Found a Rana Temporaria.

Hey guys.

Todays been a wierd day for seeing animals, saw the mouse that skuttles about my house 3 times today, some wierd green flying insect and caught a Common Frog (Rana Temporaria)

Was thinking about keeping it and maybe if i find a mate for it try and breed them (just to do my bit for their dwindling numbers) and was wondering a few things:

A- Is it even legal to capture and keep these guys (even though it would probably get killed by a fox or car both of which are all over the place here obviously).

B- Would i need to give it UV light to synthesise Vitamin D so it could absorb the calcium ill give it?

C- Would i even need to give it calcium seing as ill be giving it natural prey from the garden aswell as crickets etc?

D- these guys hibernate during winter right? how would i accomodate for hibernation when winter comes or would i even need to cause ill keep it indoors?

Cheers.

?

I'd offer to help, but I know next to nothing about keeping frogs. The only thing I can think of is sticking it in the garage during winter.

was thinking that but i think they only hibernate if the grounds often frozen or sumthin, was diggin around on the net but didnt really find much about care, just their behavious, maybe i can figure something out from that

http://www.ehow.com/how_12701_care-frogs.html


here, just did a quick search on google and found this.... hope it helps!

The-Scorp-Whisperer wrote:

A- Is it even legal to capture and keep these guys (even though it would probably get killed by a fox or car both of which are all over the place here obviously).

Yes, it is legal to collect and keep the common frog. It is protected by law but only in respect to sale and trade. So it is illegal to advertise one for sale or to swap or trade them in any way but you can catch one and keep it as a pet for yourself
For more info see here for the Countryside and Wildlife Act 1981: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-3614
If you're not up to trawling through the entire act then NatureNet gives a great summary of the law and what applies to which herp species: http://www.naturenet.net/law/herps.html

The-Scorp-Whisperer wrote:

B- Would i need to give it UV light to synthesise Vitamin D so it could absorb the calcium ill give it?

C- Would i even need to give it calcium seing as ill be giving it natural prey from the garden aswell as crickets etc?

D- these guys hibernate during winter right? how would i accomodate for hibernation when winter comes or would i even need to cause ill keep it indoors?

Cheers.

As for the rest, I've only ever kept toads and they were nocturnal so no need for UV but I did dust with an amphibian supplement. The best thing you can do is to find out as much as you can about its natural life-history, and try and use that information to work out the best husbandry practice. It is also worth looking at any related species that are more commonly kept as pets and copy the care practices.
I've found a very basic site that says that they don't hibernate if kept in a terrarium so you may not need to worry about that.
Here's a site that I found with some basic setup advice: http://petcaregt.com/blog/frog-list.html
This one might also be useful: http://www.kinderstart.com/frame_for_links.php?redirect=http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/housing/index.html

thanks guys, the links really helped, although, Chaika, your first link didnt work lol

Ill do some research into this frog and its habits and habitats, right now im keeping it in a 30x30x30 exo terra tank wth a large water dish, moss and coco fibre and a hide, pretty basic but nice and wet

The-Scorp-Whisperer wrote:

thanks guys, the links really helped, although, Chaika, your first link didnt work lol

Hmm, weird. I just tried them all now and all's good

Glad you managed to set everything up! Hope s/he lives a long and happy life with ya. I've been toying with the idea of collecting some of the marsh frogs (non-native) that have established in the botanical gardens here, but on second thoughts the calls are so loud it'll probably drive me nuts!

how do you keep the tank clean easily like so far ive just been picking up any droppings i see n make sure the water stays clean, plus would spring water u get from the likes of lidls be ok for them ratehr than using foosty rain water or having to buy RO water from up town?

i've got firebelly toads...i let tap water stand over night and they're fine with that.

i keep them in something that isn't too hard to dump the water out and replace...