Prospective Protocol for Breeding Ranids

[Iratus ranunculus]

Hello All

So, I have been trying to get this done for a while, and in case any of you want to start breeding ranids, here you go.



Both species will be placed individually into sweater boxes filled with water and sphagnum moss, then placed into an incubator. Over the course of a week, the temperature inside the incubator will be gradually decreased to 16 degrees C, and kept there for six weeks. Then, the temperature will be raised to the room temperature of 25 degrees C. After this, the frogs will be removed and placed into their breeding tanks.


Leopard frogs will be kept in a fiberglass tank enclosing an area measuring 1.15x2.3 meters, lined with a combination of organic potting soil and peat moss, planted with a combination of pothos and prairie grasses. Several plastic wading pools will be inserted into the substrate, and filled with aged tapwater. Fine grained sand will be used as a substrate, and aquatic plants will be used to line the pools in order to provide oviposition sites.
Bullfrogs will be housed in pairs or trios (one male to two females) inside two meter wide stock tanks. The substrate will be identical to the leopard frog enclosure, and a 150 liter pre-formed pond mold will be inserted and filled with water in the center. Aquatic plants will be provided as oviposition sites.



For both species, artificial rain will be provided by pumping water from a holding tank into a series of perforated lengths of PVC Pipe. The frogs will be provided with a heat lamp over one end of their water sources and a 12:12 light-dark cycle. Breeding choruses will be played back nightly


Frogs will be fed once a week on a varied diet including gut-loaded crickets, dubai roaches, waxworms, smaller hornworms, and earthworms. Earthworms will be kept in the substrate, and dubai roaches can be kept in the enclosures in small numbers in order to allow the frogs to feed at will. Crayfish will be added to the diet of bullfrogs, as these have been shown to increase the chances of ovulation.



If efforts to encourage frogs to breed naturally fail, hormonal induction of ovulation will need to be attempted. Frogs will be injected with Pro-LHRH (Bachem H4070.0005; 0.4 μg/g) and metoclopramide (Sigma;10 μg/g) with Amphibian Ringers (4 μl/g) and DMSO (1 μl/g) as vehicles using disposable syringes. Each morning tanks will be surveyed for egg masses.


In the event that egg masses are not forthcoming within a week, a month will be allowed to pass, and then the same treatment will be given again. Three days after this treatment, the females will be palpated for developed oocytes and the ovaries will be stripped by applying gentle pressure on the abdomen, with a stroking motion toward the cloaca. The eggs will be placed in a petri dish or tub (depending on the number of eggs), with just enough amphibian ringers to prevent the eggs from drying. Cat Catheters will be used to extract sperm from the male's urethra. Sperm will be given ten minutes to activate, and the sperm suspension from all male frogs will be mixed and spread over the individual egg masses. After twenty minutes, the egg masses will be suspended in aged tap water, and several eggs will be removed. These eggs will be examined under a dissection scope to make sure they have been fertilized.

[bshmerlie]

OK boys and girls lets not try that one at home.

[Paul Rust]

Absolutely try try it at home, if you have a basic lab.
Cost can be a big factor though, just the LHRH Kits can run you $400.00 to $700.00.
Welcome back Iratus, haven't heard from you in a while. Please keep us informed of your progress, this is quite interesting.

[bshmerlie]

Absolutely try try it at home, if you have a basic lab.
Cost can be a big factor though, just the LHRH Kits can run you $400.00 to $700.00.
Welcome back Iratus, haven't heard from you in a while. Please keep us informed of your progress, this is quite interesting.

Yeah I was following him right up until the point where the frogs were getting injected and the sperm was getting extracted with a catheter. Yikes!!! No thank you...I'll pass.

I'll let someone else dust off their "basic lab kit" and give it a try.

[Iratus ranunculus]

Absolutely try try it at home, if you have a basic lab.
Cost can be a big factor though, just the LHRH Kits can run you $400.00 to $700.00.
Welcome back Iratus, haven't heard from you in a while. Please keep us informed of your progress, this is quite interesting.

The cost is not that bad. For the number of frogs I use... it does not cost more than 750 USD. Buying the kits is silly. Buy the chemicals directly from the manufacturer, the catheters and syringes are cheap. Housing is the expensive thing, but should be easier for anyone who keeps their frogs outside, and you dont need anything nearly that huge if you only have a few frogs. All you need for winter cooling is a fridge

Good to be back. This semester has been... busy. Comprehensive exam is next week *screams in horror*