# Frogs & Toads > Budgett's Frogs >  The Budgett's Frog Care Sheet!

## Brett

Here's the care sheet for Budgett's frogs that I made a while back-now, this is how I've kept my frog and she's still doing great. Anyway, here's the care sheet.
*Budgett’s Fro**g Care Sheet*
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Housing*            A single adult Budgett’s frog can live happily in a 10-15 gallon aquarium, as these frogs don’t move around a lot despite their large size. In their “active” state (more on that later), they are totally aquatic and require somewhat shallow water-the rule I use is to take the length of the frog, add 2 inches, and you have your appropriate water depth. The water must be dechlorinated, filtered, and heated to 78-84 degrees, and you want to aim for a very efficient submersible filter that pumps 30 to 50 gallons per hour. You don't want a noisy filter, as these frogs have a lateral line system running down their sides that detects vibrations. Even with a good filter, you still want to pay close attention to your frog’s tank hygiene, as these frogs produce a lot of waste and are sensitive to bacterial infections and other problems that can result from dirty water.  I recommend checking the tank for poop and spot-cleaning with a turkey baster every day or as often as your frog decides to take care of its business. You should also do a 25% water change every 3 to 4 days, and a complete water change every 1 to 2 weeks. You be the judge of when to do a complete water change-if your frog’s water has a fairly noticeable odor, then you have some business to take care of. 
            You will also want to keep tank decorations to a minimum, because Budgett’s frogs produce a lot of waste. As such, you want to make tank maintenance as easy on yourself as possible. If you feel like you absolutely have to use a substrate, then do not use anything small enough for the frog to eat. Budgett’s frogs carry a large impaction risk due to their cavernous mouths and violent feeding responses. Don’t bother with live plants, either-these are boisterous frogs that can destroy a planted aquarium with ease.
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Feeding*This has to be the primary reason that people love these frogs-they love to eat. They live to eat. They’ll eat until they explode. Not literally, I hope, but they really don’t know when to stop eating. Although it is fun to feed these frogs, you have to avoid obesity and other food-related problems by being the judge of how much and how often your frog eats. The best staple diet for a Budgett’s frog of any size is appropriately sized crickets for a frog up to 3 inches and nightcrawlers for a frog 3 inches and up. When you’re feeding crickets to your frog, remove the back legs first, as those tend to come out in the frog’s poop. Plus, I imagine the spiky little legs can’t feel too good coming out. A baby Budgett should be fed as many crickets as it will eat in 10 minutes every day, with the addition of calcium-dusted crickets and appropriately sized fish (guppies and other livebearers-NO GOLDFISH) every 3 days. A juvenile/adult specimen should be fed as many nightcrawlers as it can eat in 10 minutes, with the occasional addition of fish and shrimp. A word about serving mice-prekill the mouse first or serve frozen/thawed. A wise man, whose name rhymes with John, said in his African Bullfrog care article that the predator/prey relationship is not always completely one-sided, and basically you run the risk of getting your frog injured or worse every time you serve a live rodent. Also, do not feed your frog any mice larger than half the size of the frog. A growing baby (smaller than 2 inches) can be fed a pinky or fuzzy mouse as often as every 10 days, but any frog larger than that should not be allowed to eat rodents more than once a month. These frogs have evolved to eat mostly frogs, fish, and various invertebrates, so their bodies have a harder time processing mammalian hair, fat, and tissue. 
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Handling*Budgett’s frogs are not supposed to be handled, except when necessary. If you do have to hold your frog, rinse your hands under warm water for at least 30 seconds to wash off as many chemicals as possible. Pick the frog up from the sides towards the back, as a Budgett’s frog picked up from the front will bite. It’s not that these frogs are particularly aggressive, they just think that everything that moves is a potential meal.
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Estivation*If you want to enjoy your Budgett’s frog for as long as possible, then you will need to let it estivate every year starting when your frog reaches 3 inches in length. Choose a date in mid-October to early November when you think you can put the frog under. For the first 3 weeks before estivation, feed the frog twice as much as you usually do. This is done to build up adequate fat reserves. For the last 5 days before estivation, stop feeding your frog completely. This gives the frog a chance to completely clean waste from its system. On your chosen date, fill a bucket to the top with ORGANIC topsoil, making sure that the bucket has absolutely no traces of cleaners or other harmful chemicals. Dig a small depression in the soil, place your frog in, and it will do the rest. Be sure to check on it and give it a light misting every hour or so. Once your frog buries itself, then all you have to do is wait and lightly moisten the soil every other day. Pick a date 3 to 4 months from your frog’s estivation day to revive your frog. Here’s what you do then-very gently, dig up your frog and place it in a container big enough for the frog to move around. Pour cool, dechlorinated water on the frog until the water level almost reaches the frog’s nostrils. Keep scooping water and pouring it on the frog until it starts to wake up. By the way, do this on a weekend where you don’t have plans-this process is going to take most of the day. Once the frog is fully awake and removes its cocoon, then place it back in its tank with all of its equipment, changing the water as often as every couple hours. During this time, your frog will be getting rid of 3 months’ worth of dead skin and pee. In 2 to 3 days, your frog will be very hungry and you can resume everything as it used to be. 
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Final Word*The Budgett's frog makes an excellent pet for anyone with a bit of frog experience already under their belt. With their extremely comical behavior and appearance, it’s quite easy for the layperson to forget that these frogs are, in fact, ferocious predators! In my knowledge there’s no other frog that greets you by ramming into the sides of its tank or hurling itself out of the water in an effort to eat you. With their reasonable price, huge appetites, fairly easy care, and comical looks, there are not many reasons not to want a Budgett’s frog! I promise you will not be disappointed if you get one.

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Kekuroo, Roachant

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## Brett

Here's an article I made on the natural history of Budgett's frogs and stuff.

*Classification*

The Budgetts frogs of the genus _Lepidobatrachus_, described by Budgett in 1899,  are members of the family Leptodactylidae. The more frequently-kept and better-known horned frogs of the genus _Ceratophrys_ are part of this family as well.


*Habitat and Range*

Budgetts frogs can be found in seasonal aquatic habitats in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. It is more common in the northern part of its range and is on the decline, mostly in Argentina, due to habitat loss. Heres a handy map which shows the precise natural range of this species. IUCN Red List maps
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Natural History*

Budgetts frogs are quite well adapted to the seasonal nature of the habitat in which they live. As summer comes to an end and their seasonal pools dry up, Budgetts frogs burrow into the mud using the spade-like tubercles on their hind feet. There, they wait out the winter in an inactive state, wrapped in a thick, hard skin cocoon. The purpose of this cocoon is basically to prevent water loss. Once the heavy spring/summer rains flood their habitat, the frogs emerge from their cocoons to breed, laying up to 1400 eggs, and prepare for the next dry season by eating like starved hogs. 

The hunting method of the Budgetts frog can be compared to an aquatic version of the horned frogs strategy. The Budgetts frog sits and waits around aquatic vegetation for prey-namely, invertebrates and other frogs-to arrive. In my observations of my Budgetts frog, they also seem to stalk their prey instead of being exclusively sit-and-wait feeders like their cousins, the horned frogs. 

These frogs also have an interesting defense mechanism-when disturbed, the frog inflates its body and stands on its tip-toes. If that display fails, the frog will then scream and try to bite the offender.

Even the larvae of the Budgetts frog are unique and interesting. First, like the larvae of most, if not all, semiarid to arid-climate frogs, they develop very quickly so that they will have as much time as possible to mature, get fat, and prepare for the eventual dry season. The larvae of the Budgetts frog are even more interesting in regards to their diet. They are known for being one of the relatively small number of frog species to have cannibalistic and extremely carnivorous larvae. What makes Budgetts frog larvae even more unique is their jaw structure. Unlike the beaklike jaw structure of the larvae of their cousins, the horned frogs, Budgetts frog larvae basically have a gaping maw supported by cartilage.
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The FINAL final word*

This actually concludes my article on the wonderful Budgetts frog. I hope you enjoyed reading and learning about these strange and loveable animals, and I hope the care sheet has inspired you to get one of your own!
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Works Cited*

"Lepidobatrachus Laevis." Lepidobatrachus Laevis. N.p., 2004. Web. 18 July 2012. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/57111/0>.

Infante, Carlos R. "Lepidobatrachus Laevis." AmphibiaWeb. Ed. Kellie Whitaker. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2012. <http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Lepidobatrachus>.

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Roachant

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## Pluke

Very nice guide, I was just looking for one of these and couldn't find one. Considering getting a Budgett's frog sometime in the future... just a few questions.

When you have to estivate the frog, does the room have to be a certain temperature or will it know to bury itself when you set it on the soil? And what kind of temperatures should you keep the soil at when the frog is in there? Just room temperatures? Is estivation 100% necessary? And lastly.. Do you have any pictures/videos of your Budgett's frog setup?

Thanks.

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## Kitten

I've heard about the estivation thing too, but was also uncertain if that was 100% necessary? Here is a crappy picture of my Budgetts Frog's current setup:



I'm in the works of changing it up. I'm going to get a better filter and get rid of the rocks because he doesn't seem to really use them at all. I saw someone else on here who had a Budgetts Frog and had "eggcrate" on the bottom of his tank, I guess for the frog to have something to grab a hold of to move across the bottom of the tank. I thought that was rather clever and it would make it soooo much easier for me to clean his tub when it came time for a water change.  :Smile:

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## Brett

> Very nice guide, I was just looking for one of these and couldn't find one. Considering getting a Budgett's frog sometime in the future... just a few questions.
> 
> When you have to estivate the frog, does the room have to be a certain temperature or will it know to bury itself when you set it on the soil? And what kind of temperatures should you keep the soil at when the frog is in there? Just room temperatures? Is estivation 100% necessary? And lastly.. Do you have any pictures/videos of your Budgett's frog setup?
> 
> Thanks.


I just estivate my frog at room temperature and keep it that way. I doubt estivation is 100% necessary, but I just do it anyway-mostly because it's just natural. I do a similar thing for my Boa constrictor-I put her through a nonfeeding cycle in the winter, once again just because it's NATURAL. And actually healthier for the snake. I figure that this period of dormancy would also be healthy for the Budgett's frog. However, only healthy and fat frogs should be put through estivation.

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## Beardo

> I just estivate my frog at room temperature and keep it that way. I doubt estivation is 100% necessary, but I just do it anyway-mostly because it's just natural. I do a similar thing for my Boa constrictor-I put her through a nonfeeding cycle in the winter, once again just because it's NATURAL. And actually healthier for the snake. I figure that this period of dormancy would also be healthy for the Budgett's frog. However, only healthy and fat frogs should be put through estivation.


Since when do Boa Constrictors go through a non feeding period in the winter? Central/South America maintains the same temps year-round. Dropping the temps on your Boa Constrictor (depending on the subspecies) is a good way to give it a respiratory infection.

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## Brett

> Since when do Boa Constrictors go through a non feeding period in the winter? Central/South America maintains the same temps year-round. Dropping the temps on your Boa Constrictor (depending on the subspecies) is a good way to give it a respiratory infection.


Lol, I'm sorry-I should've made myself more clear. First, I do NOT drop the temps on my Boa constrictor at ANY time of year. Second, I have this really interesting book from Vincent Russo, who's basically the AUTHORITY on Boa constrictors. Apparently they encounter a dry season during which food is scarce, and the reason it's healthy for them is that it allows a period for some extra healthy growth-their body uses energy to put on muscle mass instead of metabolizing food. That's not word-for-word, but that's kinda the jist of it. Basically, it's all good. Lol,  it's all pretty interesting and kinda complicated. I hope this clears up any confusion, and if anything I appreciate your concern.

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## teteejarr

Very good article

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## Jonas

> Very good article


I am trying to put my budget frog in a winter rest but he is still awake and does not burie himself.
It is now around 14°celcius in the room and has 2 waterbowls in it. This is first time i m trying it.
Do i do something wrong?

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