Do Frogs Need Soil to Live?

A Frog's Life

• After its time as a tadpole, a frog emerges from the water to test out its new legs. Most frogs don't have many defenses, but their natural camouflage is a good start. Generally, frogs wait for their dinner to come to them, and so they spend a lot of time sitting and waiting. Their coloring helps them blend in and go unnoticed by many predators. If they're in danger, most frogs hide. They may choose to wait out the danger under a rock or tree stump, or some other crevice. Sometimes, they dig into the soil and bury themselves.

Hibernation

• Because frogs are cold-blooded, they naturally slow down as the temperature drops. Their breathing begins to get slower, as do all their body's functions, and the frog will often bury itself in mud. Some frogs even spend the cold times burrowed into the mud at the bottom of frozen-over lakes. In this way, they can sleep through the winter and reemerge in spring when the weather warms again.

Migration

• Most frogs migrate between bodies of water. In fact, they tend to return to the same watering spots again and again. They spend the warm weather breeding months in swamps, bogs and other moist, warm environments and then they travel to their overwintering area where they will hibernate. This journey can be as long as 4 miles, and frogs make it one hop at a time. They travel when the weather is moist enough to keep their skin from drying out, and many of them die when their path takes them across roads.

Frogs as Pets

• The decision to get a frog as a pet shouldn't be made lightly. Frogs can live a long time in captivity, and they require a specific and clean environment. Because they have what's called "naked" skin, they are highly susceptible to any contaminants in their environments. Keeping a frog as a pet means a lot of terrarium cleaning. Frogs aren't snuggly, and many of them do little more than sit around and eat. They are fascinating creatures, however, and many people enjoy keeping frogs. As carnivores, frogs need a diet of bugs or, in the case of some larger frogs, mice. It's important to know what kind of frog you're getting when you set up the terrarium because different frogs have different needs. Depending on the species, your frog may need a tank with half soil and half water, or some other combination.