Caring for pet frogs is not hard. Pet frog care doesn't include walking, grooming or playtime, but frogs do require a clean and secure habitat and regular feeding.
When selecting a frog for a pet, you need to decide if you want an aquatic frog, a tree frog, a semi-aquatic frog or a land frog. After choosing your frog, you will need to develop a habitat that is specific to your frog.
Frog experts recommend at least a 10-gallon glass aquarium for your frog. Even if your frog starts out as a very tiny little guy, with good care he will grow.
Make sure you understand how big your frog is expected to grow. Your frog may have a cute, tiny-sounding name, like the pixie species of frog. This is actually the African bullfrog, which will grow up to be a very big frog.
The habitat needs to have a tight-fitting screen top. This allows air to circulate and keeps your frog from escaping. More active species of frogs are more prone to escaping, and frogs can flatten themselves out to squeeze under loose-fitting tank tops.
You can place reptile carpeting or indoor-outdoor carpeting in the bottom of your tank. The frog needs to have "furniture," such as sticks, bark, logs and rocks to lounge on and hide behind. Tree frogs will want some branches to climb on.
If you collect items from outdoors to use in your habitat, be sure to clean them with mild bleach and water solution and air-dry them overnight. Outdoor materials could contain diseases, insects or fungi that will take over the habitat.
Frogs also need either live or artificial plants for their habitat. Artificial plants work best because they require no maintenance. If you choose live plants, use an air plant for easy care.
A frog requires a shallow bowl of water, about one to two inches deep, for drinking and soaking. The frog should be able to hop in and out of the water bowl easily. The water must be changed daily. If it isn't changed daily, your frog could become sick.
Lights and Heat
Whether you need a heated tank depends on your frog. If you have a tropical frog, a heat lamp is necessary. Frogs native to North America can usually handle cooler temperatures in homes. Check a frog book for reference on the ideal temperature for your species of frog.
If you have a tropical frog that requires warmer temperatures, you can install a tank heater or a heat lamp. A heat lamp should be about 15 watts and the lamp should be installed above the screen so that your frog doesn't get burned.
Feeding and Cleaning
Frogs eat live insects. The size of the insects depends on the size of the frog. The lareger the frog, the larger the insects it can eat.
Crickets are the most popular form of frog food. They are easy to find at most pet stores. You will need to sprinkle a special vitamin powder on your crickets before you feed them to your frog. This will depend on the specific species of frog you have, but it could be as often as 3 times a week.
The frog's enclosure needs to be cleaned once a week. Frogs are very sensitive to chemicals, so you should only use hot water to scrub the enclosure. Take everything out before cleaning, including the frog.
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