Care Guide - Malay Leaf Frog

-Pelobatrechus Nasutus -

IUCN Status 2025

Data collected from iucnredlist.org

The last time this frog was assesed was 10th december 2020 so its been nearly 5 years since they where last assesed, however during this period they where assesed as least concern as they have a wide range and a presumed large population within there range.

- My Experience / Stats -

Disclaimer - This guide is a colmination of my own experiences and online research to provide what i believe is the best care for my own animals, the principles below work for me in my enviroment and loation so bear in mind changes might be needed for your own care requirements and always do thorough research from multiple sources before commiting to rescuing , adopting or buying an animal.

Overview-

Can they be Cohabilitated? - It is not advised to keep them cohabitated, People have been sucessful keeping females of the same size together as adults but there is still a chance of canibalism so i advise keeping them seperate and solitary for nothing more than breeding.

What size do they get? - The frogs are sexially dimorphic when it comes to size meaning they differ in size between sexes, the males tend to be smaller and get to around 9-10cm as adults from there snout to vent. Wheras the females tend to get to around 14-16cm which is a fair size larger.

When will i see them? - They are a nocturnal species of frog and tend to sit in place hidden during the day, because of this to reduce stress i advise giving them something to hide under during this time. They are active at night and will hunt for prey items during this time, although will accept food during the day aswell.

Costs to keep

How much will it roughly cost you to keep an individual Malay leaf frog well including the setup and ongoing costs, this does not include unexpected vet bills or the rising cost of products over time. (Price cap UK april 2025)

Cost type	Outright costs	Ongoing costs	Total lifetime cost 15 - 20 years
Animal cost	£200
Setup	£100-200
Substrates	£15
Energy cost (2024)	£1.56 per month
Livefoods	£1.49 a week
Total

Used for energy calculation : https://www.sust-it.net/energy-calculator.php

Distribution -

Rating - (Ease of care) - Change this - ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Setup Requirements -

Substrate options and decor-

Suitable Live Plants -

Heating and lighting - Offering a low level UVI bulb is reccomended they live in a rainforest but still recieve up to 2.0 uvi so either pick up a small 2.4% or 7% uvb setup

Humidity requirements -

Diet and nutrition-

Behaviours-

Handling - Keep handling to a minimum, these are more of an observing type of frog, they easly stress so just watch them, you can take them out to weight them but i would say this is the only exception, if you want a frog to handle this isnt the one for you.

Day and night Cycle - The climate that these frogs enhabit is very close to the equatorial line so the difference between summer and winter daytime and nighttime is neglagable so a 12 hour on and off cycle for there lights works well.

Common health issues -

Cleaning - Spot check and clean as you spot faeces depending on the size of your enclosure do a full substrate clean if not bioactive on a monthly basis.

Brumation - They have a very stable climate year round so tend not to have a massive drop in tempratures as they are in the low lying areas of the forest floor so dont require a brumation period.

Avalability - These frogs are alot easier to get in the USA then in UK captive bred, they still get imported as wild caught but as they are fairly fragile they tend to have a high death rate compared to other wild caught specimens, i suggest getting a captive bred in almost all cases with this Frog species.

Morphs - These frogs dont have specific morphs however they do vary in colouration from light brown oranges to dark leaf brown.

References-

Gallery -

Care Guide - Malay Leaf Frog

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