Hello from a house full of frogs in Iowa

[Sylvansoul]

I just registered here, although I've browsed this forum frequently over the past few years as my sons keep increasing the number of pets (mostly frogs) we have in our house. It started 6 years ago when I first gave in to my then 5 year old eldest son's begging little voice saying, "Can we keep him, Mommy? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" This was in reference to a grey tree frog that had made a habit of visiting my father as he soaked in his hot tub on the deck in the evening. The little froggy had a good thing going, moisture from the tub, insect snacks attracted by the lighted windows nearby, and cedar siding on the house to climb and hide on. We were a little concerned about the frog falling into the hot tub and overheating, or getting injured by the chemicals in the water, or being squished if he wasn't noticed when we moved the cover. TJ (my boy) had been catching toads and anything else that wasn't fast enough to escape since he could first toddle around but I'd never said "yes" to keeping anything. Fish and toddlers were enough mess for me. Somehow, this little frog managed to turn the tables and ended up coming home with us.

I imagine most people here know how the rest of the story goes from that point. The "free frog" ended up costing well over $100 as we set up a terrarium and figured out how to take care of him. Once we had the proper set up, my mother decided the little guy needed "friends" and caught 2 more frogs one night when she'd stayed up late drinking beer with a friend from work. I wish I'd seen them chasing frogs around on the porch at 1am. These were great pets for little boys. We had a blue "moonlight" bulb on top of the tank, so we could watch their antics at bedtime. They seemed healthy and happy, sometimes calling at night. The hot tub frog was dubbed "Slimer" and was the most amazingly calm frog I've ever seen. We have since replaced all 3 of the original frogs, catching new ones as the first 3 died off gradually. Slimer was the 2nd to die and everyone was very sad, as he was our favorite. I've no idea what their ages were when we caught them but only the smallest grew significantly. They enjoy meal worms and crickets, supplemented with rolly-polly bugs we catch in the summer (no pesticides or other chemicals used in our garden so they're safe).

This past summer, we caught two tadpoles in a pond, which of course the boys wanted to bring home and raise. I thought it sounded educational, so home we went with 2 tadpoles. One died the first week, despite doing everything recommended for tadpole-raising. The second survived, gradually grew legs, became an adorable little froglet, and was supposed to be released back into the pond. Notice the "supposed to" there. My boys are older now and have learned to team up when begging for new pets. I succumbed to the worried little voices "Mom...something might EAT Swimmy if we let him go!" I didn't want something to eat Swimmy either. We'd identified him as a leopard frog, so we knew we needed a decent sized aquarium if he was going to be a pet. (He'd been living in an 18 gallon rubbermaid tub on our shaded porch all summer but that wouldn't work for inside...plus I wanted my tub back to use for storing stuff in again!) I found a coworker with a spare aquarium but it didn't have a lid of any sort. We rigged up a lid for it, bought a filter, set up plants & hiding places, added a moss ball to the water, and move the whole thing indoors. We'd stuck with very frequent water changes for the tadpole/froglet since it was outside and we could use the hose and treat the water right on the porch before putting Swimmy back in...but if it was coming indoors, water changes weren't going to happen as often and we needed a filter. Things went well up until 2 weeks ago, when my lid failed and Swimmy escaped the tank. We searched for hours, put pans of water all around the house, hoping he'd hop into one and leave a trail we could follow, but no luck. We found him dead of dehydration the next morning. There's not much that feels as bad as knowing a child's pet died because you didn't keep it safe. We aren't relying on my dubious crafting skills any longer and have bought a proper screen lid for the aquarium. It now has 2 fire belly toads in it. They're fun to watch but don't quite replace the tadpole we raised and lost.

In between there we also discovered a fascination with hermit crabs (my youngest son, Perrin's idea...we now have 4 and if you're going to keep them, do online research about molting before setting up a habitat...the pet store people don't know enough details), rescued a painted turtle that had been hit by a car, subsequently gave her up to a rehab facility when the vet said her injuries were beyond novice care, replaced her with a healthy Yellow Belly Slider turtle named Beatrice that we adopted from the Animal Rescue League, and discovered that turtles need A LOT more space than frogs. There's a 75 gallon aquarium in my 9 year old's bedroom. I'm fairly certain Beatrice has trained him to give her treats on command. Dogs have nothing on her when it comes to begging.

Yesterday, a coworker called me because she found "a small toad" in her window well when she was cleaning leaves and debris out of it. She thought of me (I wonder why?) and worried that this little toad would die because she'd disturbed it when it should be hibernating. I thought it probably wasn't good that she'd removed it's cover but was also doubtful that it would survive in a window well indefinitely in the first place. She brought it over to us tonight. It's not a toad at all, it's a very small (1-2 inch long) frog. We think, after looking at lots of pictures, that it's a leopard frog. The markings seem right, even though it's MUCH smaller than "Swimmy" was. I suspect our captive-bred tadpole grew faster because it had much more food easily available than this little one has had. I'll try to get a pic and see if someone can identify it for sure tomorrow but I don't want to disturb the poor thing any more tonight. We've got it set up with water, rocks to sit on, and a warm dark area so it can recover from the shock of being unearthed and moved from cold into warmth. If it survives the night, I'm looking at a fourth aquarium...because it obviously can't go in with the toxic fire bellies or the voracious Miss Beatrice and I don't want all my fish disappearing, which is what would happen if I put a frog in my fish tank.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who posts on this forum because I know from experience that many non-members browse here and find advice that helps with care for the unexpected froggy additions to their households.

[Heatheranne]

Hello and welcome to the forum It sounds as though you've had your share of frog dealings.

Do you have a photo of the new frog?

Some tips :

Use dechlorinated water

Get some amphibian calcium with vitamin D3 powder and amphibian multivitamin powder. Light dust on insects, using a cup or baggie. Calcium/D3 every other day and MVI one day a week but not on the same day as the calcium/D3. All captive bred frogs will need these to be healthy .

Be sure to do your weekly water changes of about 50% water for any water areas of your tanks. The filters can remove solid wastes, but do not remove ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites. See the nitrogen cycle of a fish tank.

Temps for most local outdoor frogs should be similar to that of their natural environment. Mid 70's for daytime temps and low 70's for nighttime temps. This also depends on the species and natural locale of the species.

Humidity should range around 50-70% for most species. We can be more specific after photos. This can be done by misting the tank. You can use distilled water for misting, which helps avoid glass spots. Distilled water should not be used for soaking water bowl or to moisten new substrates. Use dechlorinated.

Substrates should be safe also. You can use plain plantation soil or coconut fiber. This should be changed about every 30-45 days to remove wastes. You can also make a false bottom with ABG and leaf litter.

Frogs make great pets . These tips can help yours live longer and healthy .

Be sure to get a tank lid that has clamps or a tank that has locking doors to keep them safe .

[Tongue Flicker]

Hey there welcome aboard!