suggestions on "taming" frogs?

[tomatogirl]

I'm not looking to teach him to fetch or anything, but does anyone have any tips on how to make a frog (in this case a tomato frog) less stressed by requisite handling? (For a funny story, check out my tomato blog on here...) I need to be able to move him with relative ease for cleaning, checking him out, etc., and I'd like to get him used to this before he gets enormous (I consider larger than my admittedly small fist enormous ). Thanks!

[Rainfrog]

Be slow and gentle around him. put your hand in and let him get used to it just being there and your smell. this is monotonous!! but it is how it works. at least with reptiles (its how I deal with my snakes and My Leopard Geckos, it gets easyer and easyer with each session) Be patient and let him work it out that you are not going to eat him. pick him up and just hold him in the tank for a minute or 2 and put him back when he is used to this slowly moving him around. some animals just dont tame down. I know frogs are nervouse but alot of the larger species are decent like pixies and packmans this should I would think include the Tomato Frog it will just take time and patients IMO. Good luck.

[Tindomul1of9]

Put a cricket in your hand. Eventually they will associate your hand with food, and will become much easier to capture in order to move them. I don't think they will ever like you touching them really. Every now and then you might get one who sits on your hand. Good luck!
In anycase, I would avoid touching them as much as possible. I check my frogs everyday, and everyday I get to see them at a different angle, as a result I don't feel the need to touch them or capture them.

[tomatogirl]

I'll try the cricket trick, though I don't know about yours but mine sure are jumpy! I've been trying the hand-in-tank method the last few days. I get it close to him and stop, then I wait until his respiration slows down again before I take it out. I haven't attempted to touch him again. Like I said, I'm not looking to parade around to parties with him, I just want to be able to check him now and then to make sure he's okay. Because his legs are reddish and always buried underneath him in the substrate, and this species (as far as I've read) is prone to ammonia burns on their legs because of their laziness (and urinating), I'm just paranoid.

In other news, I've tried to get the temp down a few degrees in the day to 74-76, though I suspect it seldom ever gets below 72 in there even at night, and his color is improving. He's more orangey than he's ever been, so I take that as a good sign. Still really inactive, though. Thanks for all your help.

[Rainfrog]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Good idea with the food in hand idea. I have been hand feeding my leopard gecko lately and he seems to be calming down.

[Tindomul1of9]

I actually started doing it with my green tree frog and Bufo fowleri because I did not want adult crickets running loose in my heavily planted vivs. If they did, I'm afraid they might eat my plants.

[Rainfrog]

ya they would. I had some deasert grass plants in my rose hair tank and they would chew the bottoms of the stalks and make it fall over

[tomatogirl]

Okay, maybe I'm dumb or my crickets are on crank (or both!), but I'm lucky to get the little suckers aimed in the tank. Do you just grab them by their nasty little legs? Do you hook them through the collar like you're going fishing? How do you keep from being nipped yourself? I have to confess I'm slightly squeamish about getting that up close and personal with arthropods, but if you say it works I'll give it a shot. (Gulp.)

[Tindomul1of9]

Hehe, I actually just grab them by their heads. Then I grab both their legs between my thumb and index finger. Then let go of the head. At this point they are helpless and can't get loose. Then I just present the helpless creature to my toad/frog full of avarice for these poor things, and boom, next thing I know I have a few fingers full of toad drool.

[Green Ghost]

Sounds like good advice from Tindomul and Rainfrog. Try using earthworms to train your frogs. My frogs eat out of my hands now. I can have the frog sitting in one hand and hold the food in the other. I don't see the need to do that with crickets, but I supplement with earthworms. A whole earthworm is a bit big so I cut off about a half an inch of the tail end. (rinse before feeding) It'll stop moving in about a minute, so it needs to be poked to move again. Plus I want to make sure it gets eaten and not left to rot in the tank.

I started by using a long thin wooden stick. If you can manage to, drop the worm in front of your frog, close by. Then with the long thin stick just nudge the worm. The stick should be less distressing then your whole hand. Your frog should pounce on it after about a minute or less. Each time you feed your frogs, do it at the same time. They will come to associate you being present with being fed. Gradually shorten the length of the stick at each feeding until you are eventually nudging the worm with your finger. (I still jump everytime my frog suddenly lunges ) Once you can do that he should be able to take it from your hand. I always feed at the same place in the tank. When you're at this point he'll be used to you and your hands, so you can try to very calmly pick him up. My frogs don't like to be poked from behind. Go from the front and under the belly gently. They will hop away if pushed from behind. Some frogs are just more tolerant than others and will allow you to pick them up without protest, others are less tolerant - go figure.

One more thing that worked for me: make sure you rinse your hands in cold water and they are clean. Don't dry your hands on a towel or even paper towels after washing them if you will touch your frogs. Leave them dripping wet.

That's how I did it.