The Malayan Painted Frog can make an interesting pet, and is the most common of the microhylids that are sold in pet stores across the United States. Microhylids are popular because, as their name suggests, they are mostly made up of small frogs, with some measuring around half an inch in length. The Malayan Painted Frog can grow to two and a half inches, but that is still pretty small by frog standards.
The scientific name for this frog is Kaloula pulchra, and it is also sometimes called the ‘chubby frog’ because of its somewhat portly nature. Like all frogs it does not have a frog tail, but it does have a tail when it is a tadpole. If it were not to lose its tail in adulthood then it would not be able to entertain you by leaping around the vivarium.
Although it is called the painted frog, its colorings are actually quite unremarkable, especially when compared to its fellow microhylid, the Tomato Frog. It is the color of mud, and a light fawn color on its dorsolateral band. Its colorings get even darker below the dorsolateral band.
If you decide to be adventurous and attempt breeding your Malayan Painted Frog, then you will find it is actually not that difficult. They have floating eggs that stick to just about anything, and then when the tadpoles emerge they have an extremely rapid metamorphosis into frogs. In can take just two weeks from tadpole to adult, and then you will need to get a bigger terrarium!
