Bullfrogs as pets

Even though bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) are one of the most common and widespread frogs in North America, the Backwater Reptiles crew thinks they make awesome pets. We think they’re great natural accents if you have a decorative pond in your backyard, and they also make amusing indoor family pets.

Bullfrogs are an olive green base color with grayish brown mottling, although they can also have plain green skin. Their bellies are off-white or yellowish. Males are larger than females, but both genders have large, brown eyes with horizontal, almond-shaped pupils.

Both genders possess eardrums or tympanums behind their eyes, but the male’s tympanum is markedly larger than his eyes, while the female’s is about the same size as her eyes.

Why a pet bullfrog?

Bullfrogs are “classic” frogs. What we mean by this is that they possess traditional green skin, are strong jumpers, and live semi-aquatic life styles. In other words, bullfrogs epitomize what most people visualize when they think of a pet frog. We think this works in their favor and makes them sort of the “All-American Frog.”

As we previously mentioned, bullfrogs are wonderful animals to have living in your backyard if you have a man-made pond. This is actually an ideal living situation for them. Because they will have access to natural day and night cycles, natural seasonal weather shifts, and natural food sources, you really won’t have much work to do as far as maintaining their health is concerned.

Outdoor pond life will allow your bullfrogs to reproduce, hibernate, and enjoy a natural life cycle. They will happily croak out the classic frog mating call during the appropriate season, engage in mating rituals, and eventually fill your outdoor pond with tadpoles and froglets.

We did mention that when kept outdoors, bullfrogs will essentially care for themselves as far as food is concerned, but we didn’t explain how this is beneficial to you as a homeowner. Most of us don’t particularly enjoy having bugs and other small pests in our yards, right?

Well, a backyard full of bullfrogs will certainly help keep that pest population under control. Bullfrogs will happily eat crickets, dragonflies, flies, spiders, and any other bug that you might consider troublesome to have in your yard.

In addition to being nice additions to your yard, bullfrogs are also great classroom pets for kids and will do just fine living an indoor life in an aquarium.

How do I care for my bullfrog in captivity?

If you are going the route of keeping your bullfrog indoors in a tank or aquarium, we recommend that you have a 55-gallon tank at minimum to house your mature frog or frog pair. Bullfrogs are very active frogs – they enjoy having room to swim, completely submerge themselves, and some area on land where they can bask. Bullfrogs are also very sizeable animals. Males can reach up to eight inches in length and need room to stretch their legs, so the larger the tank, the better.

Your tank set up should include both aquatic and land plants. Bullfrogs do like to hide and the plants, whether living or fake, will help replicate their natural environment. Your tank will also need a full-spectrum UV light and heat light set up as well as a secure lid. Bullfrogs have very strong legs and are incredible jumpers, so the cage top will ensure they don’t escape.

In the wild, bullfrogs are opportunistic predators. They will sit and wait for prey to cross their path and then ambush. In the wild, bullfrogs will mostly eat invertebrates, and the same holds true in captivity. We recommend feeding your bullfrog a varied diet of insects such as crickets, mealworms, reptiworms, night crawlers, and silk worm larvae. They’re not really picky eaters and getting your bullfrog to eat should not be an issue.

If you should choose to keep your pet bullfrogs outdoors in your backyard, we highly recommend an enclosure or fence around your yard or pond. Bullfrogs are great escape artists and they can and will invade surrounding habitats and drive out the native species.

Conclusion

Bullfrogs can make rewarding and fascinating pets. They will positively thrive in an outdoor environment that replicates their natural home, but will also happily live in an indoor aquarium.

Backwater Reptiles has very affordable bullfrogs for sale if you are interested in owning a few or starting a colony in your backyard.