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Budgett's Frog
Lepidobatrachus laevis
A highly bizarre, semi-aquatic South American frog with a flattened body and a massive mouth. Known for its voracious appetite and loud, defensive shrieking.
Class:Amphibia
Order:Anura
Family:Ceratophryidae
Genus:Lepidobatrachus
Species:Lepidobatrachus laevis
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Environment
Terrestrial
Humidity
70 - 90 %
Day temperature
25 - 29 °C
Night temperature
22 - 24 °C
UVB
Low
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Native to the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. They inhabit dry savannahs with temporary marshes and seasonal pools during the rainy season, estivating underground in dry mud during dry spells.
Taxonomy and Genetics: A highly flattened, disc-shaped body reaching 11–12 cm in length. The head and mouth are exceptionally wide. Possesses dorsally set eyes and a pale olive or greyish skin that mimics mud and pebbles.
Behavior and Habits: Aquatic and ambush predators. They sit at the water's surface, waiting for prey. When threatened, they inflate, stand on their hind legs, emit a loud, cat-like shriek, and will attempt to bite.
Morphology: Females are significantly larger and wider than males. Breeding males develop nuptial pads on their thumbs and show a darkened vocal sac under the throat.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Terrarium Setup: A shallow aquarium setup (minimum 60x45x30 cm) is recommended. A bare-bottom tank with 15–20 cm of clean, dechlorinated water and a flat basking dock or floating leaf is ideal. A powerful canister filter is required.
Lighting and Heating: Keep water temperature warm at 26–29°C using a protected submersible heater. Avoid bright lights. UVB lighting is not strictly required but low-level exposure is beneficial.
Humidity and Hydration: Being aquatic, ambient humidity remains at 70–90%. Inducing estivation in dry soil is high-risk and not necessary for pet keeping; keeping them aquatic year-round is safest.
Feeding and Supplementation: Voracious carnivores. Feed live earthworms, large roaches, feeder fish (avoid goldfish due to thiaminase), and occasional thawed pinky mice. Supplement food with calcium and vitamins twice a week.
Compatibility: Strictly solitary. Canibbalistic behavior is guaranteed; never house multiple individuals together or with other similarly sized animals.
Health and Common Diseases: Highly susceptible to ammonia poisoning due to heavy waste production. Perform 80% water changes every 2–3 days. Their odontoid palatal teeth can inflict painful bites, so use feeding tongs.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Native to the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. They inhabit dry savannahs with temporary marshes and seasonal pools during the rainy season, estivating underground in dry mud during dry spells.
Origin
Cosmopolitan or introducedExtra-Amazon South AmericaNorth America
Amphibian profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 12.05 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 12.05 cm. The AmphiBIO v1 source reports a maximum adult measurement of 12.05 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
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