Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hellos!

I work as a lab assistant, taking care of lab animals. We're currently doing some testing on african clawed frogs (don't worry we're not hurting them or anything).

Anyways, we got in our shipment of young ACF's last week, 25 of them, but lo and behold, 4 of them were really dwarf frogs. All 4 of the dwarf frogs were in pretty poor shape, very skinny and not very active. I said I would take them, since I have a 10 gallon tank that's been running for over a year with only one fish in it. I took the frogs home and put them in the tank. One died that night. Out of the other three, two seem to be doing ok.

One of them, however, was acting strangly. It didn't seem to be able to swim very well. I've never seen that one go to the top of the water to breathe. Whenever it tried to swim it somehow would end up upside down. I kept thinking it was going to die, but it's still alive. I took an old betta bowl that I had and filled it with just enough water to cover the frog completly. I also put some plants in there for it to hide under, and a tiny drop of this stuff we use when the ACF's get hurt (i forget what it's called, but it smells like tea tree oil).

It seems to be doing ok I guess, just sitting there with its nose above the water. I don't think it's been eating so that might be alot of the problem.

Does anyone know what I should do to help the frog out?

I would get some small crickets to put in there, and find a way to include an area where it can get out of the water too. Even though most frogs are found in the water they do need to get out of it sometimes too. The "land area" which could be a clump of moss will also give the crickets a place so they don't drown. It could even be a smooth rock or whatever. Good luck!!
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**Kenn**

im not sure whats wrong with your frog but it definitly doesnt need a "place to get out of the water". african dwarf frogs are completly aquatic,they dart to the surface to quickly take a gulp of air. Keep the frog in a heated tank at 78 degrees. A good tank size for one would be 1 1/2 gallons. of course the bigger the better. since the frog doesnt seem to be eating i would take a short wide container about the size of your palm and put some of the tank water in their.After you do that and put the frog and water in the container, drop in blood worms wich can be purchased at any petstore. this way you can be positive the frog sees the food and you can monitor how much it eats. It may not eat at first so let it sit in the conainer for five minutes with the food. if it doesnt eat then i dont know what else to to tell ya. =/