Hi y'all! Newbie from Texas

[LaurenE]

Hi y'all, I'm a new frog/toad owner and I just wanted to say I've already found this site so helpful. I am currently keeping two toads (I believe them to be Texas Toads), a juvenile leopard frog, and a leopard frog tadpole which has almost become a froglet. I acquired the toads from my backyard after saving them from the mouths of my dogs several times. The tadpole was given to me when I went to pick up a pair of pet rats from a person off CL--I love my ratties!--and while I was there she was showing me her fish collection which included a random tadpole that she acquired when it arrived at a petstore with a shipment of goldfish. She mentioned that she didn't really want him so I volunteered to take him. Then last night my mother came into my room saying we had an "animal emergency". We have quite a few pets so at first I panicked thinking one of them was injured but she held out her hand and it turned out to be a small southern leopard frog that she'd rescued from the mouth of her cat. She was afraid it might have been injured but he seems fine.

I have quite a bit of experience with reptiles (box and aquatic turtles, tortoises, snakes, and lizards) but no real experience to speak of with amphibians. As a child I used to catch tadpoles from the pond and keep them in tubs in my backyard until they turned into frogs and then let them go but I don't think that really counts .

I've been doing tons of research in the past few days to try and become as knowledgable as possible about these amazing animals. The two toads (which are both fairly small, perhaps 2 1/2-3 inches) are currently living in a 20 gallon aquarium with a mesh lid. For substrate I used a mixture of coco-husk, plain potting soil, sand, and moss. It is several inches deep to allow burrowing. There is a water dish for soaking with a couple of inches of water that they really seem to enjoy. Also included is a wood hide, a few large branches, and fake plants. So far I've been feeding them gut loaded crickets sometimes dusted with calcium and small mealworms and they are eating well. I hadn't really planned on keeping them, I figured after a couple of days I would find a safe place and release them but I've fallen a little in love with them. They don't really hide much and in the evenings they both sit near the front of the tank and stare at me while I use the computer. They may just be a permanent fixture.

The tadpole is currently in a large fish bowl with a small amount of water at the bottom and rocks forming an island in the middle with some fake plants to hide in. His tail is almost fully absorbed. I have been offering him food--bloodworms, flightless fruit flies, and pinhead crickets--but he doesn't seem interested in any of them. I read that they tend not to eat while still absorbing their tails so I'm not too concerned yet but am wondering when I should expect him to start eating.

The Southern Leopard Frog is in a very temporary habitat I quickly threw together using an old kritter keeper since I just acquired him last night and have not had time to go buy the equipment for a more appropriate setup. Right now I have it set up with half land, half water--about 3 or 4 inches of water since I read that they like to be fully submerged when they are in the water. I have hides on the both the land and water sides and fake foliage. I offered him some crickets and small mealworms today just in case he was hungry but he didn't eat. I'm guessing he's still in a bit of shock from the trauma of almost being eaten by a cat and then being put into a strange environment. I know that leopard frogs do not make the best captives, but I would really like to try and keep him and the tadpole who hopefully will make it to adulthood. I am fully prepared to provide them with the large environment they need.

Well, now that you've read a novel about my toads and frogs, feel free to comment or give me any advice that you think I could use! It will be greatly appreciated!

[Jace]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have quite the collection! I recently become the proud owner of a Leopard frog as well. He or she is just over an inch long and I got it as a tadpole from my local petstore. I am assuming it is a Southern, as I was told the shipment of feeder fish it came it was from Florida. To quickly answer your question, Finn would not even look at food until his tail was completely absorbed, and even then, it took him a few days to accept the pinheads I put in there with him (I call it a him for some reason). Now, he hunts very well and already seems to have grown. Just a heads up: these frogs can jump so they need a setup that includes a tight fitting lid. Did you check out the new Leopard frog caresheet? Useful advice and some amazing pictures.

For someone who expresses no real experience with toads and frogs, I say you have gotten of to an excellent start. Those toads are living in a Hilton! As we are fond of saying on the Forum, you can't stop at just one...or two....or even 10. I know your new additions will bring you much entertainment! Can't wait to see more pics of your leopard frogs! Cheers!

[LaurenE]

Jo-Anna,

Thanks for your reply! Congrats on your new leopard frog! Thats reassuring to know that your guy didn't eat until after his tail was completely absorbed, my little guy's is almost completely gone so it shouldn't be too much longer before he starts eating. I did check out the Leopard frog care sheet and got some great information. It made it clear that they are quite the jumpers lol so I will definitely make sure I have a very secure lid. Would you mind telling me a little bit about the setup you have for your leopard frog?

Haha @ my toads living in the Hilton. I feel like they should be in something bigger! I tend to go a little overboard with my pet enclosures sometimes. I have a male betta living in a 10 gallon aquarium right now lol. I plan on spending the day "sprucing up" the toad enclosure a bit.

BTW, I just created photo albums with pictures of my guys if anyone is interested.

[John]

Hi Lauren,

Welcome to the forum. Your toads look like Woodhouse's toads, not Texas Toads - the shape of the glands behind their eyes should be more circular and they shouldn't have brown spots. Where in North Texas do you live? I used to live in Plano and I never found Texas Toads east of Decatur.

I personally wouldn't keep the leopard frog - they are sooo common that if you really want one you could easily find one again in the future.

Best of luck with everyone .

-John

[LaurenE]

Hi John, thanks for the help! When I was first trying to identify them I *did* think they were Woodhouse toads but then someone told me differently and I figured "hey, what do I know?" lol. I also used to live in Plano . I now live north of Denton close to the Oklahoma border.

Do you think I shouldn't keep the leopard frog because they don't do as well in captivity? I don't have a problem letting it go if that would truly be for the best. What about the tadpole? Thanks again for your help!

[John]

Do you have photos of the mystery tadpole?

Leopard frogs are nervous captives and they can jump so far that they often hurt themselves in terrariums. Unlike the toads, they don't make great pets, in my opinion.

You live in a great part of the world if you're interested in frogs, and particularly toads - you live in the range of, or are within reasonable driving distance of, Great Plains Toads, Texas Toads, various Spadefoot Toads, Gray Tree Frogs, Crawfish frogs, Narrow mouth toads, bronze frogs, bullfrogs, Woodhouse's toads, Green Toads, Red Spotted Toads... oh my .

[LaurenE]

My camera is broken so I am having to try to take pictures with my phone--I apologize for the quality, I don't know if you'll be able to tell much from them. His coloring is an olive green with small black/brown splotches on his body and horizontal stripes across his legs.

[John]

Honestly, tadpoles are very hard to identify. I won't even attempt to guess.

[Jace]

Jo-Anna,

Thanks for your reply! Congrats on your new leopard frog! Thats reassuring to know that your guy didn't eat until after his tail was completely absorbed, my little guy's is almost completely gone so it shouldn't be too much longer before he starts eating. I did check out the Leopard frog care sheet and got some great information. It made it clear that they are quite the jumpers lol so I will definitely make sure I have a very secure lid. Would you mind telling me a little bit about the setup you have for your leopard frog?

Haha @ my toads living in the Hilton. I feel like they should be in something bigger! I tend to go a little overboard with my pet enclosures sometimes. I have a male betta living in a 10 gallon aquarium right now lol. I plan on spending the day "sprucing up" the toad enclosure a bit.

BTW, I just created photo albums with pictures of my guys if anyone is interested.

I always assumed froglets would immediately start eating as soon as the tail was absorbed, but I am finding that it doesn't always work that way. My American Bullfrog froglet took several days before he would eat-I was about ready to force feed him until I saw him hunting. Apparently they like to do it on their schedule, not ours, which I highly disagree with!!

Though John told you to let the Leopard frog go (I don't have that option as they are not native to where I live and I am too attached to the little spazz now), I've included a pic of Finn's temporary habitat. I will eventually be moving him to a 33 gallon, half land, half water setup that has live water plants on one side and a gravel-soil-moss with silk plants and hding spots on the other.

I, too, have three Betta fish (Goth, Marshall and Indy), who are kept in mason jars on my coffee table-I have no more room for tanks, otherwise they would each have their own too!! Speaking of animals, though, time to feed mine. My geckos are looking at me and licking their eyeballs, so I better hop to it!!

[LaurenE]

I've been looking at Jace's threads and her pictures of Finn look *exactly* like my little froglet (who needs a name btw, I'm open to suggestions), so if he's a leopard frog I'm almost positive mine is too. Aaaaaand I caught him eating last night! I'd dumped some flightless fruit flies in with him on the off chance that he might decide to eat, and evidently he was hungry! He made the funniest face after swallowing it--I almost laughed! I'm getting pretty attached to the little guy (girl?) and am really considering keeping him. As for the juvenile leopard frog, I'm not as sure. Personally I think they're just so beautiful.

Also, my toads have decided that they are, in fact, arboreal. I redid their terrarium yesterday and added several thick branches mainly for decorative purposes and they have decided that their new favorite spot is at the very top of one of the branches near the top of the cage (don't worry, the lid is secure lol). Never realized what fun pets toads could be. Mine don't hide at all, they're always hopping around the cage, checking things out. I swear they stare at me. Need to think of some names for them too.

[John]

Toads can get very tame - Woodhouse's are among the best pet species. People tend to overlook them because (a) they're toads and (b) in the US they are very common.

[LaurenE]

Toads can get very tame - Woodhouse's are among the best pet species. People tend to overlook them because (a) they're toads and (b) in the US they are very common.

Thats really too bad that they are overlooked as pets because as I can already tell they really do get quite tame (as far as toads go lol). I set up their enclosure with lots of hiding spots and even gave each of them their own half-log hide but they never use them! They are almost always just sitting out in the open. Occasionally one will dig a shallow depression to lie in but thats about it. And these have only been in captivity for a very short time! Also much more active than I'd anticipated. John, do you think a 20 gallon aquarium is suitable for the two of them right now? They are both on the smallish side--not sure how much bigger they will get. I'd hate for them to be cramped.

[John]

20 long would be better than 20 high but 20 high should be adequate. Bigger is always better though.

[LaurenE]

Its a 20 long . But I think my goal is to have them in a 40 gallon breeder tank eventually. Gonna start perusing Craigslist.