Southern Leopard Frog
Acquired: Other,
Rescue / shelter organization
Gender: N/A
Leopard frogs
Leopard frogs might be far better as outdoor, backyard pets than terrarium pets. It is not advisable to buy them and release them into your own yard, but creating a wildlife pond in your yard and acquiring your local species of leopard frog tadpoles for the pond can be a better option than trying to keep adult leopard frogs in a terrarium.
Leopard frogs are medium in size but do require a lot of room. They are somewhat panicky and jump a long way to escape perceived threats, and so can very easily injure themselves in small confines. I would recommend no less than a 30-gallon long aquarium, mostly well-planted water 6-12 inches deep, with small, well-planted hauling-out areas. You can easily create a planted hauling-out area by using a terracotta flower pot that is just over the height of the water depth, filled with long-fibre sphagnum moss and soil-less potting mix, and planting it with moss and bog plants. They will also use driftwood as a land perch. Floating and strand plants such as Anacharis and hornwort are also good choices.
Water should be kept extremely clean, with 25% dechlorinated, chemical-free water changes weekly. An external filter is also recommended, as they can be quite messy. The temperature range for these frogs is 65-80F, any higher is dangerous to them and any lower and they may become very inactive.
Food should be gut-loaded crickets and other insects, earthworms, and even small goldfish weekly.
Handling these frogs is not recommended. If it must be done, it is best to capture them with a wet aquarium net. Hands-on handling should only be done with freshly washed, wet hands.
Again, these frogs fare better as outdoor, wild "pets" than terrarium animals.
