Catching Wild Frogs

Hey everyone,
I have reading about people on the net catching and keeping wild pond frogs from around rivers and ponds in their local area.
I was wondering, is this a sensable thing to do?
will i be able to successfully keep wild frogs in captivity?
if so what heating and humidity requirements would i need?
as i am from the UK, what frogs wolud these be?
thanks
Thom

I never support taking animals from the wild unless it is for a needed captive breeding program.

You kind of answered you own question in a round about way. If you don't know what type of animals they are then trying to keep them is a dice roll and it will probably come up 7's.

Not trying to sound like a jerk. :happy:

Truth is, if you are trully interested in this hobby you would be much better off looking for captive bred animals.
Not only you won´t be taking anything from the wild (which given the current situation of amphibians world-wide, is a very good thing), but you will also ensure you are getting a healthy animal, that won´t require an adaptation period to captivity.

The UK is home to many frog breeders, so i´m sure you wouldn´t have any trouble finding some adequate species for you.

Just consider it, please, after all, it´s legal for you to catch a wild frog, but isn´t its place nature?
Mac also makes a good point, if you are not familiar with the species, taking it home is not a sensible idea, you might make easily avoidable mistakes out of ignorance that the poor animal will pay. Whereas if you first choose a nice species you like, read a lot, get everything sorted, THEN get the animal...you can imagine, things will be different!

Sorry for the speech, i just really think you will enjoy this hobby a lot more if you have a good start, and what better start than knowing you are doing things right?

I agree with the others

(this isn't really applicable to what you said but I found it interesting; I saw some newts in a pond at the weekend and I've been searching for them online just for my own curiosity; anyway the UK law states I can legally take this species of newts; I can legally kill these newts however it is illegal to sell them; giving them to someone is legal - how stupid is that!)

I don't think the people answered the question about the care the original poster asked.Too busy worrying about the catching frogs phrase i guess.I used to catch frogs as a kid and it was fun,I rarely kept them though cause i really didn't know how to keep them. First find out what kind of frogs you are wanting and look them up on the internet.If you are planning to catch a few find out what is native to your'e country and look them up to see the requirements for keeping them.Most frogs don't spend alot of time if ever in the water and as far as humidity,I don't think many frogs like it cold and do well in the 70 to 75 degree area,but I would research the frogs you want and if not endangered or illegal I don't think catching a few would hurt,after all just about every hobbyist has collected amphibians from the wild at one time or another.

warrior said:

I don't think catching a few would hurt,after all just about every hobbyist has collected amphibians from the wild at one time or another.

Click to expand...

Indeed. I certainly did. I wish someone had educated me on the matter when i was a kid, though.
I´m not judging the morality of catching wild animals here. As i said, it´s legal in the UK (not in the rest of europe as a general rule, though) so it´s up to the individual.
What i´m saying is that it will be much better for him, as a keeper, to start with CB animals. Had i known that when i started out, things would have been different.

As for the damage of taking a few animals, never subestimate the impact that taking reproductive adults (therefore the strongest, best adapted ones) from an isolated population can have. After all the UK´s wild areas are bastly reduced and isolated.

warrior said:

I don't think the people answered the question about the care the original poster asked.Too busy worrying about the catching frogs phrase i guess.

Click to expand...

No... I wasn't as worried about the "catching" (though it does concern me) as I was unable to give care instructions on an unknown frog species. My point was simply that you can't give care advice based on the word "frog"!

i was curious because i had found a small frog on the road today. i saved it from a near death. It got me wondering if is was possible. I googled "catching frogs" which gave me examples of people with little or no knowledge of amphibians catching frogs and trying (and failing) to keep them alive. i am aware of the importance of researching new pets before buying, kind of another reason for asking for advice thanks for the info though. helpful ive heard that some frogs do not make for good pets as they arent overly active. is this true?

Well, they certainly are no good in the traditional sense of "pet". You should never handle them if possible, they don´t have complex emotions (they just want you to feed them xD) and they don´t do much. However they are fascinating in their own way, and if you really apreciate them, just watching them in a nice terrarium, breeding them, raising them, is more than enough.

If you want an interactive pet, you are looking in the wrong place xD but if you are happy just to see them, then go ahead and give this hobby a try, it can be very rewarding!

About the little frog, what i would do is to set it free near the area where you found it. Bare in mind that if you decide to keep it for a while, you´ll have to keep it forever, since releasing it will be dangerous. I know i´m tiresome, please bare with me, but i must really insist that if you leave wild animals where they belong, and look into getting some CB species that you like, the experience of keeping a frog will be all the better.

sorry i probably have mentioned that i did let the frog go in a nearby field as soon as i found it. dont want you thinkin im ignortant enough to bring home an animal i knew nothing about but yeah, just researching what pet would be right for me and thinking aboud my options. i have an unused 20 gallon tank that i want to fill.