Caring for outdoor frogs?

Question

We live in a townhouse and every night we get a bunch of little frogs that visit our yard. We love them so much I would love to put something out there for them-like a mini-pond or something. Any ideas how to keep them around and where could I buy something like that? What about feeding them?? Any advice is great! Thanks! =)

Answer 1

You can buy a pond at Home Depot or Lowes. It's a pond shaped plastic bowl. They have different sizes. A friend of mine got one that was about 8 ft long.

Frogs are kind of delicate. They're a sentinel species in that if anything goes wrong in the environment, they're usually the first one's to take a hit. If you have them in your yard, they probably have everything they need.

If they're tree frogs, they need a place to hide in the daylight like shrubbery or a folded up umbrella from your porch furniture. You could leave a light on at night to attract bugs for them to eat. We don't do anything special and we're practically over run with them. When we turn on the BBQ grill, they jump out of the nooks and crannies like pop corn.

I don't really know what to use to attract ground type frogs. The pod is probably a good idea. Keep in mind that frogs are a primary food source for many snakes. So you should keep your eyes open if you have frogs or toads on the ground around your house in case any other visitors crash the party.

We love the frogs at our house. My daughter calls every frog she sees 'Max'. She doesn't understand that there are hundreds of them out there. She thinks there's only one and he's really fast.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You shouldn't need to feed them, they'll find plenty of bugs around your garden.

A little pond would be a good idea, but also give them a shady place to hide. Overturned clay flower pots work well for that. Use  an old clay pot and break off some of the rim so they will have a "door" to go in. Plastic pots don't work as well, because the clay pots hold moisture and stay cooler.

Answer 3

Gross!

Answer 4

They sell tiny mini ponds at home depot, so you maybe be able to attract them by having one of those. They eat crickets and worms and other insects that are roaming about outdoors. I wouldn't worry about feeding them as they are wild and can feed themselves!

Answer 5

That's such a great idea to make a mini pond!  It not only provides water and a place to cool off, but also a place to lay frog babies (aka tadpoles)!  

An easy way to make a mini-pond is dig a shallow hole in the ground, pour cement, and before it dries scoop out a shape you like-- probably 1 foot by 2 foot (or bigger of course!).  Make the bottom of the pool slanted so one side is shallower than the other.  The shallow side is great for the frog to sit in and look around the yard.  The deep side is great for laying tadpoles!  The cement is also great because it's not slippery and is easy for the frogs to push off when jumping and walking in the water.

If you make a small-ish pond that's not too thick, it's easy to move, too!  Just slide a shovel under the cement, pry it up, and move!

Frogs also like protection from the sun.  If the pond is muddy, sometimes that's enough to keep them covered.  Otherwise, make the pond under some shady plants or lean some wood up to give shade.  This also helps the frog feel more safe and hidden.  

When you make the pond, mosquitoes will probably lay their eggs there.  This is great because frogs LOVE to eat mosquitoes!  If you find you have too many mosquitoes, or the water is just gross, install a water circulation or filtration pump (see website for example).

Don't worry about feeding the frogs.  There's tons of bugs they can find.  In fact, if they naturally came to your yard, they probably found some great bugs to eat already!

Good luck!

Answer 6

Sears and they could feed themshelves from flies, wait get something that will attract the flies!!!

Answer 7

Well, you could buy a really big container and make a little habitat for them.