New to frogs... Help with a pixie?

[babysweet]

We acquired our very first frog last night (we currently keep a few snakes, a few Rhacodactylus Ciliatus, and a few green anoles).

(S)he's an African Bullfrog (Pixie frog) and they weren't kidding about the appetite!

I've ordered the only Bullfrog book I could find, and it should be here in a few days. We've currently got him in a 1 gallon kritter keeper (just waiting to do a cage shift between a few creatures to make some more room) with about 3-4" of coconut husk, an a shallow ceramic water dish. He's got lots of crickets, and had a pinky rat yesterday.

I have several questions, however.

1. Are water/land setups of any benefit? We'd be considering a 40-50 gallon 60/40 land/water split. We're looking into it in order to be able to supply a broader range of food items.

2. All the info says feed every three days, but it doesn't say how much! He ate a TON of crickets last night, and I don't want to overfeed him...

3. I've been told that our room temperature is ok (70-80 due to the fact that we keep crested geckos) but I worry that maybe when we switch to the bigger tank we should add an undergravel heater. Any thoughts?

4. Has anyone here personally been bit by their pixie? What's the damage potential of these guys?

5. Is the throat colour reliable for sexing at 2.5-3" in size?

Thanks so much for your time!

Kim

[babysweet]

Does anyone on this forum have any experience with these frogs?

If anyone has any information as to where I can find someone with some pixie frog experience, please forward me the information.

Thanks,

Kim

[thunder]

land/water setup is not really appropriate for a pixie, they dont really swim much. their care is much more similar to that of the horned frogs than it is to north american or indian bullfrogs. the coconut husk probably makes an adequate substrate (i used a dirt/bark mix), with a water bowl large enough for a soak. these are not paticularly active frogs, so you dont have to go overboard with the enclosure size. i have been bitten, and it hurts. didnt break the skin, but it left a purple bruise.

[babysweet]

Thanks so much for the info, thunder.

I had assumed that even if we did put in a water area, it would most likely go unused, but so many care sheets mentioned it, I thought I'd check it out.

Thanks for the first-hand bite account. Can I ask how big the frog was that bit you?

[Davey312]

1)
I used to have a small water dish for my pixie frog.... he never used it. he would always burrow into his substrate (coconut) once he grew a bit i decided to get a bigger dish... right now he's got a huge dish with rock on the bottom of it so he can climb in and whenever i check up on him he's always in his water...its up to you how you set it up.. but mine seems to enjoy a large amount of water to lay around in.

2)
As for the amount to feed him i just guestimated how much he could handle... basicly just try and figure that the frog can handle anything he fits in his mouth therefor he must have a large enough stomach so just try and figure how much would fill him up completely.. i dunno if that's completely clear or even the right thing to do.. but thats how i did it and my pixie frogs getting bigger and is not overweight.

3)
i had been told to keep mine at room temperature and it seems to be working well.

4)
I have never been bitten by a pixie frog before but i've seen mine (just a juvenile) crush the skull of a fully grown mouse in one bite, so i would imagine he's got a fairly strong bite.

5) I'm not sure about the size he would be for sexing, but i'd imagine he would have to be a little bit larger.. at that size (2.5-3") it's still quite young.

Davey

[babysweet]

Thanks Davey! Good information to have... I appreciate it!

Oh, and I love your sig line... Kevin Smith's my hero... incidentally, Clerks 2 is coming out soon.... :D

Kim
-who watched Dogma (AGAIN) just last night... :p