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FAQs About African Dwarf Frogs in General 2
Related Articles:
African Dwarf Frogs,
Amphibians,
Turtles,
Related FAQs: Dwarf African
Frogs 1, ADF Identification,
ADF Behavior, ADF
Compatibility, ADF Selection,
ADF Systems, ADF
Feeding, ADF Disease,
ADF Reproduction, & FAQs on:
Amphibians 1, Amphibians 2,
Frogs Other Than African and Clawed,
African Clawed Frogs,
Turtles, Amphibian Identification,
Amphibian Behavior,
Amphibian Compatibility,
Amphibian Selection,
Amphibian Systems,
Amphibian Feeding,
Amphibian Disease,
Amphibian Reproduction, |

Hi there! |
African dwarf frogs – 09/19/07
I have a feeling you are going to tell me to get a dog... however can I
touch the frog at all?
<No.>
maybe gently rub his/her belly or the top?
<No. For an amphibian, the skin is sort of like the lungs, because they breathe
through them. So, imagine how much fun it would be I decided to stick my fingers
up your nose and down your throat just to show I cared. Yuk. There is a very
real chance you petting a frog will damage its skin, partly through friction,
and partly through using too much force.>
Or should I just leave them alone and let them do their thing?
<Yes. Animals become *your* friend when you treat them well. Animals love
routine, so habituate your pets to seeing you at the same time, being fed at the
same time, being given food in the same corner of the tank. Eventually they will
learn that you are A Good Thing and will respond accordingly. Trying to force
things we like, such as being touched, onto animals that aren't tactile, like
frogs, is counter-productive. As far as the frog is concerned, you're a huge
predator that grabs hold of it.>
I'm asking because I think mine are so cute I always want to play with them.
<Resist the urge! There are some amphibians that learn to be hand fed (ideally
with tweezers or else wet fingers), and those you might consider getting. Tiger
Salamanders are a good example. But for the most part, amphibians are "look but
don't touch" pets. This largely holds for reptiles, too, though I've known
tortoises that liked sitting on people's feet to keep warm!>
Sorry for asking so many questions. And thanks for your help.
Claire
<Good luck with your pets, and keep asking questions! People go wrong when they
think they know it all -- there's plenty for everyone to learn about keeping
pets. Read, learn, and enjoy. Cheers, Neale>
Re: African dwarf frogs – 09/19/07
Thanks for replying!!! I'll tell him. I've decided to have a solely only
frog tank so I will probably be contacting you in the future.
Have a wonderful day
Claire
<Cool. Good luck with your pet(s). Cheers, Neale>
African dwarf frogs...
care/sys. – 09/14/07
Hello, My friend works at a fish store and has an ADF and he
said that he takes his frog out of the water for a less than ten
minutes every now and then. I have one too but I don't want to
hurt him in anyway. But at the same time I wouldn't mind hanging
out with him outside the water. Is that okay? or should I not
take him out at all and put the thought out of my mind?
thanks,
Claire
<Claire, your friend is completely wrong to remove his frog from
the water. No amphibian should ever be handled except where
absolutely essential because their skins are very sensitive and
easily damaged. This goes double for aquatic amphibians because
they have thinner skins than terrestrial amphibians as well as
less robust skeletons. So tell your friend to stop handling his
frog! If he wants something to cuddle, he should go buy a cat.
Cheers, Neale>
African dwarf frogs 8/24/05
Hi, have a question. I have searched your site & do not see a similar
problem. I have 2 ADF in a 2.5 gallon tank, with a filter running. We
first bought pellet food, then found out through research online they should be
fed frozen bloodworms.
<... and other meaty live, non-live foods>
Purchased those 3 days ago now, feeding them pea-sized amount every other
day (is this correct???)
<Best to look at their "tummies"...>
My main question is an odor.
<Interesting>
It's gotten milder/better since switching from pellets, but it still is
unpleasant. Had water checked at the petstore, they said water levels are
fine. Should we do a partial water change to see if there's disintegrated
pellet food causing odor?
<Yes... should do these change-outs weekly...>
Any other suggestions? My pet peeve is pet stores selling these frogs
with zero info on feeding, correct water levels, cleaning of tanks,
etc. Thanks for the help, Lisa
<Thank goodness for books, magazines, the Net... Bob Fenner>
Dwarf African Frogs Don't Eat - 02/22/07
I'm worried about my two African Dwarf Frogs and appreciate any help. The
tank is a 2.5 gallon, with rocks and two small ornaments, all levels check out
ok, temp is right on. One of the frogs has a big tummy, he eats everything and
always seems hungry. We have curtailed his diet and waiting for his tummy to
shrink before indulging him more. The other frog doesn't seem to want to eat.
He is much skinnier and it didn't appear as though he was eating at all, so we
put in him a little holding tank in the same tank to monitor if he eats. It's
been at least a week under observation and he has eaten. The contrast in
behavior worries me, is this sort of thing normal? Thanks for any help!
< Only feed your frogs if they are moving and in search of food. Too many times
frogs are over fed and the food rots in their stomach and causes gas and other
digestive problems. Offer them a washed small earthworm. make sure it is alive
and wiggling. If they don't eat that then they are not going to eat. Keep the
tank clean and increase the water temp to 80 F and see if that makes any
difference.-Chuck>
Frog Legs for Dinner? Hymenochirus beh., sys. 2/22/07
Thanks again, Pufferpunk.
<No problem>
I'll return Jet this weekend so he can mix with his own kind. Now I have a
question about the frogs, Slim and Chance. They used to be so cute every
evening, swimming and playing and crashing into things. But lately they've
become reclusive and sluggish. I really don't think I feed them too much but
they aren't as eager for their food anymore, which is those delicious Frog and
Tadpole Bites. I've given them frozen bloodworms a time or two, but not many at
a time. I shook them (gently) out of their hidey holes tonight so I could
photograph them to show you how normal they look. Do you think the light is too
much for them?
It's just your standard 150W bulb.
<Not if you plan on boiling them for dinner. Sounds like an awful lot of light
for that tank. I would think a 60wt bulb would be enough to warm up a 5g
tank. What's the temp in there?>
At one time I had some floating plants in there, and that diffused the light
some. But I took all the live plants out and replaced them with fake because
the live ones were rotting and stinking up the water. What do you think? Am I
just being a worrier
(a general tendency of mine)?
<Probably too hot for even the plants. Check the temp--should be around
76-80. ~PP>
Is a 30 Gal tank too deep for African Dwarf Frog? 2/14/07
Hi everyone, I LOVE your site and have learned much from reading the
cache of questions in it. However even after searching, I still have one
question in my mind about my African Dwarf Frogs.
<Okay>
I have a 30 Gallon standard Eclipse aquarium. It has 16 Neons, 2 Otos,
several live plants, and 3 African Dwarf Frogs. I know that it's hard to
keep all of these alive together but I have done it successfully in the past
in a long 20 gallon tank for about 4 years. I have an extra tank available
just in case those darn Neons come down with fin rot; which to my memory
they seem to do when the wind blows the wrong direction!
<Mmm, not so much in warm/er, acidic water>
However after reading many articles on the little froggies, I am wondering
if this set up is not good for them. A lot of people have smaller tanks for
their frogs, and there seems to be an opinion online that larger tanks will
cause the frogs too much stress trying to swim up to the top for air.
<Is a good question, consideration>
So, will my frogs be ok in a tank this deep?
<Yes, should be fine... some folks with more aggressive fishes might be a
concern (hence am glad you list the other livestock) as the frogs go up/down
for breaths>
its a standard rectangular 30 Gallon eclipse tank. they seem to be happy,
and swim up and down a lot. At times it seems they may be struggling against
the current from the filter, but whenever they need air they bolt up to the
top as if they were a bullet. So i have the impression that they are happy
and just playing in the water. Though, I just want to make sure that they
aren't struggling and waiting to the last moment to get their air as a
result. I would hate to think they are drowning while I think they are
enjoying themselves!
They don't spend any time floating on top, and they actively crawl around
the bottom and actively hunt for the brine shrimp I distribute on the bottom
in front of them with a never used in the kitchen turkey baster.
It seems to work well if I feed the other fish a little to distract them
when I feed the froggies.
In short: My frogs SEEM happy. They do swim around a lot. At times they
just sit, and once in a great while hide under the moss plant. Will a tank
that is about 15 inches high, with a mildly strong current from the bio
filter be ok for them?
Thanks for any information you provide.
David
<Think you're fine here. BobF>
African Dwarf Frog TADPOLES!!! Need help...pretty please?? - 02/09/2007
Hey there ya’ll,
<Christa>
My name is Christa, and I have a total of three (3) ADF’s…two (2) in one
tank all by themselves (And Fishy Furniture of course) and the other one is in
our 20 gallon tank with a few fish and a pleco. The reason for my request for
information is this…
It was time for a partial water change in Waldo and Newbie’s tank. (the two
ADF’s that live together) I know that I have a male and a female, because I
have seen them mate before. However…I got these two little cuties when they
were the size of a small peanut, and since the males do not reach sexual
maturity until after the 6 month mark, I didn’t have any tadpoles that produced
from their frolicking.
Well…later on that night, after I did the water change, I noticed they were
mating. I didn’t really pay it any mind, since there has been no ‘luck’ in the
past. (Boy was I wrong!!) The next morning when I woke, I walked downstairs to
turn all the tanks on and feed everyone, and low-and-behold, there were hundreds
of little eggs throughout the floating grasses at the top of the water and
clinging to all sides of the hexagon-shaped tank.
<Neat>
I discussed maybe raising them, with my boyfriend. (who is more the
nature-type than myself… just being honest. I’m a City-Girl.) He asked me a
very good question… “What in the world did I intend to do with all the baby
frogs?” So, I spoke with a local Fish and Supply store here in our neighborhood
and asked if they would be interested in taking them off my hands (most of them
anyways… I would like to keep a few) when they are a little older and much to my
surprise, he said he would love too.
<Oh yes... are good sellers>
So the journey has begun!! Yeah!! I can’t wait to watch this. I’ve never seen
anything like this before. Again…’City Girl’.
So the little-guy’s have hatched, and are swimming around with itty-bitty
tails. It only took about 3 days!! I have received many ideas as to what to
feed them, such as lightly steamed zucchini, lightly crumpled lettuce that has
been sitting in room temp water for 4-6 days, someone even said regular old fish
flakes.
<Mmm, yes... and perhaps a bit of "cultured" algae... "Nori, Kombu"... from
Asian food stores or the area in your food stores...>
I am open for anymore suggestions. I also understand that they need fresh water
and just how important this is to their survival.
<A good idea to make quite frequent small change-outs... ten percent every few
days...>
To The Point
Your web site has been rather helpful in raising my ADF’s. However, I can’t
seem to get an answer to a few questions I have on raising these teeny-tiny
tadpoles. And I mean Teeny-Tiny!! I have these little fellas (tadpoles) in a
2.5 gallon hexagon shaped tank with a filter that suctions from the bottom, and
there’s a clear cylinder in the back with bubbles that rise from the bottom. I
really don’t know what kind of filtration systems it is called, so I tried my
best to describe it. My questions are these…
<Best to use a "sponge" or foam filter here... See Eheim or Jungle Laboratories
sites re...>
1. Should I turn the filter off? They are going for one heck-of-a roller
coaster ride when they are swept around by the rising bubbles.
<Yes... I would switch to the filtration method mentioned above... or an "open"
(top off) box filter with just Dacron filter media...>
2. How often should I feed them? You can’t really tell with their
tummies. They don’t have any yet.
<Daily... I would keep food present most all the time>
3. How warm should I have the temperature set at? It is at 78 degrees
right now.
<This is fine... put the term "Hymenochirus culture" in your search tools...>
4. Should I leave the light on all night? Someone told me that they
thrive on the micro-organisms that grow in the water and this promotes the
growth? True or False??
<Mmm... do need, use "infusoria" but I would turn the light off regularly>
5. What should I really be feeding them? The suggestions I’ve gotten
sound a little weird.
<See, weed through the above search...>
6. How often do I need to do a partial water change for these little guys?
<Often... as stated above>
So, that’s about it. Thanks for keeping this web site up and operational. It
has been a great source of valuable and extremely hard to find elsewhere
information.
New Tadpole Mommy
Manassas, VA
<I do wish we had more on this species, the whole Order, much MUCH for other
groups... In time... And congratulations on your efforts. Bob Fenner>
HELP!!! Sick maybe injured ADF 2/5/07
I have 4 ADFs in my tank along with 6 platys, 2 mystery snails, 2 ghost
shrimp and a pleco. I have 1 teaspoon of salt per 5 gallons of water.
<... frogs, the snails... don't "like" salt...>
I originally had one frog and it seemed to do ok with the salt and everything
else, so I decided to get the other three. I have had the others now for about 2
or 3 months. We just noticed yesterday that one of the newer ones looked like he
was shedding.
<Mmm, Hymenochirus do this...>
We have seen them shed before so we didn't think anything of it, except that it
wasn't trying to get it off of himself like they normally do. Then he started
swimming up and we noticed that he has some kind of injury on the underside of
him. Almost the whole right side (left side to us when we are looking at it) is
sunken in. Almost like he was crushed. We had to run some errands and when we
got back we could see the stuff that looked like his shedding skin was gone, but
it looks like he has a fungus growing on his back. It looks kind of lumpy, too.
I searched your site and found some stuff dealing with the fungus, though I'm
not sure if that's even what is on my frog, but I didn't find anything like the
injury so please if you could help I would appreciate it. Also, if I have to I
would like to know of a good humane way to euthanize him if I can't nurse him
back to health. Thank you in advance.
<I would start to dilute the salt/s in the water... and look into "Sulfa" drugs
(see WWM re this term... the search tool)... 250 mg./ten gallons... Bob Fenner>
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