Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i used to rely on this website a whole lot to answer my questions reguarding any such amphibious or reptillian creature, now i'm just not so sure anymore...what happened?

I feel like you do. No one seems to post much here anymore. I wish that I could help you with your question of the frog swimming upside down. I have one of my own that's looking like he can't stay on the bottom. Keeps floating back to the surface like a magnet is pulling on him. Seems to keep struggling to go to the bottom to rest, and he can't do it. I'm sure that this is stressing him. There used to be a website that you could see pictures of tadpoles and ID them. I'll see if I can find it for you. If you indeed have a leopard frog, then care is relatively easy once he morphs. Half water/half land would do or even a nice size soaking bowl for him with a slighty dampened substrate. I'd make sure he has as large of a container as possible as this one moves about quite a bit. Has to stretch his flippers, you know.

One reason why I don't post much here (despite how I'm very willing to help) because most of the problems here are redundant, over and over again, so I feel like I'm answering the same ?s all the time.
Not that this is anybody's fault, as I lost my aquatic frogs this way.
But here is the truth plain and simple:

Pipid frogs are NOT "easy" frogs to keep, and there is a TON of VERY inaccurate information (anybody follow the clawed frog one which says they are kept between 60-80 degrees, at ONE gallon per frog? I did (except for the one gallon rule), and it was the worst caresheet ever)

The biggest problem with Xenopus is they need cold water and get large. Keeping the temp cool is a real challenge as chillers and Window A/Cs aren't cheap unless you can install a window A/C in a frog/ herp room. while some argue that a 20 gallon long is suitable, I used to have a pair of Xenopus that had all kinds of issues from high temperature and lack of room, causing spikes in damage to the tank from lack of space.

Another problem with them is that they can spread Chytridiomycosis to OTHER frogs if you aren't careful! (This is the killer fungus that is wiping out the golden toads etc. down in Costa Rica) Chytrids was spread all over the world due to not treating the waste water from Xenopus labs when it was dumped out.

Dwarf frogs, while easier, definitely shouldn't be fed mostly bloodworms. this is a problem, because many foods aren't safe, and hard to determine whether or not they are safe. freeze dried foods are partially responsible for bloating disease. Finding small enough food items for them can be a challenge, that are pallatable. Tubefix worms are often bred in dirty conditions, but only gamma radiated freeze dried foods are bacteria free, but many say that freeze dried foods are harmful as well to dwarfs.

some people are recommending feeding dwarf frogs Drosophila, aka, flightless fruitflies like one feeds to dart frogs with lots of success. The problem though, they kinda stay at the top all the time, so you may have to freeze them and dump them in the water to prevent escape.

Also, supplementation is an issue because typically, most dwarfs will not take dry food (with a few exceptions and food brands), and many supplements come off into the water.

I am currently working on a 100 gallon Xenopus tank with custom lighting and a DIY aquarium chiller. Right now, the entire project is at a standstill because I'm still trying to find a vet that can provide the medicine for me to treat my Xenopus of Chytrids to make them safer for them to be around my dart frogs, mantellas, and firebellied toads.