Archives of The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 32, Number 3;   March, 2005

Red Legged Walking Frogs

by Angela Thomas

The first time I ever saw a red-legged walking frog, I was watching intently as a pet store employee opened up the tank to look for the narrow-mouthed toads I wanted to buy. He pulled aside some moss, revealing several Malaysian narrow-mouthed toads and a fairly large, exotic-looking spotted frog that stared at us with pale-gold eyes. It immediately tried to dive back under the moss. Though it wasn't what I'd intended to buy, I asked what it was, and the guy who was helping me enthusiastically told me it was a "Colombian tree frog" and dug it back up again. Seen up close, the frog was even more strikingly colored. Its light-brown back was covered with chocolate-brown spots, each outlined with a thin white stripe, and its throat and stomach were white. Rather than leaping wildly, it prowled slowly across our hands, staring at everything with surprised eyes and revealing bright red markings on the insides of its legs with every step.

Realizing that I had seen photos of this same species in several books, I purchased the frog. Arriving home, I got out my book and learned that it was actually a red-legged walking frog, Kassina maculata, and not from Colombia but from Africa. I also discovered that these facts, contained in the caption of the photo I had remembered, were the only pieces of information the book contained on the species! That was a learning experience I haven't forgotten - be very sure you know what you're buying BEFORE you purchase! Fortunately for me, these are extremely hardy frogs, and my new friend survived until I learned how to care for him properly. That was several years ago, and since then these beautiful frogs have become one of my favorite species.

Red-legged walking frogs are native to the lowlands of eastern Africa. During the day, walking frogs hide on the ground, under leaf litter or vegetation. They are active at night, and feed on a variety of insects and smaller frogs. As the name suggests, these frogs really do walk rather than jump or hop, though they will leap to cross a gap or when very startled. Male walking frogs have two vocal sacs on their throats, and their call is a loud "ploink," repeated every few seconds. The eggs are laid in water, and the tadpoles are very unusual-looking, with a very tall tail fin that makes them nearly as tall as they are long.

In captivity, walking frogs are very easy to care for. Two or three frogs will live comfortably in a ten-gallon aquarium set up with a soil substrate, climbing branches, and some live plants. The frogs will also need a ground-level hiding place, such as a piece of cork bark, to retreat to during the day. You may also want to offer a water dish, though it isn't absolutely necessary since the frogs will get most of their moisture from the damp soil. Unlike many nocturnal species, walking frogs come out an hour or so before dark and hang around for a while after the lights come on in the morning, so you do actually get to see them when they are active. Providing food at any hour of the day or night will usually entice them from their hiding places, since walking frogs have voracious appetites. They will readily take insects of all kinds, and many will also accept earthworms.

One of the most appealing things about walking frogs is their calm manner. Even recent imports (they are, unfortunately, rarely bred in captivity) are usually calm when handled, and wsill generally eat readily even when people are present. After a while in captivity, most animals will eat from their keeper's fingers. There is, unfortunately, a potentially serious drawback to these frogs also: they're accomplished escape artists! Cage lids need to be very secure, or the frogs will find a way out. I once had my walking frogs simply walk out of a terrarium that had kept red-eyed tree frogs in for years - they simply pushed the lid open. On other occasions, they took advantage of small gaps, poorly fitting lids, and lids left open briefly, to escape.

Though my original walking frog is long since gone, I have never stopped keeping these beautiful, exotic looking frogs. They are a species often overlooked by many hobbyists, but well worth any herp enthusiast's time and effort to keep.