Classification
Order: anura
Family: ranidae
Subfamily: raninae
Genus: rana
Species: rana amurensis
Habitat
These frogs are native to northern Asia. They can be found in the western and eastern Siberia, in the Russian Far East, Korea, northern and central Mongolia, as well as in the north-east of China. They can be found in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, in tundra and steppe. They prefer lowlands and open damp areas, such as moist meadows, swamps, banks of rivers and lakes.
Outward appearance
Adult Siberian wood frogs reach the length of about 3-4 cm.
These frogs have smooth skin. The back is gray or gray-brown with small dark spots. The belly is white or yellow-white with large irregular red spots. These spots can alternate with dark spots. The red pattern on the frog’s belly starts appearing on the second year of life. Males have dark prenuptial pads on their first toes. The head is sharpened. The toes are webbed. The pupils are horizontal.
Character
It is an abundant species; there can be several hundreds and even thousands of specimens on one hectare.
They hibernate from the beginning of October to April-May, depending on the climate in the area. The hibernation takes place on the bottom of rivers and lakes, in groups up to several thousands specimens. In southern regions they hibernate on the ground.
Maintenance care
For 1-2 specimens of Siberian wood frog you will need an aquatic horizontal tank about 40x30x30 cm in size. They need soft and absorbent substrate: the mixture of gardening soil and sphagnum is the best option. Unlike other frogs, this species quickly adapts to life in captivity and doesn’t require any special shelters.
You should put on the water substrate pieces of bark or foam plastic.
Feeding
Tadpoles mainly eat algae that grow on underwater objects, detritus, aquatic plants and smaller invertebrates. Adult frogs eat insects or aquatic prey, they particularly love beetles. Adult frogs can eat up to 2 g of food every day.
Diseases
Most frogs have tapeworms.
Average life span is about 3 years.
Breeding
The breeding season starts in the early spring. In Korea it starts as early as the end of February and lasts until June. This species doesn’t have a mating call. The clutch contains from 200 – 2000 eggs deposited in several clumps. The metamorphosis occurs in summer (from June to August).
