Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying to find some websites that offer indepth info on how to take care of ACF's. My ACF's aren't taking to their 'Frog and Tadpole Bites' as much as they used to now that they're getting bigger. I have to find more food items to feed them. Any suggestions? They also get quite messy, hide a lot, can't find much in gravel, and are a challenge.

gravel could lead to impaction if it is swallowable. sinking fish foods for carnivores are good. my favorite is hikari's sinking carnivore pellets, relatively expensive, but worth it. what type of filter is it?(exact brand and model) how big is the tank? how big are the frogs?

I think, for the most part, I have gravel that's unedible. It's about 1/8 in size. I don't know if there'll be any impaction, but so far there hasn't been any.

The tank is a 10gal., and I've got three of them, all of which are about 1"-1 1/2" in length. Now this is weird. I've had them for over three months, maybe four, and am just wondering if they're DWARF AFRICAN CLAWED FROGS!

I see if I can find those pellets you mentioned. How are SHRIMP PELLETS? I also feed them broken pieces of worms, blood worms, brine shrimp, pieces of fish and those pellets I'd mentioned, THE SHRIMP PELLETS.

The filter is just a basic carbon filter, keeps the water okay. I'm getting more and more interested in these little fella's so dug up a care sheet that's said STAGNANT WATER IS BEST!! LESS NOISE, STRESS, ETC. These things also eat dead matter, like decay. THEY DON'T LIKE A LOT OF LIGHT EITHER.

Easy to take care of, but not a very decorative attraction to look at for your guests, eh?!

stagnant water is a breeding ground for disease that could be given to them and to you, so that isnt even an option. i would get a better filter. shrimp pellets are okay, but you should get the sinking carnivore pellets, they are very nutritional, even if you only use them a couple times a week. as far as light goes they can have bright light if you provide shelter like a pile of plants, which they like anyways. if you can post a pic of them i can tell you if it is a dwarf or not, good food may help them grow better. be careful with online caresheets, anyone with no experience could post them on some places, other people with a lot of expereince could but their experience may be different from what works for most people. live food can introduce parasites and disease, and if it is already dead it increases the risk. prepared pellets are the healthiest thing. a variety of pellets will ensure a truly balanced diet.

If its a dwarf frog, it will have eyes on the SIDE of the head, insteead of eyes ontop.

Does the frog have thick back legs, and skinny forearms, are they both skinny? If it has thicker back legs, its a clawed frog.

Dwarf frogs do not eat much dry food. Try flightless fruit flies (www.edsflymeatinc.com), rice flour beetle larva (www.edsflymeatinc.com), frozen shrimp, and other frozen type foods. Make sure to sprinkle some supplement on the fruit flies and let the frogs eat them off the water so they get vitamins a few times a week (good supplement is T-rex Carnivorous formula, NO phosphorus). Supplementing can be trickly, as foods that sink will tend to rub it all offf. But insects on the water surface are a good idea.

If its a xenopus, a ten gallon is WAY too small. They would need a minimum of a 40 gallon, as each individual frog needs plenty of room, but you can have a total of 4 frogs in a tank like that.

Keep the temp below 75 and they will do great, if Xenopus laevis.

Xenopus can often refuse dry food as well when they grow up. Begin switching to a diet of crickets, mealworms, feeder fish, frozen foods, lean raw beef or fish, etc.

if you can get them to eat pellets, i wouldnt use any live food. it can introduce parasites and disease. none of my xenopus ever refused pellets, no matter how big they got. even dwarf frogs i have had personally or cared for at pet shops i have worked at ever refused pellets.

I would have to disagree. I have fed all my different species of frogs frozen/ live food for years and notice they are the healthiest.

Many types of dry food aren't good for frogs compared to true live/ frozen foods. I would definitely try it. Most people I know that have dwarfs refused dry food all together.

My old clawed frogs began to refuse dry food, and they would only accept fresh/ frozen food. I did notice a decrease in the amount of waste as well, as most of that dry food has all that unnatural filler material like "wheat germ" etc.

Do frogs eat "dry food" in the wild? No, they do not.

Have you consulted a vet?

Dry food IS useful though to get vitamin supplements to the frogs, but I still stand for live foods because of all the filler junk that is totally unnatural that is in it. I would give some feeder insects a try.

Try to avoid goldfish/ rosy reds at all cost as they have a chemical in them that can inhibit the uptake of vitamin B in pipid frogs.

they dont get pellets in the wild, but they dont get frozen either, but thats not my point. my point is that in the wild most die. they never make it to adulthood, mostly for other reasons like predation and disease, but i think some are harmed by their diets or the lack of, so that isnt always the best way to look at it. but you do have good points and since it has worked so well for you i cant be that right, but my way has worked for me so i cant be that wrong.

Thanks for all or your imput, but I found out that they are dwarfs. This makes it more of a challenge, since the intake of food is limited. Any suggestions here?

They ARE eating bloodworms, some earthworms; I feed them 'Frog and Tadpole Bites', and try to slip some brine shrimp in there, pieces of fish and shrimp, and whatever else.

What, once again, was the best dietary vitamin to use?

i have recieved an email not too long ago from a woman who currently owns a 26 year old female ACF. she has kept this one frog in a 10 gallon tank and has only ever fed it the food supplied by "Grow A Frog", which is a pelleted floating food. hmmmm 26 years on a pelleted food.....?

also, i have recieved an email in the past from a woman who swears by frozen food. she stated that is has cured her algae problem from reduced waste and phosphorous (?) in the water. her frogs are closing in on 5 years and are healthy and happy in a 55 gallon tank.

in the wild ACF feed off of dead and dying organic material such as plants, small crayfish and bugs. frozen bloodworms, beefheart, krill, glassworms, plankton, etc. are deff. not in the diet of a wild ACF

some pelleted diets, such as OmegaOne, have all whole fish ingredients. for example, OmegaOne kelp pellets main ingredients are whole kelp, spirulina, whole salmon, black cod, and whole herring. this way your frogs get the veggie and meat part of their diet. it is also rich in vitimens and calcium. there are some decent pelleted diets out there, you just need to find them. OmegaOne is the best, where as Wardleys and Tetra is pretty much junk.

i have seen many "wild caught" herps before and for the most part they are malnourished and riddled with parasites. i think the ones maintained in a captive environment are a thousand times more healthy (if kept PROPERLY) then their wild cousins. there is no right or wrong way to feed an animal as long as it is thriving in your care.

i feed my ACF a variety of pelleted foods all mixed together for variety. they also recieve a live treat once a month of guppies, ghost shrimp or earthworms. they also love freeze dried tubifex worms and crickets. not to mention a frozen treat of silversides, beefheart or krill once a month as well.

i also have kept African DWARF frogs with no problems on pelleted foods. HBH frog and tad bites being one of them. But also sinking shrimp pellets and OmegaOne kelp pellets. I used a terra cotta feeding dish so the food would not get mixed up in the gravel and they could find it with ease. i used a turkey baster to squirt the food into the dish. All the frogs knew the turkey baster ment "food" and they would all eat from the nose of the baster. it was so much fun. they also did enjoy a treat of frozen brine shrimp and glassworms. but they always ate the pellets for me. i kept 10 ADF in a 10 gallon planted tank for years.

all of my information is on my website for African Clawed Frogs and African Dwarf Frogs. The easiest way to tell them apart is dwarf frogs have webbed front hands where clawed frogs do not. hope some of this info helps.

Rachel

In Depth Information on Common Aquatic Frogs

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4.3 African Clawed Frog
3.3 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.2 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Cranwells Horned Frog
0.1 Paddle Tail Newt
0.1 Green Iguana
0.5.0 Indonesian Floating Frog