Keeping Frogs in Captivity

The Queensland Museum does not encourage keeping native animals in captivity.

To raise frogs' eggs through to tadpoles then watch them metamorphose into young frogs is a fascinating process, and this can be done in a frog-friendly garden.

The Nature Conservation Regulation 1994 applies to the keeping of frogs in captivity. Under this regulation all native frogs are protected, and can only be taken from the wild or kept in captivity with a licence, a permit or a specific exemption. Information in the Code of Practice for Captive Reptile and Amphibian Husbandry should also be considered.

A copy of these regulations can be obtained from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (within the Queensland Environmental Protection Authority).

Stocking backyard ponds
Frog diseases, especially chytridiomycosis caused by the chytrid fungus, can spread if frogs and tadpoles are moved from one population to another. This disease probably caused declines and extinctions of many frog species worldwide and the mass frog deaths in Queensland upland rainforest streams in recent years. In the past, people have also introduced frog species from the mountains or the tropics into unsuitable habitats, a practice dangerous to frogs. Any movement of frogs must be now thought of as assisting the spread of a virulent disease.

For further information see our Inquiry Centre Fact Sheets or contact the Inquiry Centre.