How big will my frog get?

[Geography Guy]

Hi

This is my frog. I think it is an Argentine Horned Frog?

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff305/tjpetrowski/100_0625.jpg

How big will this guy get or is he full grown. I have heard they get get from 5 inches to 12 inches!

 

[froggyman]

i would say 5 inches is a good size for a horned frog

 

[Acro]

And that is an adorable Argentine Horned Frog! Nice color too!
Be careful with the wood though, it may get moldy and you dont want mold in with any frogies!

 

[eelnoob]

Amazing colors on that little one.


Biggest female I've seen in person was 6" long, it look even wider than it's long

 

[mrbonzai211]

I've seen them get between grape fruit and soft ball size as adults. I've even seen them large enough that they can eat a full grown rat.

 

[BrassMonkey]

They are also a little bit clumbsy when it comes to eating, and may grab a wood chip instead of the provided food. Lighter substrate like peat moss works great to avoid this ^^.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Acro and BrassMonkey is right about choosing a proper substrate. Currently, along with peat moss, one of the more popular products is coco-fibre which is sold under the brand names "Bed-a-Beast" and "Eco-Earth". I use the Eco-Earth for my horned frog, and I've been really satisfied with it. Despite the high-humidity conditions of the habitat, I've never seen it develop any mold and my frog seems to have passed the small amounts he has occasionally swallowed by accident with no ill effects. (I tong feed to avoid too many incidents of substrate consumption, but it happens now and then)

I've read that there are more economical versions of the same stuff available at garden centers, but since I only have a few cages that I need to use it with, I just buy the above mentioned compressed bricks that is specifically manufactured for herps. I often clean and recycle it, so a three brick pack can last me several months, and I don't have to worry about checking to make sure it doesn't contain fertilizers as I would if I bought gardening grade fibre.
I have seen a few reports of foreign objects being found in some coco-fibre products, ie bit's of wire, paper, etc.. I've not encountered anything myself, and I don't worry about it too much. I just keep an eye out while processing the stuff for use.

And I guess that's more about substrate than you wanted to know, else your thread title would have been "Tell me about substrates for my frog" so I'll shut up now.

 

[Jer]

Peat moss is too acidic for amphibians.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I've wondered about that myself, so I've stuck with the coconut-fibre. I've heard that the acidity of peat-moss helps combat bacteria, but worried that it might be harmful to the more delicate, absorbent skin of most amphibians.

After a quick google search, I found this site which provides the following information:

"There are dozens of soil mixtures online and in books and everyone who creates terrariums will recommend a different mix to use. The majority of successful soil mixtures used in tropical terrariums are based off of coconut husk fiber. This product is made from coconut shells that have been ground into a soil and then compressed into a dry brick. When placed in water this brick expands back into the moist soil form. Common brand names that it is sold under include Bed-a-beast, Eco Earth, Forest Bed, Coco Peat, and Eco Peat. Coconut husk fiber decomposes very slowly, has a neutral pH, is made from a renewable resource, and is cheap.

In the past I’ve used peat moss in place of coconut husk fiber but the more that I learn about peat moss the more I hesitate to use it. Peat moss takes hundreds of years to form and currently is mostly collected in an unsustainable way by basically destroying and digging up bogs. In the terrarium it decomposes quickly and needs to be changed often. It also is slightly acidic which can be harmful to certain terrestrial amphibians. The one practical application that I’ve found for it is when it’s used to grow live moss or carnivorous plants. Most types of live moss and carnivorous plants grow best on a soil that is slightly acidic and peat moss works great for this."

Naturally, opinions vary, and plenty of other sources suggest peat moss as a suitable substrate. That's one of the tricky parts of this hobby, deciding what to believe. As I mentioned before, coconut-fibre has been satisfactory. I've had my frog on the stuff for nearly a year now with no problems.