for her to send me picture before I can post.

What do you recommend for deworming? Common parasites? (if you had the choice of anything --- prescription included).

Which little pet store do you mean? There are a couple in town, but most cater to the cat/dog market.

Im in SE calgary by sicome lake yes, that store is not exactly frog friendly, but they should have stuff you need, so whatever.

Quarantine is needed even if you dont have any other frogs. Ill pm you for drugs.... Didnt expect to find here another vet who lives like next door lol

you can start with fecal test, just like you'd do for cats/ dogs.

[ibycus]

We need pictures for identification before we can tell you temp/humidity and other requirements. Most wild caught species take just fine to crickets.

Still waiting for my sister to send the pictures, but I'd place money its this guy here Boreal chorus frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , general appearance, size, range, colouration, active period, all seem to match up well.

[ibycus]

Got a picture. Computer acting badly,hopefully it posts...

[LilyPad]

I would agree with that! You should be able to follow these care instructions - Frog Forum - Pacific Chorus Frog

Lovely little guy

Edit - Not sure if anyone already said this, but UV lighting is not necessary.

[Lija]

Yes, it is boreal chorus frog, care is similar to pacific chorus frog Frog Forum - Pacific Chorus Frog

Amy! Lol

[LilyPad]

Good post, Lija! Lol

[ColleenT]

rest assured, there are crickets that small at pet shops. if he is very tiny, you can even go with 'pin-head' crickets, being very small baby crickets. get some calcium/vitD dust and put a couple crix in a container with dust, shake them around, and coat them, then let them into the frog enclosure. keep an eye so crix don't chew on frog, but hopefully your frog is pretty hungry by now.


maybe the term QT tank is misleading. i guess i would call it an 'observational time'. make sure he is eating and pooping and acting normal before you set up your vivarium.