Expert: Nicole - 12/1/2008

Question
I got my frog as a tadpole at a petshop and it lived peacefully in my freshwater fish tank. it did not bother my fish. once it became a frog it lived in a half filled 5 gallon hexigon tank with rocks and a platform to get out of the water. i fed him crickets a couple days a week and he was doing great he had no trouble eating.  
  eventually i put him in a large plastic container that i bought at petco. he has frog moss island with a big shell to hide under, that leads into a large amount of water with rocks. he is always looking out of the cage for food but when i feed him crickets he gets scared and starts jumping. eventualy he eats but it is a chore feeding him. i have tried worms but he is scared of them too. So my question is, what should i do?
    he is a dark forest green with lepard spotted back, arms, and legs. eyes sit on top of his head. white, cream belly and webbed feet. and has a green disc on eather side of head near eyes.my question is is it a bull frog or if not what is it?  

Answer
Well, from the description that you have given me, it sounds like you have either a bullfrog or a Leopard Frog. They are two of the most common breeds found in pet stores throughout the United States. If you do a google image search for "Northern Leopard Frog" or "Bullfrog" you should be able to find many pictures of them. Bullfrogs have black spots but they are not as well defined as on the Leopard Frogs. The green disks on the side of his head are actually his ears. On Leopard Frogs sometimes they can be either green or brown and on bullfrogs they are green.  

Now for the food...It isn't normal for him to be afraid of his food. Try feeding him at night right before you go to bed. Also, sometimes just changing the food can help. Instead of crickets or regular worms, try mealworms. Just set them in a small dish and leave it there over night. Hopefully this will help you out some! If you have any other questions just let me know.