A week ago I had one of my Hymenochirus (african dwarf frog) floating and looking near to die. So I took it and I placed it on the water dish of my Ceratophrys, so that he could have it as food. The Ceratophrys, 5 times bigger than the Hymenochirus, grabbed the little frog in his mouth for a couple of minutes, then he spitted it. He tried again, holding tightly the Hymenochirus in his mouth, and almost swallowed it. But after a while, he spitted again the poor frog. I noticed that the Hymenochirus was keeping his legs spread out, making it difficult for the Ceratophrys to swallow it. Anyway, I didn’t want the situation to turn out to be so cruel, so I removed the little one, and I put it back in his tank. Now, a week after, the little frog is perfectly fine, swimming and eating normally.
So I have 2 questions:
First: Why the Ceratophrys didn’t eat it? Do Hymenochirus have some toxins in their skin?
Second: How could the little one survive without a scratch, after being bitten many times by the Ceratophrys?
Thank you for your answers.
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Ceratophrys vs Hymenochirus
Replies (1)
Not sure why he spit it out. African dwarves could be a bit toxic (not sure on that one, but many species of amphibians, though technically not poisonous, can be cross toxic to other species such as the rio grande chirping frog (conant)), but that normally wouldn't stop Ceratophrys or other large frogs as they normally swallow anything. As for the frog not having any scratches, part of the reason could be because that horned frogs do not have the teeth-like projections lining the lower jaw. They are only dead center.
The only thing I can't figure is why you would feed the dwarf to the horned. If something was wrong with it, I know I wouldn't even think about feeding it to something else for fear that the frog is sick or has something else wrong with it internally that could be transmitted to another frog. Anyway, glad to hear the little guy is doing better.
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Andy Maddox
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Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone
