Frog found in December (In Winnipeg Manitoba!)

[PrettyHate]

My mom was out walking the dog today on a trail by our place and looks down only to see a small frog sprawled out on the snow. Of course this confuses her greatly (Its the middle of december- and we have SNOW! All those little guys should be sleeping for the winter!) and she automatically thinks he is dead. Well lo-and-behold she goes to touch him and he jumps!

Of course he wouldnt survive out there- we are expecting more snow soon- so she warmed him up gradually in her hands and got him home as fast as she could.

So now I have a small frog- maybe about an inch long. Im not sure on the species right now. I found a website but am unable to find something that looks exactly like him

He is in good shape, belly is full, and he was actively moving around the kritter keeper i put him in.

My question is on husbandry. Right now I have some paper towels in there, and a shallow lid with water in it. Some of the paper towel is damp, and he is currently nestled up in there- looking quite content (I guess this is a far cry from a snowbank!) My thoughts were to move him onto the peatmoss mixture that I have my T's on. Is this a good idea?

I was also planning on offering him a couple crickets tonight when I get home from work.

Once he gets larger I have a 35 gallon tank that he can call home.

 

[psionix]

Of course he wouldnt survive out there

why not? do all of the frogs in Canada just die off in the winter?

 

[Stylopidae]

Some species of frog can be frozen solid and survive.

I'd really like to try that.

 

[Sheri]

why not? do all of the frogs in Canada just die off in the winter?

No, but they don't just hop around making snowfrogmen either.

There are three overwintering methods employed by our local amphibians - none of which entail a leisurely stroll on a Winnipeg sidewalk.

 

[spider]

some frogs, or atleas the few I know of, have a natural "antifreeze" take the Grey Tree frog for example. It can remain frozen throughout the entire winter and come out unscaved.

Exactly like the Giant Wetta Cricket.
No telling what kind of frog it is. Descriptions might help someone on this site be able to depict a species.

Keeping it on paper towels is not a bad thing. I would put it on regular potting soil. Avoid soil with plant nutrients and plant food in them. Keeping the soil moist is always good. Having a somewhat deep dish bowl burried to the rim in potting soil would be good as well. It may require cleaning of the water often. Every other day is the usual for my Malaysian horned frog.

I wish you luck with the new frog and Enjoy.

 

[PrettyHate]

some frogs, or atleas the few I know of, have a natural "antifreeze" take the Grey Tree frog for example. It can remain frozen throughout the entire winter and come out unscaved.

Exactly like the Giant Wetta Cricket.
No telling what kind of frog it is. Descriptions might help someone on this site be able to depict a species.

Keeping it on paper towels is not a bad thing. I would put it on regular potting soil. Avoid soil with plant nutrients and plant food in them. Keeping the soil moist is always good. Having a somewhat deep dish bowl burried to the rim in potting soil would be good as well. It may require cleaning of the water often. Every other day is the usual for my Malaysian horned frog.

I wish you luck with the new frog and Enjoy.

Thanks I have him set up in a larger kritter keeper now, with about 1.5 inches of damp peat moss, and a water dish. I stuck him on the towels this morning mainly because I was in a hurry to get to work, and I wanted to be 100% sure that that would be fine for him due to his small size (less than an inch). Water will be getting changed daily

Once he grows up some he will be moved into my 35 gallon tank. I didnt want him in there right now cause he would be hard to keep track of, and it would be hard to monitor his eating etc. At least this way he will be able to have a shot at finding his food.

why not? do all of the frogs in Canada just die off in the winter?

The past couple of days have had above normal temperatures. It has been above 0*C. These temperatures must have fooled the poor guys into thinking it was spring time- thus them waking up. Unfortunently the temp is going down tonight- and we are expecting 5cm of snow, give or take.

I figured that after coming out of his "sleep" the sudden drop in temperature, and the rather large amount of snow wouldnt allow him to be able to prepare for hibernation (or whatever youd like to call it) like he would be able to otherwise. Maybe he could have survived it, maybe not....He is just such a small little sucker...my mom couldnt just leave him sitting there on a snow bank!

 

[PrettyHate]

Thought I would do a quick update on Hopkin (Green Frog)

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2708

Hopkin is doing awsome. He is about the size of a quarter now- and eats 1-2 crickets (depending on size) every couple of days. He actively hunts them down- then goes back to lurking under his water bowl or log to digest.

Here are a couple pictures of my handsome little man

 

[Galapoheros]

some frogs, or atleas the few I know of, have a natural "antifreeze" take the Grey Tree frog for example. It can remain frozen throughout the entire winter and come out unscaved.

Exactly like the Giant Wetta Cricket.
No telling what kind of frog it is. Descriptions might help someone on this site be able to depict a species.

Keeping it on paper towels is not a bad thing. I would put it on regular potting soil. Avoid soil with plant nutrients and plant food in them. Keeping the soil moist is always good. Having a somewhat deep dish bowl burried to the rim in potting soil would be good as well. It may require cleaning of the water often. Every other day is the usual for my Malaysian horned frog.

I wish you luck with the new frog and Enjoy.

It's true! I had caught and put about 10 Grey treefrogs in a Solo container last Spring. I was going to hibernate them in the fridge. I started thinking of something else while I did it. The next day I woke up and opened the fridge like I do every morning. They weren't there. Oh no, not the freezer. Yip, I put them in the freezer and they were frozen solid. They all thawed and lived. I didn't know they could do that. I had seen a show about a frog in Canada that had that capability, but I thought that was the only frog species that could.

 

[PrettyHate]

It's true! I had caught and put about 10 Grey treefrogs in a Solo container last Spring. I was going to hibernate them in the fridge. I started thinking of something else while I did it. The next day I woke up and opened the fridge like I do every morning. They weren't there. Oh no, not the freezer. Yip, I put them in the freezer and they were frozen solid. They all thawed and lived. I didn't know they could do that. I had seen a show about a frog in Canada that had that capability, but I thought that was the only frog species that could.

Thats pretty damn impressive.

 

[Randolph XX()]

decomposing litters can keep the temperature pretty stable somehow