Frog Habitat

There are over 5,000 species of frogs. One of the groups of frogs are the poison dart frogs, which are toxic and have interesting and vibrant color patterns on their bodies. There is another species called green tree frogs, which are translucent green in color and if you see their belly down on a piece of glass, you can watch the internal organs and the heart of the frog! The huge range of this species can be found all over the world, and there are different frog habitats but frogs are generally seen near semi-aquatic lands.

Frog Habitat Requirements
So what all are the frogs needs, which need to be present in a habitat to make it a favorable place for the frogs to live in? Here, is information on frog food and habitats.

• Besides water, frogs require a habitat which provides them food and shelter.
• Like other amphibians, frog's life cycle consists of four stages which are the egg, tadpole, metamorphosis and the adult stage. The tadpoles need small plants to eat, and big plants provide good shelter to hide.
• These amphibians spend a lot of time in the water, they hide from danger or predators inside the water. Frogs also hunt for food, and lay their eggs in water.
• The ideal conditions for a frog habitat should have the right temperature for the eggs to hatch. An ideal frog habitat should also not have fast-moving water, and lots of rocks and stems should be present where the frogs can lay their eggs.

Natural Frog Habitat
Given below is information about the life cycle of a frog, and the frogs habitats.

• Frogs are seen almost everywhere, they exist in rain-forests, forests and caves; they can also be seen in deserts and on mountaintops.
• The best places for frogs are places which are mucky and have lot of bugs. An interesting fact about frogs is that they have an extensible tongue which has a sticky surface, and they can flick it quickly to catch a bug when it is resting on a leaf or flying.
• Frogs are mostly seen in swamps, marshes, ditches, streams and puddles, as these places have plenty of muck and insects.
• Frogs lay eggs which hatch into tadpoles, the tadpoles are dark squiggly looking creatures who have tails for swimming and gills for breathing, as they spend their time living in water.
• After the stage of metamorphosis, the tadpole transforms into the four-legged frog. Frogs spend most of their time on the land, but are mostly around some or the other water body. Frogs breathe and drink from their skin, and thus their skin is always wet.
• Frogs form an important part of the ecological system as they feed on bugs, and are food of many predators like birds. However, due to the chemical pollution and the destruction of wetlands for construction purposes, there is a huge decline in the amount of frogs habitat.

Creating a Frog Habitat
Children can buy the commercial aquarium, which are designed especially for frogs. These frog habitats or aquariums have interesting inbuilt materials. All one needs to do is catch a frog and release it in this aquarium, and one can have frogs as pets.

Adults can create an environment for the frogs, or transform a section of their garden into a frog habitat. With the above mentioned needs of the frogs, one will need to take care of other things too, to create and maintain a frog pond. Dig a pond and make sure the location is part-shaded and part-sunny, but not under a tree. The pond in the center should have 50 cm depth and the edges should be shallow and have a flat base. Cover the base with gravel, and place rocks, logs and plants in and around the pond, and release some frogs in this pond. This way you will have your very own, frog habitat in your garden and watch the life cycle of the frogs.

This was all about the natural frog habitat facts and building a frog habitat. You can buy a commercial frog aquarium for the kids or build all by yourself a frog habitat, and by creating the frog habitat you will be, in a way, helping the environment!