Advice Appreciated

[cvpd01]

Hi, I'm the father of a 5 year old, slightly autistic little man, who has become obsessed with frogs. We found one about 3 months ago in our garden, which is rare here in AZ where we live. Since then all he can talk about is getting a pet frog. I'm using this as an opportunity to get him motivated to work a little harder in school and stretching out the process to get the most bang for my buck. First we purchased a couple of books on frog care we have been reading together. This week I purchased a terrarium and once we settle on the right frog will start on the set up. The most difficult thing is going to be keeping him from "loving it to death". I've been explaining to him that frogs are different from cats and dogs and he won't be able to just take it out and play with it. All this being said, I'm looking for advice on what will be the best starter frog for him. It needs to be one he can at least touch a little and easy to feed and care for (Dad will end up doing allot of this). He loves the pictures of the Dart Frogs, but from what I've read so far they are probably way to fragile. Any advice will be greatly appreciated including good reputable sources for supplies and frogs themselves. Thanks in advance for helping make my little guy a happy camper.

[daybr4ke]

If I had to choose I would go with White's Treefrogs(Dumpy Treefrogs) or Firebelly Toads, or a Toad like an American Toad. I think you even have Woodhouse's toads in your area, which I keep. I love those guys! White's will require good vertical space, and Firebellies Horizontal space with about 60% water to 40% land. Toads just require a terrestrial setup with a water dish, some sort of substrate like coco fiber or topsoil. It was really good of you to explain frogs aren't for handling, but I've seen plenty of people handle White's Treefrogs, but that mostly consists of letting them perch on your hand. Firebellies produce a mild irritant though, so that may make them undesirable. If he doesn't want toads, then I apologize, but they are just land dwelling frogs lol. A lot of people recommend Pacman frogs as a good first time frog, but they can bit and have small "teeth" called odontoid projections, and I feel that might make them undesirable given your son's needs and/or desires. I find my Woodhouse's aren't particularly stressed by handling. Pretty fair sized at around 4 inches full size, so if he likes toads they are a good option. The worst they've ever done to me is tried to pee on me.
LLLReptiles is a good supplier of frogs, feeders and supplies, and Josh's frogs carries Dart Frogs, a couple treefrogs and lots of frog supplies.
I hope this helps. I'll add more later.

[Herpin Man]

I'm going to second the idea of going with a native toad. Most species are hardy, easy to feed and care for, and somewhat forgiving of husbandry errors. While no amphibian is really a handleable pet, I think toads come the closest. They also have loads of personality.
If you go out on a rainy night, you might find Woodhouses, Great Plains toads, Red-spotted toads, or a few others. Depends on what's around your area. I was in Arizona last month, and found seven species of toads abundant on the roads at night. Or, you might find something in a local pet store. You can find ads for toad sellers on fauna classifieds or kingsnake.com, but you may be discouraged by the cost to ship a single toad. Whatever you get, research the needs of that species thoroughly.

[daybr4ke]

Wow. I wanna go on a trip like that! Toads really do have personality, I love my two Woodhouses' Toads tons. They're always staring at something or digging. Or digging and then staring at something lol. Depending on the species they can be fairly large, and they aren't great jumpers, so they aren't exactly escape artists like some treefrogs(looking at you pacific treefrogs), which is nice.

[cvpd01]

What part of AZ did you visit? We are up near Prescott and have only seen the one toad this year. I used to see more during the rainy season but we had a really cold winter last year with lots of snow so not sure if that affected them or maybe predators are getting them. Do you know what the life span is on the native toads? My son is really hyper sensitive about things dying so I want something that hopefully will have a decent life span so he will be older before we have to deal with it. Also, what size container would I need, I have one terrarium, which is the more upright kind. I'll check and see if I can find anyone local or even down in the Phoenix area who might be selling frogs or toads, probably cheaper to make the trip to pick them up than pay the shipping.

[cvpd01]

If I had to choose I would go with White's Treefrogs(Dumpy Treefrogs) or Firebelly Toads, or a Toad like an American Toad. I think you even have Woodhouse's toads in your area, which I keep. I love those guys! White's will require good vertical space, and Firebellies Horizontal space with about 60% water to 40% land. Toads just require a terrestrial setup with a water dish, some sort of substrate like coco fiber or topsoil. It was really good of you to explain frogs aren't for handling, but I've seen plenty of people handle White's Treefrogs, but that mostly consists of letting them perch on your hand. Firebellies produce a mild irritant though, so that may make them undesirable. If he doesn't want toads, then I apologize, but they are just land dwelling frogs lol. A lot of people recommend Pacman frogs as a good first time frog, but they can bit and have small "teeth" called odontoid projections, and I feel that might make them undesirable given your son's needs and/or desires. I find my Woodhouse's aren't particularly stressed by handling. Pretty fair sized at around 4 inches full size, so if he likes toads they are a good option. The worst they've ever done to me is tried to pee on me.
LLLReptiles is a good supplier of frogs, feeders and supplies, and Josh's frogs carries Dart Frogs, a couple treefrogs and lots of frog supplies.
I hope this helps. I'll add more later.

Thanks so much for taking the time to provide some help. I looked up the White Treefrogs and Woodhouse Toads and both look like they would work great. I'll also keep looking around the yard for another wild toad. I agree on the Pacman's, they look pretty boring and knowing my son I'm sure he would end up getting bit and I'd hear about that forever from the ex.

[daybr4ke]

I'm glad I could help! Make sure that anytime you handle it you disinfect your hands and/or wash them. This helps reduce the risk of possible diseases like salmonella being spread and remove the possible irritants some frogs may leave. Good luck. I'd love to hear what you pick in the end. Personally as a kid I had treefrogs, but I really wanted a toad lol.