Free Amphibian Care Cheat-Sheets
Pick your critter. Each sheet is a free, printable one-pager with the specs that keep them alive — plus the warning signs that mean “see a vet.” No gatekeeping, just good bog info.
AxolotlIntermediateThe perma-smiling cold-water salamander. Get the water and temperature right and everything else is easy.
Poison Dart FrogIntermediateLiving jewels — tiny, dazzling, and active by day. Best kept in a planted bioactive vivarium.
Tree FrogBeginner–AdvancedBig-eyed nocturnal climbers. Pick your species to match your experience.
ToadBeginnerThe chunky, charming ground-dweller. Low fuss, big personality, decades-long companion.
SalamanderIntermediateFrom tiger to fire salamanders — cool-loving little dragons. Check your exact species first.
NewtIntermediateSemi-aquatic cousins of salamanders — a foot in the water and a foot on land.
Pacman FrogBeginnerA "mouth with feet" — a low-drama, sit-and-wait blob that spends most of its life comfortably buried.
African Bullfrog (Pixie)BeginnerThe giant pacman-cousin — an "absolute unit." Same simple care philosophy, scaled up to a decades-long commitment.
Dyeing Dart FrogIntermediateThe bold, chunky beginner's dart frog — hardy, forgiving and endlessly varied in colour.
Blue Dart Frog (Azureus)IntermediateThe famous electric-blue dart frog — a striking morph of the hardy dyeing dart frog.
Green-and-Black Dart FrogIntermediateA hardy, active, endlessly-explorative dart frog — a top pick for a first dendrobatid.
Bumblebee Dart FrogIntermediateBright black-and-yellow bands and a cheerful call — a robust, showy beginner dart frog.
White's Tree FrogBeginnerThe friendly, dumpy beginner tree frog — placid, hardy and long-lived.
Red-Eyed Tree FrogAdvancedThe iconic jungle poster-frog — beautiful, delicate, and best for experienced keepers.
Fire-Bellied ToadBeginnerA bright-bellied, always-busy semi-aquatic "frog-toad" — a classic hardy beginner kept in a group.
Tiger SalamanderBeginnerThe big, food-motivated "puppy dog" of salamanders — a hardy, long-lived burrower.
Fire SalamanderIntermediateThe striking black-and-yellow European classic — a cool-forest salamander that can live for decades.
Chinese Fire-Bellied NewtBeginnerThe classic beginner newt — small, hardy, with a bright warning belly.
Spanish Ribbed NewtBeginnerThe largest, toughest aquatic newt — a genuinely bomb-proof first amphibian.
African Dwarf FrogBeginnerA tiny, fully-aquatic frog for the planted tank — endearing, social, and easy to overlook.
Golden Poison Dart FrogIntermediateFamously toxic in the wild — yet captive-bred, it's a bold, harmless, beginner-friendly showpiece.
Mimic Dart FrogAdvancedA one-inch jewel famous for its devoted parenting — a rewarding step-up for the experienced viv keeper.
Strawberry Dart FrogAdvancedThe famous 'blue jeans' frog — stunning, but an advanced dart that raises tadpoles on its own eggs.
Amazon Milk FrogIntermediateA big, boldly-marbled tree frog with real presence — hardy, but it gets large.
American Green Tree FrogBeginnerA slim, bright-green native climber — hardy, affordable and a great beginner tree frog.
Gray Tree FrogBeginnerA lichen-patterned, colour-shifting native climber — bomb-proof and happy at room temperature.
Vietnamese Mossy FrogIntermediateA living clump of moss — a cool, semi-aquatic frog that's a master of disguise.
Cane ToadBeginnerA giant, notoriously invasive toad — impressive and hardy, but heavily regulated and very toxic.
American ToadBeginnerA classic, warty native toad — low-fuss, full of character, and able to outlive a dog.
European Common ToadBeginnerThe classic garden toad of Europe — hardy, long-lived and undemanding.
Japanese Fire-Bellied NewtIntermediateA larger, longer-lived cousin of the Chinese fire-belly — striking, and often decades-long.
Paddletail NewtIntermediateA stocky, fully-aquatic stream newt — hardy, but a territorial loner that needs cool, oxygen-rich water.
Eastern NewtIntermediateThe native newt with a famous land-going 'red eft' teenage phase before it returns to the water.
African Clawed FrogBeginnerA big, tough, fully-aquatic frog — hardy and long-lived, but not the tiny dwarf frog it's confused with.
Asian Painted FrogBeginnerA round, easy-going 'chubby frog' that spends its days burrowed and its nights hunting.
Budgett's FrogIntermediateA flat, wide-mouthed, perpetually-grumpy aquatic frog with a huge appetite and real attitude.
Tomato FrogBeginnerA striking, tomato-red ground frog — a hardy, low-drama burrower that sits and waits.
Waxy Monkey Tree FrogAdvancedA slow-motion, waxy-skinned climber from dry forest — a fascinating specialist that walks rather than hops.
Tiger-Leg Monkey FrogAdvancedA slow, striped-legged climber that walks hand-over-hand — a charming warm-forest specialist.
Clown Tree FrogIntermediateA tiny, boldly-patterned Amazonian climber — a delicate jewel for a mature planted vivarium.
White-Lipped Tree FrogIntermediateThe world's largest tree frog — a big, calm, green-and-white arboreal giant with real presence.
Phantasmal Dart FrogIntermediateA small pinstriped dart frog with a cheerful, bird-like trill — hardy and rewarding.
Golden MantellaIntermediateA brilliant-orange Madagascan frog — dart-frog-like to keep, but its own family, and a conservation priority.
Colorado River ToadIntermediateA big Sonoran Desert toad — impressive and hardy, but with a genuinely potent toxin.
Green ToadBeginnerA small, bright-green native toad of the dry Southwest — hardy and easy to keep.
Spotted SalamanderIntermediateA glossy black native salamander with bold yellow spots — secretive, and astonishingly long-lived.
Marbled SalamanderIntermediateA short, stocky salamander with bold silvery-white bands — a hardy, low-fuss terrestrial native.
Tiger Salamander (Aquatic/Neotenic)IntermediateA tiger salamander that has stayed aquatic — often sold as bait 'waterdogs', and kept much like an axolotl.
MudpuppyAdvancedA big, permanently-gilled, fully-aquatic native salamander — a cold-water specialist's animal.
SirenAdvancedAn eel-like, front-legged, gilled aquatic salamander — a hardy, secretive oddity.
AmphiumaAdvancedA big, muscular, eel-like aquatic salamander — hardy and long-lived, but it bites hard. Experts only.
Alpine NewtIntermediateA cool-climate European newt with a vivid orange belly — hardy, if you can keep it cool.
Emperor NewtAdvancedA rugged orange-and-black 'crocodile newt' that spends much of the year on land.
Kaiser's Spotted NewtAdvancedA dazzling black-white-and-orange newt — nearly lost to the pet trade, now a captive-bred success story.
Surinam ToadAdvancedA flat, leaf-like, fully-aquatic frog famous for embedding its eggs in the skin of its back.
Aquatic CaecilianIntermediateA limbless, nearly-blind aquatic amphibian — the fish-store 'rubber eel' that's really a caecilian.
Prefer one sheet with everything? Grab theall-in-one amphibian cheat-sheet →