| Common Name: | Western Spotted Frog |
| Scientific Name: | Heleioporus albopunctatus |
| Family: | Myobatrachidae |
| Genus: | Heleioporus |
| Status: | category 3 |
| Size: | 77mm (Male) 85mm (Female) |
If you are purchasing reptiles in Western Australia, you must hold the required Category license for the animals you are purchasing.
The Western Spotted Frog is a large and very robust burrowing frog. It is purplish to chocolate-brown in colour with numerous pale spots on its back, sides and limbs. They have a short high-pitched ‘coo’ mating call.
The western Spotted Frog is locally restricted to the Darling Range. its burrows have been found in the banks and under stones on the bed of shallow ephemeral watercourses, in swamps and at the vertical edges of clay pans.
Terrarium: The Western Spotted Frog is a burrowing frog, therefore requires an enclosure with a lot of ground space, an aquarium with a converted mesh top, with only top access would be suited to allow substrate to be deep enough for burrowing. A terrarium size of 90x45x45 (WxDxH) would be suitable to house three adults.
Lighting and Heating: The Western Spotted frog is primarily nocturnal, a mild spectrum UVB fluorescent globe should be used to distinguish day and night. An infrared heat globe with a thermostat should be used to keep the temperature at around 28°C in the warm spot, with the cool end dropping down to around 18°C during the day, of the night time the ambient temperature will naturally drop a few degrees to the desired night time temperature in the low 20s.
Furnishings: As these are burrowing frogs it is important to provide a deep substrate that will keep some moisture without letting it become water logged. I thick layer of course gravel on the bottom will allow for drainage of the substrate, you want to put in at least 30cms of a sand and coco peat mixture, if kept at the correct moisture the frogs will be able to burrow in this without it falling in on them. Hide rocks and foliage should be placed throughout the enclosure, and a water bowl be positioned in the cool end.
Food in captivity: Western Spotted Frogs will eat mostly crickets, wood roaches and silk worms in captivity as they are primarily insectivores. Food items will need to be dusted with calcium and vitamin supplements.
The essentials:
