Frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s have recently become very popular exotic pets

Exotic pet

An exotic pet is a rare or unusual animal pet, or an animal kept as a pet which is not commonly thought of as a pet.The definition is an evolving one; some rodents, reptiles, and amphibians have become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy to no longer be considered exotic...

 as they are generally undemanding, often visually appealing, and can be kept under fairly basic conditions, compared to reptiles. Many frogs, especially small ones, are inexpensive, and their food is in most cases easily purchased. Commonly kept pet frogs include ranids, hylids, bufonids, leptodactylids

Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...

, and dendrobatids.

Feeding

Pet frogs can be fed a wide variety of live foods, from pinhead crickets

Cricket (insect)

Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers, and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets...

 to mice

Mouse

A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

 and rats

Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

, depending on the size of the frog. Particularly small pet frogs, like those of Dendrobates

Dendrobates

Dendrobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to South America. It once contained all poison dart frogs; until recently, frogs such as Dendrobates pumilio and Dendrobates terribilis were scientifically valid names...

and Phyllobates

Phyllobates

Phyllobates is a genus of poison dart frogs native to South America, from Nicaragua to Colombia. Phyllobates contains the most poisonous species of frog, the Golden Poison Frog . They are typical of the poison dart frogs, in that all species are colourful, and have varying degrees of toxicity...

species, will generally feed on small crickets, fruit flies, springtails

Springtail

Springtails form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects...

, and other small arthropods. Medium-sized pet frogs can be fed larger crickets, mealworms, butterworms, silkworms, grasshoppers, and even small fish. Large pet frogs, like those in the genus Ceratophrys

Ceratophrys

Ceratophrys is a genus of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae, subfamily Ceratophryinae. They are also known as South American horned frogs as well as Pacman frogs due to their characteristically large mouth and abdomen, thus resembling the video game character Pac-Man.-Gender differentiation:The...

can be fed small fish, other frogs, reptiles, and small mammals such as mice or rats.

Housing

Depending on the size and nature of the frog, the size of terrariums in which they can be kept varies widely. Small or sluggish frogs can be kept in 60 x 30 x 30 cm terrariums; the highly active dendrobatids are an exception as they like to climb; dendrobatids generally need a terrarium of about 1 m x 60 cm x 60 cm. Large frogs, on the other hand, may need a terrarium measuring 1 m in each direction. Some arboreal frogs, such as dendrobatids, can stick to glass; these frogs require terrariums with sealed tops to prevent escape. Tropical frogs also often require an air flow; cages with metal mesh on at least two walls should provide them with enough air flow. All pet frogs require moisture; this can be provided either with an automatic fog machine or by a hand-held spray bottle. Frogs that live in the jungle naturally must be misted at least twice per day; frogs native to drier areas do not require as much moisture. Pools of clean water must also be provided; water with chlorine

Chlorine

Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

in it can damage the frogs. Bottled water should be used instead to fill the frogs' pools.