Jenste
Resurrecting the Passion of Fishkeeping
African Clawed Frogs (ACF) ..."Xenopus Laevis"
Life Span:15-20 years in captivity. These frogs are purely aquatic, meaning that they live their entire lives in the water. However they do breath oxygen!
Size: Males grow to an approximate 3-4" from nose to vent and females grow to 5-6". It takes them up to one and a half years in age to reach their adult size.
Appearance: These frogs have webbing between the toes on their hind feet, four fingers on their hands, and eyes perched on the top of their faces. These come in many colors/patters - brown/gray/green, albino, piebald, and leucistic.
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AFRICAN DWARF FROGS!! How to spot the difference = African Clawed Frogs have webbing ONLY on their hind toes, African Dwarf Frogs have webbing on ALL FOUR feet...African Clawed Frogs eyes are perched ON TOP of their head, African Dwarf Frogs eyes are flush against the SIDE of their faces. If it is ALBINO it is CLAWED - African Dwarf Frogs are NEVER albino.
Also - - African Clawed Frogs can and WILL eat African Dwarf Frogs once the clawed frog grows large enough!
Tank Set-Up Requirements:
*A tank with a secure fitting lid - (these frogs are escape artists and you do not want to wake up in the morning to find that your little buddy went on an adventure and died from dehydration!), filter, and sand/large river rock substrate or a bare bottom. Sand becomes tricky because it can easily clog the filter after getting kicked up by the frog's strong legs. Gravel is best avoided - due to their enthusiastic eating habits, a frog may easily ingest a piece of gravel and become impacted. If you decide to go with gravel anyways, use pieces smaller than a pea - your frog has a chance of passing it. However, froglets are fine with gravel for a temporary substrate because the gravel will be too large to fit into their mouths.
*Make sure there is space between the water surface and the lid - these frogs breath oxygen through respiration!
*Lighting can be what ever you like the look of best - but do remember to turn the lights off at night! They need to rest too! A 12 hour light 12 hour night cycle works well for them.
*They need lots of hiding places!!! Shy by nature, they do become very social in a tank...yet if they become startled they need adequate cover or they can become stressed to the point of death!
*Beware live plants - they will get shredded and uprooted during play! Java Moss balls have been used with success - they add nutrients to the water and look quite attractive. They can also with stand the rough treatment from the frogs and simply be rolled out of the way. Floating plants, like water wisteria also work very well...they give the frogs shade, cover, and the feeling of security. If live plants are not your taste, do have some artificial plants - plants are great for hanging out in and hiding behind!!! Plants with weighted bottoms work best.
*Don't forget weekly water changes! Stir up the substrate to dislodge and buried waste and suck it out!! These frogs are very very messy - luckily they seem to thrive in slightly dirty water so do not become alarmed at the slightly cloudy appearance. However, if it comes to the point where you can't FIND the frogs - cut back on the feedings and install a more powerful filter / up the water changes.
Tank Size Requirements:
The Minimum number of gallons for the tank is 10 - this is acceptable for 1 frog.
For 20 gallons you can have 3 frogs, if it is a 20 gallon LONG rather than standard.
**The reason you can fit increasingly more frogs into a bigger tank is due to filtration and water area. A tank that is too small will lead to a very sick, underdeveloped, and unhappy frog. A long tank is better than a tall tank - gives your frogs more swimming and playing room!
Plan ahead!!! Get a tank that will allow you to house more than one! Everybody loves having friends and your frogs are no different!
Diet: Varies with the age of the frog, but they can eat a variety of live, frozen, and freeze dried food.
Live earthworms, black worms, blood worms, crickets, night crawlers, and brineshrimp. Frozen/Freezedried blood worms, black worms, brine shrimp, krill, beefheart (every now and then - not as a staple diet because it is very fatty and can cause heart failure if fed too often). Pelleted food designed for them. Live guppies are also acceptable. (Perfect if you have a few adult guppies in a separate tank! They breed so often you will have a constant supply of this delicious entree!)
Do NOT feed live goldfish or minnows - they contain an enzyme that will inhibit the frogs natural ability to absorb vitamin B.
Never feed your frog fish flakes!!! It does not give the frog the proper nutritional values that it needs to grow and be healthy!
Feeding the frog every other day or every three days is preferable to daily or once a week feedings.
Tankmates: African Clawed Frogs are best housed with African Clawed Frogs and nothing else! If it is alive and can fit into their mouth - it will become a meal! Including other frogs! Large adult frogs will cannibalize! If you are going to get your frog a friend, make sure that the new frog is big enough to fend for itself - the "if you fit I will eat you" rule still applies! Fish, shrimp, snails, and small frogs will all be eaten. ACF will eat anything alive, dying, or dead.
Never mix different species of amphibians and reptiles - for example, a newt would be an awful tank mate for an ACF - the newt excrete toxins which will harm your frog, and if one is bigger than the other, the smaller will become a snack!
A 3" frog can eat a 3" fish! If you do have fish in your frog tank, be prepared to replace them!
Never have a catfish in your frog tank - if the frog attempts to eat a catfish, the catfish's spines will injure your frogs mouth and tear open their insides! Not a pleasant way to die for either party!
Sexing: Full grown, males are smaller than females. Upon reaching maturity, the males also develop Nuptial Pads. Also called "dirty hands", the forearms and hands darken. This occurs even on the albino variety. Males are also slimmer and will "call" or "sing" for a date! Females have a small "tail" between their hind legs and are chubbier. Females do not "sing" for a male but they will answer him. A soft rapping/purring sound means she is interested...but a slow clicking sound means "I have a headache - I am NOT in the mood"!!!
If the female accepts the males advances, he will grasp her waist from behind and they will swim all over the tank - the female lays eggs one by one and the male fertilizes them.
If you wish, you make carefully gather up the eggs - careful! they are sticky! - place them in a separate tank and wait for the eggs to hatch. For the first week or so, the tadpoles will eat micro-organisms in the water. Then you can start feeding them tadpole food high in nutrients. Plan ahead though - if you plan on trying to rescue the eggs you will find yourself with hundreds of baby frogs! Contact your local pet stores and make sure they will take them in or you will find yourself completely overwhelmed with frogs!
Other Info:
* African Clawed Frogs come in a variety of shades of tan, brown, and black, with spotting patterns. They can also be albino.
* They have no tongue or visible ear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
African Dwarf Frog (ADF) ... "Hymenochirus"
Life Span: Usually up to 5 years in captivity, with reportings of living longer. These frogs are purely aquatic, meaning that they live their entire lives in the water. However they do breath oxygen!
Size: These frogs grow to an approximate 1.5-2.5" from nose to vent. It takes them up to one and a half years in age to reach their adult size.
Appearance: These frogs have webbing between the toes on all four feet and eyes flush against the sides of their faces. These come only in varying patterns of brown/gray/green.
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AFRICAN CLAWED FROGS!! How to spot the difference = African Clawed Frogs have webbing ONLY on their hind toes, African Dwarf Frogs have webbing on ALL FOUR feet...African Clawed Frogs eyes are perched ON TOP of their head, African Dwarf Frogs eyes are flush against the SIDE of their faces. If it is ALBINO it is CLAWED - African Dwarf Frogs are NEVER albino.
Also - - African Clawed Frogs can and WILL eat African Dwarf Frogs once the clawed frog grows large enough!
Tank Set-Up Requirements:
*A tank with a secure fitting lid - (these frogs are escape artists and you do not want to wake up in the morning to find that your little buddy went on an adventure and died from dehydration!), filter, and sand/gravel substrate or a bare bottom. Large rocks are best avoided - these little guys can wiggle into tight spaces, and if the rocks shift they could easily be crushed or trapped, which will lead to death by drowning.
*Make sure there is space between the water surface and the lid - these frogs breath oxygen through respiration!
*Lighting can be what ever you like the look of best - but do remember to turn the lights off at night! They need to rest too! A 12 hour light 12 hour night cycle works well for them.
*They need lots of hiding places!!! Shy by nature, they do become very social in a tank...yet if they become startled they need adequate cover or they can become stressed to the point of death!
*Avoid plastic plants - they can shred the webbing between their toes. Do have silk or live plants - they make great hiding places and are fun to play in!
*Don't forget weekly water changes! Stir up the substrate to dislodge and buried waste and suck it out!! These frogs are very very messy - luckily they seem to thrive in slightly dirty water so do not become alarmed at the slightly cloudy appearance. However, if it comes to the point where you can't FIND the frogs - cut back on the feedings and install a more powerful filter / up the water changes.
Tank Size Requirements:
The minimum number of gallons for the tank is 2.5 - this is acceptable for 2 frogs. Add one gallon of water for each additional frog.
Diet: Varies with the age of the frog, but they can eat a variety of live, frozen, and freeze dried food.
Live black worms, chopped up earth worms, and brineshrimp. Frozen/Freezedried blood worms, black worms, brine shrimp, krill, beefheart (every now and then - not as a staple diet because it is very fatty and can cause heart failure if fed too often). Pelleted food designed for them.
Never feed your frog fish flakes!!! It does not give the frog the proper nutritional values that it needs to grow and be healthy!
Feeding the frog every other day once they reach adulthood. Daily for young frogs works well to promote healthy growth.
Tankmates: African Dwarf Frogs are best housed with other African Dwarf Frogs or small peaceful tankmates. Bettas(as long as the male betta is added AFTER the frog, or if the tank is rescaped when adding the frogs...this way the betta considers the frogs as PART of his territory, rather than intruders), livebearers (guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails), tetras, some of the gentler species of gouramis such as pearl and opaline.
Fish that are NOT SUITABLE TANKMATES - african clawed frogs, goldfish, cichlids, other gourami species known for being nippy, most bottom dwellers such as catfish, loaches, corydoras (not due to temperament, but due to the fact that both species are bottom dwellers, it makes them crowded and cories are known pigs and will quickly gobble up the frogs food).
Sexing: Males have a small gland, similar in appearance to a pimple, in the armpit under their front arms on both sides. The gland can be pink, gray, brown, or white in appearance. Females do not have this gland, are plumper, and have a small "tail" like bump on their rear end.
If the female accepts the males advances, he will grasp her waist from behind and they will swim all over the tank - the female lays eggs one by one and the male fertilizes them.
If you wish, you make carefully gather up the eggs - careful! they are sticky! - place them in a separate tank and wait for the eggs to hatch. For the first week or so, the tadpoles will eat micro-organisms in the water. Then you can start feeding them tadpole food high in nutrients. Plan ahead though - if you plan on trying to rescue the eggs you will find yourself with hundreds of baby frogs! Contact your local pet stores and make sure they will take them in or you will find yourself completely overwhelmed with frogs!
Life Span:15-20 years in captivity. These frogs are purely aquatic, meaning that they live their entire lives in the water. However they do breath oxygen!
Size: Males grow to an approximate 3-4" from nose to vent and females grow to 5-6". It takes them up to one and a half years in age to reach their adult size.
Appearance: These frogs have webbing between the toes on their hind feet, four fingers on their hands, and eyes perched on the top of their faces. These come in many colors/patters - brown/gray/green, albino, piebald, and leucistic.
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AFRICAN DWARF FROGS!! How to spot the difference = African Clawed Frogs have webbing ONLY on their hind toes, African Dwarf Frogs have webbing on ALL FOUR feet...African Clawed Frogs eyes are perched ON TOP of their head, African Dwarf Frogs eyes are flush against the SIDE of their faces. If it is ALBINO it is CLAWED - African Dwarf Frogs are NEVER albino.
Also - - African Clawed Frogs can and WILL eat African Dwarf Frogs once the clawed frog grows large enough!
Tank Set-Up Requirements:
*A tank with a secure fitting lid - (these frogs are escape artists and you do not want to wake up in the morning to find that your little buddy went on an adventure and died from dehydration!), filter, and sand/large river rock substrate or a bare bottom. Sand becomes tricky because it can easily clog the filter after getting kicked up by the frog's strong legs. Gravel is best avoided - due to their enthusiastic eating habits, a frog may easily ingest a piece of gravel and become impacted. If you decide to go with gravel anyways, use pieces smaller than a pea - your frog has a chance of passing it. However, froglets are fine with gravel for a temporary substrate because the gravel will be too large to fit into their mouths.
*Make sure there is space between the water surface and the lid - these frogs breath oxygen through respiration!
*Lighting can be what ever you like the look of best - but do remember to turn the lights off at night! They need to rest too! A 12 hour light 12 hour night cycle works well for them.
*They need lots of hiding places!!! Shy by nature, they do become very social in a tank...yet if they become startled they need adequate cover or they can become stressed to the point of death!
*Beware live plants - they will get shredded and uprooted during play! Java Moss balls have been used with success - they add nutrients to the water and look quite attractive. They can also with stand the rough treatment from the frogs and simply be rolled out of the way. Floating plants, like water wisteria also work very well...they give the frogs shade, cover, and the feeling of security. If live plants are not your taste, do have some artificial plants - plants are great for hanging out in and hiding behind!!! Plants with weighted bottoms work best.
*Don't forget weekly water changes! Stir up the substrate to dislodge and buried waste and suck it out!! These frogs are very very messy - luckily they seem to thrive in slightly dirty water so do not become alarmed at the slightly cloudy appearance. However, if it comes to the point where you can't FIND the frogs - cut back on the feedings and install a more powerful filter / up the water changes.
Tank Size Requirements:
The Minimum number of gallons for the tank is 10 - this is acceptable for 1 frog.
For 20 gallons you can have 3 frogs, if it is a 20 gallon LONG rather than standard.
**The reason you can fit increasingly more frogs into a bigger tank is due to filtration and water area. A tank that is too small will lead to a very sick, underdeveloped, and unhappy frog. A long tank is better than a tall tank - gives your frogs more swimming and playing room!
Plan ahead!!! Get a tank that will allow you to house more than one! Everybody loves having friends and your frogs are no different!
Diet: Varies with the age of the frog, but they can eat a variety of live, frozen, and freeze dried food.
Live earthworms, black worms, blood worms, crickets, night crawlers, and brineshrimp. Frozen/Freezedried blood worms, black worms, brine shrimp, krill, beefheart (every now and then - not as a staple diet because it is very fatty and can cause heart failure if fed too often). Pelleted food designed for them. Live guppies are also acceptable. (Perfect if you have a few adult guppies in a separate tank! They breed so often you will have a constant supply of this delicious entree!)
Do NOT feed live goldfish or minnows - they contain an enzyme that will inhibit the frogs natural ability to absorb vitamin B.
Never feed your frog fish flakes!!! It does not give the frog the proper nutritional values that it needs to grow and be healthy!
Feeding the frog every other day or every three days is preferable to daily or once a week feedings.
Tankmates: African Clawed Frogs are best housed with African Clawed Frogs and nothing else! If it is alive and can fit into their mouth - it will become a meal! Including other frogs! Large adult frogs will cannibalize! If you are going to get your frog a friend, make sure that the new frog is big enough to fend for itself - the "if you fit I will eat you" rule still applies! Fish, shrimp, snails, and small frogs will all be eaten. ACF will eat anything alive, dying, or dead.
Never mix different species of amphibians and reptiles - for example, a newt would be an awful tank mate for an ACF - the newt excrete toxins which will harm your frog, and if one is bigger than the other, the smaller will become a snack!
A 3" frog can eat a 3" fish! If you do have fish in your frog tank, be prepared to replace them!
Never have a catfish in your frog tank - if the frog attempts to eat a catfish, the catfish's spines will injure your frogs mouth and tear open their insides! Not a pleasant way to die for either party!
Sexing: Full grown, males are smaller than females. Upon reaching maturity, the males also develop Nuptial Pads. Also called "dirty hands", the forearms and hands darken. This occurs even on the albino variety. Males are also slimmer and will "call" or "sing" for a date! Females have a small "tail" between their hind legs and are chubbier. Females do not "sing" for a male but they will answer him. A soft rapping/purring sound means she is interested...but a slow clicking sound means "I have a headache - I am NOT in the mood"!!!
If the female accepts the males advances, he will grasp her waist from behind and they will swim all over the tank - the female lays eggs one by one and the male fertilizes them.
If you wish, you make carefully gather up the eggs - careful! they are sticky! - place them in a separate tank and wait for the eggs to hatch. For the first week or so, the tadpoles will eat micro-organisms in the water. Then you can start feeding them tadpole food high in nutrients. Plan ahead though - if you plan on trying to rescue the eggs you will find yourself with hundreds of baby frogs! Contact your local pet stores and make sure they will take them in or you will find yourself completely overwhelmed with frogs!
Other Info:
* African Clawed Frogs come in a variety of shades of tan, brown, and black, with spotting patterns. They can also be albino.
* They have no tongue or visible ear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
African Dwarf Frog (ADF) ... "Hymenochirus"
Life Span: Usually up to 5 years in captivity, with reportings of living longer. These frogs are purely aquatic, meaning that they live their entire lives in the water. However they do breath oxygen!
Size: These frogs grow to an approximate 1.5-2.5" from nose to vent. It takes them up to one and a half years in age to reach their adult size.
Appearance: These frogs have webbing between the toes on all four feet and eyes flush against the sides of their faces. These come only in varying patterns of brown/gray/green.
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AFRICAN CLAWED FROGS!! How to spot the difference = African Clawed Frogs have webbing ONLY on their hind toes, African Dwarf Frogs have webbing on ALL FOUR feet...African Clawed Frogs eyes are perched ON TOP of their head, African Dwarf Frogs eyes are flush against the SIDE of their faces. If it is ALBINO it is CLAWED - African Dwarf Frogs are NEVER albino.
Also - - African Clawed Frogs can and WILL eat African Dwarf Frogs once the clawed frog grows large enough!
Tank Set-Up Requirements:
*A tank with a secure fitting lid - (these frogs are escape artists and you do not want to wake up in the morning to find that your little buddy went on an adventure and died from dehydration!), filter, and sand/gravel substrate or a bare bottom. Large rocks are best avoided - these little guys can wiggle into tight spaces, and if the rocks shift they could easily be crushed or trapped, which will lead to death by drowning.
*Make sure there is space between the water surface and the lid - these frogs breath oxygen through respiration!
*Lighting can be what ever you like the look of best - but do remember to turn the lights off at night! They need to rest too! A 12 hour light 12 hour night cycle works well for them.
*They need lots of hiding places!!! Shy by nature, they do become very social in a tank...yet if they become startled they need adequate cover or they can become stressed to the point of death!
*Avoid plastic plants - they can shred the webbing between their toes. Do have silk or live plants - they make great hiding places and are fun to play in!
*Don't forget weekly water changes! Stir up the substrate to dislodge and buried waste and suck it out!! These frogs are very very messy - luckily they seem to thrive in slightly dirty water so do not become alarmed at the slightly cloudy appearance. However, if it comes to the point where you can't FIND the frogs - cut back on the feedings and install a more powerful filter / up the water changes.
Tank Size Requirements:
The minimum number of gallons for the tank is 2.5 - this is acceptable for 2 frogs. Add one gallon of water for each additional frog.
Diet: Varies with the age of the frog, but they can eat a variety of live, frozen, and freeze dried food.
Live black worms, chopped up earth worms, and brineshrimp. Frozen/Freezedried blood worms, black worms, brine shrimp, krill, beefheart (every now and then - not as a staple diet because it is very fatty and can cause heart failure if fed too often). Pelleted food designed for them.
Never feed your frog fish flakes!!! It does not give the frog the proper nutritional values that it needs to grow and be healthy!
Feeding the frog every other day once they reach adulthood. Daily for young frogs works well to promote healthy growth.
Tankmates: African Dwarf Frogs are best housed with other African Dwarf Frogs or small peaceful tankmates. Bettas(as long as the male betta is added AFTER the frog, or if the tank is rescaped when adding the frogs...this way the betta considers the frogs as PART of his territory, rather than intruders), livebearers (guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails), tetras, some of the gentler species of gouramis such as pearl and opaline.
Fish that are NOT SUITABLE TANKMATES - african clawed frogs, goldfish, cichlids, other gourami species known for being nippy, most bottom dwellers such as catfish, loaches, corydoras (not due to temperament, but due to the fact that both species are bottom dwellers, it makes them crowded and cories are known pigs and will quickly gobble up the frogs food).
Sexing: Males have a small gland, similar in appearance to a pimple, in the armpit under their front arms on both sides. The gland can be pink, gray, brown, or white in appearance. Females do not have this gland, are plumper, and have a small "tail" like bump on their rear end.
If the female accepts the males advances, he will grasp her waist from behind and they will swim all over the tank - the female lays eggs one by one and the male fertilizes them.
If you wish, you make carefully gather up the eggs - careful! they are sticky! - place them in a separate tank and wait for the eggs to hatch. For the first week or so, the tadpoles will eat micro-organisms in the water. Then you can start feeding them tadpole food high in nutrients. Plan ahead though - if you plan on trying to rescue the eggs you will find yourself with hundreds of baby frogs! Contact your local pet stores and make sure they will take them in or you will find yourself completely overwhelmed with frogs!
