Defining Characteristics:

• Moderate to keep
• Mostly reddish brown with prominent green lines along the back
• Shy
• Stays small

** Please note that when photos of our Frogs and Toads are taken, the lighting can be different from our facility to the lighting in your tank at home. There is a potential that different lighting may help bring out more of your frog or toad's coloration. When you receive your animal, the coloration may be vastly different from what you may be expecting because it is under the assumption that it's nighttime, and it has changed color to make it harder for predators to see them. Additionally colors and patterns may vary from animal to animal so if you have a preference feel free to mention that when scheduling your order. **

Name: The Madagascan Rain Frog or the Madagascan Burrowing frog gets its name from being endemic to Madagascar and having a tendency to burrow and emerge during rains to breed. The scientific name is Scaphiophryne madagascariensis. Scaphiophryne roughly translates to "bowl toad". 

Recommended Terrarium Size & Setup:  Madagascan Rain Frogs spend a lot of their time during the day partially or fully buried. Because of this, depth of substrate is more important than floor space.

Babies can be kept in small, plastic enclosures, whereas adults can be caged in enclosures of 10 to 20 gallons. Therefore they require a substrate that they can dig into. BioBedding Tropical makes a great substrate and is available at Josh's Frogs. 

Want to spice up your enclosure with live plants? Our experts have curated a kit of easy-to-care-for and SAFE plants for your Madagascan Rain Frog. Check it out here!

Temperature (°F): They do best when kept in the mid-high 70s. At Josh's Frogs, we house our Madagascan Rain Frog at 72-78 degrees. Temperatures in the high 80s can quickly be fatal, especially when coupled with a lack of water or humidity.

Measure temperature with a digital temperature gauge.

Humidity: Madagascan Rain Frogs require moderately high humidity, and are best kept at 50-70% humidity. Because these frogs are semi fossorial the humidity is less important than the saturation level of the substrate. With most earthy substrate, you should be able to squeeze a handful of substrate and it should stick together and have a few drops expressed.

Providing ventilation is very important - we recommend using at least a half screen top. Stagnant, humid conditions quickly leads to bacterial skin infections in Madagascan Rain Frogs.

A large dish of clean water should always be provided. Monitor humidity with a digital hygrometer.

Size: At the time of sale, captive bred Madagascan Rain Frogs from Josh’s Frogs will measure about the size of a nickel and be between 8 and 12 weeks old.

These frogs grow quickly and can reach adult size in 10-12 months. Females may be up to 1.5 inches in length, with males slightly smaller.

Age: With proper care, they can live up to and over 10 years. Reports of 10-15 year old animals abound.

All Madagascan Rain Frog froglets sold by Josh's Frogs are 8-12 weeks old.

Feeding: At the time of sale, captive bred Madagascan Rain Frog from Josh’s Frogs have been chowing down on 1/8" crickets for several weeks and are growing like weeds! As adults, Madagascan Rain Frog will easily eat 1/4" crickets. Prey items should be dusted with a quality vitamin/mineral supplement. At Josh's Frogs, we dust with Repashy Calcium Plus and Rep-Cal Calcium with D3.

Sexing: When mature, Madagascan Rain Frogs are fairly straightforward to sex if you have multiple animals of the same age.

Females are larger than males. Mature male Madagascan Rain Frogs tend to have comically long arms.

Due to their age at the time of sale, all Madagascan Rain Froglets sold by Josh's Frogs are unsexable.

Color/Pattern: These frogs are brown with green vermiculations. The patterning tends to be fairly uniform through the species with some minor variations between individuals mostly occurring on the flanks.

Social Behavior: As with most frogs these frogs are solitary but are not aggressive toward each other when kept in groups and are only seek each other out when they are trying to breed.

Breeding: In the wild, Scaphiophryne undergo a dry season where they dig underground to avoid the harsher conditions. During seasonal rains, the frogs will gather around shallow pools and lay several hundred eggs. The time from egg to first froglet out of the water can be as short as 3 weeks.

Natural Range: Madagascan Rain Frogs are found south of Madagascar's capitol city Antananarivo and range south to the Andringitra National Park.

History in the Hobby: In the past these frog have primarily been available from importers. Both from captive breeding efforts in Europe as well as wild collected individuals from Madagascar. Josh's frogs is excited to provide a stateside captive option for these frogs.

Links of Interest:

• Amphibianweb account on Scaphiophryne madagascariensis
• Madagascan Burrowing frogs FAQ

Still not sure if Rain Frogs from Josh's Frogs are the right pet frog for you? Read the reviews below and see what other customers are saying!