I have read your information on green frogs as well as others posts, but I still have some questions. I live in New York State, and have a 100 gallon, plastic, pre-formed garden pond. It has become home to 4 green frogs which I have decieded to bring in for the winter since it has already gotton quite cold here. They are living in a 10 gallon terrarium which I think is too small. I have had varied advice as to what to put in the bottom, from mulch to soil , to gravel, to a combination of these. I don't have an area that stays 35-45 degrees- it gets too cold in the garage. I have them in the basement but it stays fairly warm,since the house is heated. Sould I fill it partially with water and build up one end with stones? Do I need to filter the water?just have mulch or gravel and a bowl for them to get into? The possibilities are endless, and I don't know what the best set up is for them. They have been eating crickets and worms from my hand all summer, so I know what they like to eat. And there is a pet store nearby that can supply these. Please advise me as soon as you can so they stay healthy. Thank-you!

Yes, a larger tank would be better. Or these newly morphed or older green frogs? The younger ones are more aquatic and need less land areas. I would use a gravel substrate. Soil or mulch would be extremely messy and probably things would start to grow (bad molds, fungus, bacteria, etc.). Fill the tank about 1/3-1/2 full of water and use larger rocks to make a land area about 1/4 to 1/3 the surface area of the tank. You can try to use the gravel itself to vary depths but over time, it will all try to settle to the same depth without something to hold it there. They sell a number of ramps and "islands" for amphibians and turtles that may work also to provide a land area. Since you're keeping them at room temperature, you should continue to feed them. A filter would be a good idea. Something like a Duetto internal filter works well for shallow small tanks.

These frogs are older,about three inches long. I am getting a 20 gallon aquarium to put them in. Thanks for the advice.

One of my green frogs that I am keeping inside is not eating, and looks pale and scared. Do you think he could be ill, or just needs time to adjust to being in captivity?

"PS"
I'm geeting a used 20gallon aquarium to keep my frogs in. I think I should clean it first. What would be safe to clean it with? (that wouldn't be toxic to the frogs?0
Thanks

I put up a new section on overwintering frogs indoors at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/frog3.htm since I've gotten questions about it. What temperature are the frogs at? The frog may be confused and trying to hibernate if it's either not warm enough or had geared itself up for that having previously been outdoors. If you plant to keep them active, keep their tank about 70 degrees F give or take some, room temperature. Frogs may change color when hibernating or when ill. The hibernating frogs I've seen often turn almost black. Turning whiter is normally a sign of stress, perhaps from the new changes or being ill. I hope he's just settling in as you stated.

If you want to disinfect a tank, I use bleach. Pour a few cups in the empty tank with any non-living and non-porous things you want to disinfect. Let it sit for a day (a few hours may be enough if you can't wait). Then, dump all that and refill with fresh water and a triple dose of dechlorinator solution. Again, let it sit a day (at least a few hours if you can't wait). Then, rinse it well again, and it's perfectly safe and disinfected. I've done this many times, whenever I tear down any tank for fish, turtles, frogs, etc. There are more non-toxic ways to disinfect such as mega-doses of aquarium salt or hydrochloric acid followed by many rinses but I just use bleach. The bleach will eat off bacteria, algae, funguses, etc. You can also bucket wash gravel in dilute bleach followed by dechlorinator and fresh water solutions. Bleach treat gravel separately from the empty tank. I'll put in the filters, ornaments, and fake plants in the tank during bleaching but remove the gravel. It has to be turned over a number of times. I wear gloves to do that.

The main part of my house is 72 degrees. I would guess the basement is about 68 degrees right now. It will get cooler when winter really sets in.

Good News! The frog that looked pale and scared ate four earth worms today! It was warm enough for me to dig up some worms from my yard - about 55 degrees! Our worms are about 1 1/2 - 2" long, just the right size. His color looks better now too.

Glad he ate!