Introducing myself and frog

[Julia]

Hi Brian,

I have a question for you, do you allow your frog to brumate? If so how do you go about doing it? I have read some very conflicting information...and thought that if you have kept your guy for 14 years then you are the best person to ask!

I look forward to hearing what you have to say...thanks!

[lnaminneci]

Welcome to the Forum

Chubby looks like a happy guy! You have done a great job with him. 14 years is amazing!

~Lesley

[Brian]

Hi Julia,
Yes I do allow chubby to brumate. When I first got Chubby he stopped eating when the winter season started. I looked into and found that Budgett's frogs naturally has a dormant period. I believe their dormant period coincides w/ the dry season. I do not know if the dry season is cooler in his natural habitat, I do not use a heater of any kind. The temp in the room where Chubby lives goes from 80s in the summer to mid to lower 60s in the winter. This natural and slow temp change puts chubby in his brumate stage. I just keep the water clean and let him be. Come spring time, I throw in some worms or a goldfish. The Musk turtle that is housed in the same room as Chubby, does not go dormant at all, in the same temps. I hatched the turtle from an egg 20 years ago and he is always active. Sorry I do not have any real helpful info or tricks.
Take care -B-

[tadpole]

thanks brian for sharing some very good info. i had a colony of 7 budgetts about 15 years ago. i had them outside in a plastic pond for the summer when unusually cold temps dropped below 50F at night around july 4th for about 3 days. in fact the high on july 4th was 55F. before i realized my mistake, they started dying. i was only able to save 2, by bringing them inside to warmer temps. this was a devastating experience for me as i had raised them all from froglets.

just last week i attended the mars herp show in baltimore and found 2 buggetts there, which i purchased. my question is about your set-up. do you keep them in shallow water all year long as in the photo? i remember brumating them in sphagnum moss over the winter, which i allowed to go dry, and the frogs formed a hard shell of dried mucus around them. now i think that may be too severe. i would like to hear more about how you keep this frog, what is its diet, etc.

currently, i have mine in tupperware containers and do complete water changes daily, just enough to cover them. they have doubled their size in 10 days, feeding raw beef and chicken livers every other day.

[Brian]

Tadpole,
Sorry to hear about your loss of frogs, 50 degrees does seem a bit cold. I keep chubby in shallow water year round, just enough to keep him covered. I change the water 1-2 times a week while he is eating. Come winter time (he stops feeding) I change the water every other week. In the winter he does form a mucus that coats him, but it say soft and I quess the word I would use is snotty.. I have read that during the dry season they do surive it, by forming a "mucus shell". Now I have no clue if my way of taking care of him is the "correct way", but 14 years later he is doing great. Chubby has a limited diet. Mostly worms and some other insect, grasshopers, crickets etc that I find around the yard. He does get goldfish to eat sometimes. I have always just feed him live food. I didn't know they would eat raw beef. Chubby eats about evreyother day. That is about the extent of his care. Oh and Chubby sings often in the summer. I think he is looking for love. Good luck w/ your new frogs. If you have any other questions, please ask, I can at least tell you what I do, w/ chubby.

[Brian]

Today Chubby has passed on to frog heaven. 18 1/2 years old. I will miss his singing on those summer nights.

[monster]

Sorry about your loss, 18 1/2 years is along time. If he lived that long at least you know he was happy and enjoying his life, and you were doing all the right things.