Saltwater Frogs

[fishhead]

Saltwater Frogs....where are they?

[Witfull]

i only know of one, and its not a frog but a toad, bufo marinas.

[reefjitsu]

There are no marine (saltwater) amphibians. There are only two that comes close. One that Wit mentioned Bufo marinus or Cane toad. The other is the Crab eating frog Rana cancrivora. They cannot survive or breed in full salt water, but can tolerate low salinity. There seems to be some specualtion that some species of sirens may occasionally move into brackish water but that is scientifically unconfirmed.

[KimPossible]

Fresh water frogs are super cute
My daughter has a couple in her tank.

A toad wouldn't do it for me.

[docklink]

Thanks all!! Not something I had ever thought about. I learned something totally new today. Cool.

[Witfull]

Originally Posted by reefjitsu

the Crab eating frog Rana cancrivora.

i think i love this toad~

[nlk57]

I actually have been considering putting a couple of frogs in my classroom. I've been reading up on frogs but I'm in a quandry as to what to get. Any suggestions?

Nancy

[reefjitsu]

Right off the top of my head, I would suggest Fire-bellied Frogs (Bombina orientalis). They are easy to keep, readily available, cheap and cool looking. I can think of a few others that might be good too. What is the age group of the children in your classroom? How do you plan on using the frogs in the classroom? How much space in the classroom can you devote to the frog's?

[nlk57]

Selfishly enough, they are more for me than the kids. The kids (primary school age) will really have no responsibility for them simply because these days, if one kid so much as develops a wart, cough or a rash, its always the classroom pets' fault. After 30 years in a classroom, the thing I dread the most are "helicopter" parents. So... the frogs would more than likely be for me to enjoy for my 50 hours a week.

Nancy

[reefjitsu]

Well that opens up your options quite a bit then. I still think that the fire bellied toads would be a good choice. They are active, tolerant of cool temperatures, and you can get some neat tank mates like newts. Or you could go with African clawed frogs (Xenopus?). They are aquatic so they will need more of a fish tank style setup. They are really easy to keep and will accept prepared foods like pellets, and so are one of the easiest to feed. Or you could go the other way and do a treefrog setup, if you want something that will take a little more care. My favorite frogs are the S. American horned frogs. They are really great little pets. They aren't very active though, most only move to eat. Their greedy nature and plump size makes up for their laziness. I am willing to walk you through a setup for any frog you may choose, if you need help.

[daveat]

ahh i'd go with a poison dart frog, my personal fav is dendrobates tinctorius specifically the surinam cobalt morphs. picture from saurian.net - a mail order provider of most dendrobates and phylobates frogs

[daveat]

i have two of theses and a dendrobate azureus.

they are very common and captive bred frogs are NOT indeed poisionous at all. the dart frogs create their poison by the things that they eat in the jungle, without the exact same diet of a true jungle frog it is not poisionous. even of the dart frogs only three are truly a threat to humans and they are of the group phylobates, most common is phylobates terribilis- he comes in two colors that i know of mint green and orange. very plain looking frogs

[reefjitsu]

The problem with arrow frogs is that they are one of the more high maintenace amphibians. Probably not the best choice for a classroom. But they are the coolest little things.

[Witfull]

tree frogs are also boring during the day. its at night that they become most active. i love red eye tree frogs, even had one as my avatar for a few yrs.

[nlk57]

Thanks for all of your replies folks. I am home with the flu today so I will spend a good chunk of time researching frogs.

Nancy