What Is The Best Habitat For a Frog?

Frogs are one of the most diverse amphibian species in the world, with hundreds of varieties living in very different habitats. A habitat is a place where living organisms get water, food, find shelter and reproduce. Therefore, the best habitat for the majority of frog species includes these main things. 

As a general rule, the best habitat for frogs includes freshwater, access to food, shelter, and a safe place to reproduce. Freshwater is required in a frog habitat for breathing, drinking, and reproductive purposes, although some frog species have adapted to brackish water and dry conditions.

🍎 Teachers: Get our Frog Habitat Lesson

Enjoyed this video? 🙂 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!

Most species of frogs live in or close to a body of freshwater such as ponds, lakes, bogs, swamps, or fens allowing them to reproduce during the mating season. Here is what is required within these locations for an ideal frog habitat:

1. Freshwater
2. Food
3. Shelter
4. A Safe Place to Reproduce

The type of habitat that is best for the frog depends on the type of frog as aquatic frogs primarily live in water, toads primary live on land, and tree frogs mostly live in or around trees. But these are the three most commonly required characteristics of an appropriate frog habitat. 

1. Frog Habitats Require Freshwater

Like all living organisms, frogs require water in order to survive. Frogs breathe and drink through their skin and so they absorb water by sitting in it, or remaining in humid locations.

Frogs require freshwater since most frog species cannot survive in brackish or saltwater conditions. Saltwater can dehydrate frogs, dry out their skin, and kill them.

However, freshwater can be scarce in some locations and a few frog species have adapted to saltwater conditions in order to survive.

Aquatic frogs tend to sit in water for hours at a time so they can stay cool, hydrated and oxygenated. Frogs need clean water that is adapted to their habitat requirements and may contain phytoplankton, microscopic bugs, algae, and decaying organic matter, all excellent things for tadpoles to eat.

However, the water should not contain man-made chemicals, pesticides, or corrosive substances. Frogs easily absorb man-made chemicals through their skin and may suffer from illness, deformities, or die if they are directly exposed to pollution. That is one reason why frogs are considered excellent bioindicators by scientists.

2. Frog Habitats Need Food

Frogs are obligate carnivores, and their diet needs to include adapted meat-based foods such as insects (spiders, moths, worms, mosquitoes, beetles). Larger frog species such as American Bullfrogs, may also feed on larger prey such as small snakes, bats, birds, and mice.

Frogs need to eat a diverse variety of food because each of them carries different amounts of nutrients and proteins. For example, worms are high in starch and fat. Eating an adapted quantity of a wide variety of foods is excellent for frog health.

As a result, frogs need to eat a variety of food to maintain a healthy and balanced diet (kind of like humans! 🙂

Frogs generally obtain everything they need in an adapted environment in the wild. A habitat that has a wide variety and amount of insects, fish, small mammals, amphibians, and small reptiles can help frogs eat healthy.

3. Frog Habitats Need Shelter

The ideal frog habitat depends on the species of frog, since tree frogs primary live in or around trees, aquatic frogs in water, and toads on land.

Frogs find shelter within their habitat depending on where they are located. Aquatic frogs may find shelter among the vegetation in the water including cattails, grasses, reeds, sedges, and lillypads.

Enjoyed this video? 🙂 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!

Tree frogs tend to hide among the leaf litter or in trees depending on the species. They may camouflage among the leaves if they are green, or on on the bark like the Grey Tree Frog.

Toads spend most of their lives on land and tend to burrow underground most of the day to stay cool and hydrated. Therefore, toads require easy-to-access underground shelter. Toads are often the color of their surrounding environment to blend in with the forest floor or desert sand.

4. Frog Habitats Need a Safe Place to Reproduce

The last necessity for a frog’s habitat is a safe place to reproduce. Like all amphibians, frogs reproduce by laying eggs that absorb water around them. This outer membrane keeps the developing tadpoles hydrated and moist, while also providing some protection from predators. 

The eggs must be laid in an appropriate body of water in order to stay hydrated and avoid floating away. The exact location depends on the frog species, but frogs usually lay their eggs in calm water among the vegetation to anchor down the eggs (CTNF). The eggs should not dry out or they will die.

Frogs also need a safe place to breed and live that does not have too many predators. Frogs truly have hundreds of predators that will gladly eat them.

Frog predators include birds like herons, crows, and ducks; reptiles such as lizards, snakes, and alligators; big game fish including bass and muskellunge; small mammals from skunks and foxes, to raccoons, otters, and monkeys; as well as water bugs, other frogs, and humans.

Enjoyed this video? 🙂 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!

So the fewer predators in the area where they reproduce, the better. Some frog species like Spring Peeper choose to reproduce in water with no fish to ensure their eggs will not be eaten by them.

Some Frog Species Thrive in Different Habitats

The above mentioned necessities are most commonly required for a frog’s ideal habitat. But not all frogs have these things in their environment. With over 7,500 known frog species around the world, many frogs do not have access to freshwater, appropriate shelter, or ideal locations to reproduce.

Some frogs live in the desert, or in locations with dry and wet seasons. Such frogs often survive by burrowing or estivating most of the year and only reproducing when conditions are favourable. This may only last a few days out of the year in some places.

Other frogs live in places with harsh winters, like Canada. Most Canadian frogs hibernate (brumate) in the winter and so they are only active a few months in the year.

Tropical frogs are active all year and thrive in hot, humid conditions. However, they do not always have access to a steady stream of freshwater. Therefore, some species of Poison Dart Frogs are known to lay their eggs in temporary puddles around the rainforest and to tend to their young, unlike most frogs that lay their eggs and leave.

Frog Habitat Summary

The best habitat for a frog to live in generally naturally has clean freshwater, an abundance of bugs, adapted shelter, and a safe place to reproduce. What a frog specifically needs in order to survive can depend on where they live, the species, diet, and size.

Frogs are most active in their habitat during mating season, after it rains, in the late evening, and at night.

Frogs are an essential element to the environment that help keep the bug population controlled and keep the waterways clean, for example by preventing algae from overgrowing. Natural habitats are the best place for frogs and for the environment.

Sources

Elliott, A.B., and Karunakaran, L. (1974). ”Diet of Rana cancrivora in fresh water and brackish water environments.” Journal of Zoology, London, 174, 203-215.