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AmphibianTerrestrialIntermediate
Fantasy Horned Frog
Ceratophrys cranwelli x cornuta
The perfect 'Pacman', created from the crossing between the C. cranwelli and the spectacular C. cornuta. A massive, sedentary, and voracious toad boasting immense fleshy 'horns' above its eyes and breathtaking camouflage patterns. Virtually immortal if kept in the correct soil humidity parameters, but plagued by hybrid sterility and a lethal propensity for fatal obesity.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Ceratophryidae
Subfamily:Ceratophryinae
Genus:Ceratophrys
Species:Ceratophrys cranwelli x cornuta
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
70 - 80 %
Day temperature
24 - 28 °C
Night temperature
20 - 24 °C
UVB
None
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Artificial creature (Hybrid). It does not exist in nature, created exclusively in captive breeding facilities worldwide by crossing the genes of the robust Cranwell's Pacman Frog (C. cranwelli from the dry Chaco) with the incredibly difficult and superb Amazonian Horned Frog (C. cornuta). In the terrarium it lives exactly like its ancestors: it is a fossorial frog, programmed to bury itself for months in the damp mud, in perpetual wait for a meal.
Taxonomy and Genetics: It is an interspecific hybrid and, like many such crosses, the Fantasy Frog is genetically sterile (cannot reproduce). Its appeal is purely aesthetic and behavioral. It hybridizes the enormous fleshy supraocular appendages (lethal spectral 'horns') of the Cornuta with the bulletproof gluttony of the Cranwelli. Morphs range from brilliant greens, scaled dark brown camo patterns, down to sensational faded orange and red forms.
Behavior and Habits: Ambush predatory frogs ('Sit and Wait'). They do not explore, they do not climb, they do not actively hunt. They dig a shallow hole in the substrate leaving only their eyes exposed, and wait. The only part of the body that will move will be the immense cavernous mouth, ready to snap forward to engulf whole (often without chewing) any living being that brushes its mortal trajectory. Aggressive if disturbed, they will inflate their bodies hissing deaf threats.
Morphology: Almost spherical fleshy globes, as wide as they are long. They can comfortably reach 5-6 inches (12-15 cm) in diameter, weighing over a pound (half a kilo) of lethal amazing bulk. They possess mandibular vomerine teeth sharp as pins, designed to hold struggling rodents. Sexual dimorphism is evident only in adult specimens: females become enormous bulldozer spheres, males remain notably smaller, possess dark nuptial pads on their front thumbs, and sing.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: In a biomechanics study, captive-bred fantasy-colour-morph frogs were individually housed in terraria with loose substrate approximately 5 cm deep. This is a documented study setting, not a general enclosure prescription.
Lighting and Heating: In that study, terraria were maintained at 26–29 °C during the day and 24–26 °C at night. The study does not establish a general lighting or heating protocol beyond those reported conditions.
Humidity and Hydration: The study moistened terraria daily to sustain approximately 70–80% relative humidity. This recovery reports the study condition and does not derive a universal target.
Feeding and Supplementation: This recovery makes no feeding or supplementation claim beyond the cited study conditions.
Compatibility and Coexistence: The studied frogs were housed individually. This recovery does not turn that experimental design into a cohabitation recommendation.
Health and Common Diseases: This recovery makes no disease, treatment, or veterinary claim.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Artificial creature (Hybrid). It does not exist in nature, created exclusively in captive breeding facilities worldwide by crossing the genes of the robust Cranwell's Pacman Frog (C. cranwelli from the dry Chaco) with the incredibly difficult and superb Amazonian Horned Frog (C. cornuta). In the terrarium it lives exactly like its ancestors: it is a fossorial frog, programmed to bury itself for months in the damp mud, in perpetual wait for a meal.
Origin
Selective breeding and cultivars
Varietà da Selezione / Cultivar
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 15.8 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Toxicity
- No verified data available
- Life stage
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 15.8 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 15.8 cm for this species, recorded as snout–vent length (SVL). These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
