Tomato Frog

These are named as tomato frogs because of their strong appearance with tomato, having dark orange-red color. You can easily recognize male and female. Females have orange-red, and males have yellow-red color. It is a beautiful combination of colors that make them look even more incredible. Let’s have a look at some of the features of these tomato frogs.

Scientific name	Dyscophus
Phylum	Chordata
Higher classification	Dyschophinae
Rank	Genus
Size	2.5-3.5 inches
Color	Orange-red, yellow-red
Habitat	Madagascar
Lifespan	Seven years
Weight	Female-8 ounces, male-1.5 ounces

 

There are three species of the genus Dyscophus, but tomato frogs belong to the genus antongili. In the subfamily Dyschophinae, Dyscophus is the only genus. They are the natives of Madagascar. In the night, they walk on the forest floor and are more active in the night then the day. 

History of Tomato Frogs

In the late 19’s, these species became endangered, and research on their own has tried to breed them. Their population is saved from becoming endangered. At first, they are considered the dangerous pet, but then in 2017, IUCN has mentioned that it is not as vulnerable. 

They secrete a layer of poison on its body when threatened. Otherwise, they are not dangerous specie. Another name of tomato frog is “sambava tomato frog.”

Tomato frog Habitat

There are two frog species: The Madagascar tomato frog and the false tomato frog (Dyscophus Gunite). But the real tomato frogs are Dyscophus Antongilii. These frogs usually love tropical and subtropical environments. 

You can see them in the marshy areas, rivers, and rural and urban areas. The common feature that they hold is that they are active at night and do hunting usually at this time. They eat insects, worms, and parasites.

Tomato Frog Cage setup

If you are thinking of keeping this frog as your pet, then you must need to understand what type of cage must be setup. If you put them in a simple enclosure, they will not survive for more extended periods. So, our suggestions for you are to follow on these points;

• A terrarium is required, which is almost 24”x 18”x 18.”
• Fake plants, or you can try having live ones too.
• A thermometer is needed to check the temperature.
• It must be humid
• Put a small dish of water in it.

If you don’t have a terrarium, you can also use an aquarium and design it accordingly. But according to experts, their cage must be a 10-gallon tank. The larger the tank, the happier your frog will be. 

Try to design it like a forest. Make small caves in it; try using fake plants instead of live because it is challenging to maintain live plants for a more extended period. Give your terrarium a perfect forest type look. Like as, try having burrows, branches, and small plants in which they can hide. More massive amounts of water are not required. Try using shallow water.

Tomato frog Temperature

We must take proper care of our frog pet. The temperature, in this regard, plays a significant role. These frogs love to stay in humid areas, so maintain the temperature at 65-85 degrees Fahrenheit’s. 

If there comes a rise or fall of temperature, this can be fatal for your frog. Place a heating pad inside the terrarium to keep the temperature warm. Try checking temperature regularly because a slight change in it might result in the death of your frog.

Tomato Frog Facts

There are a lot of things that you need to know about this specie. Different aspects are required to understand if you are thinking of adopting them. Let’s have a look at some of the facts of them.

• They live in marshy or swampy areas, near the river.
• Also known as sambava frogs
• They love to hide in caves
• More active at night
• They eat insects, worms, and small parasites
• When somebody tries to threaten them, they secret a layer of poison to save themselves from predators like a snake.
• Try maintaining the temperature between 65-85 degrees of F.

Use of Substrate

As mentioned earlier, they love to burrow themselves, and due to this reason, we recommend using two loose substrates. Like coco fiber, eco earth, and plantation soil, all are flexible substrates and are suitable for your pet. Put the substrate in the corner of the cage, or also you can mix it with moss. Mixing up with the moss is considered acceptable, damp it lightly, and helps maintain humidity into the cell. 

The cage must be 60-80% humid, and using damp moss helps mainly in maintaining it.

Water requirements

Make sure the availability of water at every time. Frogs absorb water using their skin. Try to use clean water because it is a matter of the health of your pet. We are not recommending you use distilled water either; the PH of water must be neutral. These frogs don’t need more considerable sums of water because they are not good swimmers. 

Change the water daily from the dish and provide your pet with fresh water.

Tomato Frog Diet

Taking good care of your pet’s health is essential because if you want your pet to be healthy or active, provide him with a good diet. Here we will share some aspects of this frog’s diet. A significant portion of their diet consists of vitamins and calcium. Give them these few insects which can help in completing their needs;

• Worms
• Luke worms
• Super worms
• Mealworms
• Crickets
• Mice’s

Provide your frog with a different meal every week. Also, you can go to the vet if you want to learn more about their diet. Furthermore, we recommend you to use these above-given insect names because they love eating them.

Tomato Frog Breeding

We have done a lot of research on reproducing them or how this species of frogs can breed. There are no searches on this section. Most of the people are still unaware of it. But after going through some articles, we have found that some people tried to breed them using hormones, the process is fair. But, sometimes using this method cause severe harmful effects. 

You can easily differentiate between males and females because the male is smaller in size, approximately 2-2.5 inches, but on the other hand, females are larger 3-34 inches. In addition to this, you can also tell which one is male by merely seeing on them because the male is yellow-red, and females have a bright red color with some orangish texture. 

Cleaning of terrarium

Try to give a neat and clean cage to your frog pet. After every 15 days, we recommend you clean it thoroughly. But first, move your frog pet into another enclosure. Other species of frogs are not that stressful, but this one may cause stress for you. 

While removing them from their cage, could you wash your hands with soap and dry them? It is essential because if you use that soapy hands-on frog, remember they can absorb any material through their skin. So, this can be fatal. Moreover, you can also transport their container form one place to another.

When threatened, these frogs secret a white color layer to protect themselves from predators like a snake. Avoid touching that layer because it may cause allergic reactions for human beings. Immediately after touching them, wash your hands using hand soap.

Is a tomato frog poisonous?

Yes, they are. As mentioned above they secrets a toxic layer on their body in their defense. Therefore, it is said that don’t touch them when you see that white contaminated layer on them. 

Are tomato frog’s good pets?

Somehow they are not as bad. They may cause stress for you while handling them. They don’t like it when you touch it. Our advice is to avoid handling them if necessary to take it carefully because these are secretive.

Can you hold a tomato frog?

No, they are not from those species that bear handling. Usually, frogs like them don’t like it. When there is a need to clean their terrarium try handling them only because otherwise, they get angry and secrets the layer, which is poisonous for us.

What do tomato frogs eat?

They are carnivores and love to eat small insects like mosquitoes, worms, beetles, and flies. Their central portion of the diet consists of vitamins and calcium. So, please provide them with the food which is good for their health.