This past weekend, Susan noticed “Frog-O-Sphere” kits in a Brookstone store. The frogs were barely moving and seemed as if they were dying. She found this very disturbing and asked me to find out about it. Doing a little research, I found out that just this past week, PETA staged protests in front of Brookstone stores against these kits. The Times of Trenton reported that after the PETA protests, a store in West Windsor, New Jersey, was ordered to pull the kits off its shelves after the township health office flagged the company for not having a pet shop license.
PETA protest in front of Brookstone store, Boston (Minneapolis Animal Rights Examiner)
According to PETA’s website:
Recently, allegations have surfaced that Brookstone employees who see that frogs are languishing on store shelves have been instructed to put them ‘in the back,’ out of sight of customers, instead of contacting a veterinarian to get help for sick and dying animals.
Frog-O-Sphere kits, sold only by Brookstone, contain a plastic aquarium, two aquatic frogs, a bamboo plant, a snail, and living gravel. According to the company website, the frogs won’t outgrow the aquarium and may live for up to 4 years. The snail feeds itself and keeps the tank clean of algae and excess food. Living gravel acts as a biological filter, converting excess food and waste into a soluble form that can be used by the bamboo plant. The bamboo absorbs the waste, then releases oxygen, which helps the frogs and snail.
Keeping frogs as pets is controversial enough—a topic we’ll address in future posts. But I do think the claim that these kits promise a “complete self-contained ecosystem” is overstated. The kits remind me of the many pets I had as a child, such as the little turtle that sat under a plastic palm tree and lived a month or so. The Frog-O-Spheres fall into that category, despite the fact that the kits sound upscale, educational, and eco-friendly.
In the customer reviews on Brookstone, many people clicked “decoration” or “gift” as the reason to buy the kits. Most people also mentioned that the snails died within a couple of weeks. Unless the person who purchased the frogs is motivated to buy new snails (or get replacement snails from Brookstone), the water will soon become cloudy and the frogs will suffer, and the so-called “self-contained ecosystem” will fall apart.
From what I’ve read, African Dwarf frogs are pretty hardy and low maintenance, but they do have certain requirements that these Frog-O-Spheres don’t seem to fulfill. I looked at a frog pet site and found out that, for example, the frogs can live from 5 to 18 years, they need a gallon of water per frog, need a water heater for winter months, are less stressed out if they have artificial lighting for consistent day and night lighting (they are nocturnal), need plants and foliage to hide behind, and so on. If you have already purchased a Frog-O-Sphere, I recommend going online to learn about them or buy a pet care book about African Dwarf frogs.
If you are tempted to buy one of these Frog-O-Sphere kits, please resist. Go outside and enjoy frogs—in real ecosystems.
