That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

Please see Part 1 of this article for information on the natural history, amazing reproductive biology (including terrestrial nesting) and captive breeding of the Smokey Jungle Frog (a/k/a South American Bullfrog, Leptodactylus pentadactylus).

Diet

The hefty, robust adults are capable of taking quite large prey, including small birds, snakes, other frogs, mice and other rodents, scorpions and tarantulas as well as earthworms, roaches, moths and other invertebrates.

Smokey Jungle Frogs they are one of the few animals known to consume the highly toxic Poison Frogs, Dendrobates spp.

I’ve had good success with a diet comprised largely of earthworms, roaches, crickets and wild-caught insects (please see my article on Collecting Feeder Insects).  I use shiners and crayfishes as a calcium source, but a pink mouse may be offered every 6-8 weeks if desired. Read More »

I’ve studied and cared-for a great many frog species in my time, but count the robust Smokey Jungle Frog, also known as the South American Bullfrog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus), as one of the most beautiful and mysterious of all.  I’ve been very fortunate in having bred this frog in captivity, and today will examine its natural history and reproduction.  I’ll move on to diet and its unique habits in Part 2.

Range

This frog occurs from Honduras and northern Nicaragua through Venezuela to French Guinea and south to southern Columbia, Ecuador, northern Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.  Due to its secretive nature, the southernmost limits of its range are not well known. Read More »