Good frog for kids

My 4 year old daughter is very interested in getting a frog. She seen some in petsmart and wants one realy bad. Whats a good easy to care for frog for her that could go in a 10 gallon tank? Im very new to frogs ball pythons are more my thing.

Does she know that frogs are more of a look and not touch kinda pet?

Unfortunately, I've never had a frog so I can't help you out on the hardier varieties. I've always wanted a red eye tree frog though. :rolleyes:

Indeed. I had this question asked many times by parents at Petsmart. Frogs are a great pet to watch, but that's it. I've owned two myself, a European toad and a PacMan, and both were fun to have, but frogs and amphibians are pets you look at and don't touch. Better, and easier to care for in the long run, would be to set up that 10gal as a fish tank and let her pick out some nice colorful little fish for it. (1 inch of fish per gallon rule applies).

That said, if you still want to get a frog for your daughter to give her 'pet exposure', I would get a pair of Fire Bellies. Small, bright colored, and relatively easy to care for. Whatever species you choose, just make sure you research them first to make sure you can handle it in addition to your other pets..as I'm sure you've been doing already. :)

There must be a thing with 4yr old daughters and frogs... :) . My daughter, also 4yrs, had found a wild frog/toad (was probably a toad,sorry I don't know all that much about them) at the park one day and after picking it up wanted a frog of her own. So after doing some research on pet frogs, we realized that they were more of a look at than handling type pet, and knowing how much she likes to handle/play with the animals here at home, my sister-in-law ended up getting her a cockatiel instead. Hence the cockatiel in my sig named Froggy. I do love tree frogs and fire bellies though, maybe someday......

Have you decided on what to get her yet?

You could go with a leopard frog, or maybe firebelly toads.. but FBT can NOT be handled at all; not even while cage cleaning unless you have rubber gloves on. Their skin contains a toxin that is very irritating. My now-husband, then-fiancee picked one up once,, itched his eye afterward.. his eye turned beet red and burned.
Both of these will eat mostly crickets but need diversity in their diet; earthworms, etc.
That said, they are absolutely fascinating animals to watch. They are not at all handling pets; the oils in our skin aggrevate them and mess up the balance of their skin; see, they absorb water through their skin rather than lapping it up like other animals. I would recommend wearing rubber gloves anytime a frog needs to be transported (from tank to holding container, for tank cleaning etc..) to protect the frog from the oils on your skin.
You could go with 100% aquatic frogs like dwarf or African clawed frogs; they are exactly like having fish in that you do not handle them; they are fully aquatic; you could have one in a 10g tank for its life but it needs a secure lid; they can get out! I have 5 of these in a 125g tank amongst other things and they are so entertianing.

i have kept whites tree frogs for about a decade they are hardy and long lived if cared for, will tolerate the occasional handling, and are pretty calm after they been with you for a while

this is the only frog id recommend if handling could be a regular activity

Def look not touch pets. I have a red eye and a waxy monkey and while they are really cool looking, I wouldn't suggest them for kids. They are noctournal so you really don't see them do anything other than sleep unless you are an insomniac like me, lol.

Pacman are my best reccomendation assuming that she realizes they are a look but don't touch. Easy to care for, eat anything and all of the ones I have dealt with were easy going.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

You could go with a leopard frog, or maybe firebelly toads.. but FBT can NOT be handled at all; not even while cage cleaning unless you have rubber gloves on. Their skin contains a toxin that is very irritating. My now-husband, then-fiancee picked one up once,, itched his eye afterward.. his eye turned beet red and burned.
Both of these will eat mostly crickets but need diversity in their diet; earthworms, etc.
That said, they are absolutely fascinating animals to watch. They are not at all handling pets; the oils in our skin aggrevate them and mess up the balance of their skin; see, they absorb water through their skin rather than lapping it up like other animals. I would recommend wearing rubber gloves anytime a frog needs to be transported (from tank to holding container, for tank cleaning etc..) to protect the frog from the oils on your skin.
You could go with 100% aquatic frogs like dwarf or African clawed frogs; they are exactly like having fish in that you do not handle them; they are fully aquatic; you could have one in a 10g tank for its life but it needs a secure lid; they can get out! I have 5 of these in a 125g tank amongst other things and they are so entertianing.

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I had 2 fire bellied toads since i was in second grade and they both just died like 2 years ago. I am a freshman in collage now. so dont expect them to die in a few years. they are hardy, and really cool to look at. I handled mine quite a bit and never noticed any buring and such, i just did not touch my face and washed my hands. I would reccomend them over a tree frog because they are more fun to look at. most tree frogs are nocturnal and just sleep in the corner all day.

My friend got her 4 yr old son a tiger leg frog for his birthday. The frog is really cool looking - a little bigger than a leopard frog and similar looking, but has orange w/black spots in the folds b/t his legs and body. Her son holds the frog all the time and it is very tame.

We took care of him for two weeks when they went on vacation. My 6 and 3 yr old boys loved him and held him quite a bit (with my supervision). He was easy to care for. At first, my 6 yr old wanted one for his birthday. But then he decided that he wanted a pet he can handle that moves around a bit more. That is why we got a ball python instead.

In terms of frogs, he is a good pet that seems to take handling well. But tiger leg frogs may be harder to find than some other types.

My friend set up a terrarium for him in a 10 gal tank.

Good luck! :D