Salutations! New to the hobby

[Jeony7875]

Greetings everyone, I have raised, rescued and kept many different kinds of animals in my lifetime but this is the first little frog I have acquired. He seems to be male from all I've read and unfortunately the little guy is scared to death of me. He has had a rough time from what I know of him. He has gone through a few different owners and was a gift to a child (sooooo not recommended) when I finally was able to take over ownership. Since then I've set up a semi-aquatic habitat with a mix of live and fake plants, a corner filter and green moss for him. All I want is for this little guy to be happy. He deserves a good life. I've been feeding him crickets dusted with a calcium and vitamin d3 supplement. Lately, he's been "calling" or as I like to refer to it as chirping. I would like to know, does that mean he is happy? Do I need to think about finding him a mate? Apparently he was housed with another frog at one time but that frog escaped and was never found per one previous owner. Unfortunately none of the previous owners could tell me how old this frog is. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

[elly]

Welcome!
Do you know what kind of frog it is? Knowing the species would help you figure out the best temperature to keep your frog. Does he have toe pads? I wouldn't worry about him being lonely, frogs are solitary most of the time. The dusted crickets sound like a good diet. Also, for the time being I'd leave him alone as much as possible and not try to handle him or anything. Some frog species, like bullfrogs remain skittish no matter what you do and some tolerate humans being around better than most (but still shouldn't be handled more than necessary). Whatever the case it sounds like yours is scared and getting used to a new place.

[Jeony7875]

Ha! In all my thought process in writing and joining, I never said what he is. He is a fire belly toad. I do not try to handle him because I have read that they are best not handled but he gets frightened when I open the lid to feed him. I try not to put my hands inside the habitat as much as possible because I do not want to stress him out. I am planning a cleaning and water change of his habitat within the next couple of days though. He doesn't seem frightened when I am next to his home, but jumps away whenever I open the lid. I am also thinking about purchasing some waxworms and/or mealworms for some variety. I have been reading as much as I possibly can on these little guys and trying to weed out the things that don't sound right or aren't repetitive within multiple articles. Thank you so much for responding, I really appreciate it!

[elly]

There's a chance he'll calm down in a few months. Firebellies are normally pretty bold from what I understand and I had a White's Tree Frog that was extremely skittish for about half a year, but got better. Now, two years later, I have to make sure he doesn't jump out when I try to feed him.

No guarantees, some frogs are naturally shy.