African Dwarf Frogs..

[LindaD]

My son asked for 2 Dwarf Frogs for passing this school this year. (So much for my Tetra tank.. lol) But I picked them up with afternoon and acclimated them to my 10g. I asked the lady that got the frogs for me what they were feeding them.. she said umm fish food. Well, DUH. LOL So here I am.

I did a google search and tried most of the foods listed on the sites I found. Other than frozen bloodworms, since I don't have any. But.. It's suppose to rain tonight, so I can go out and get some earthworms for now.

What is a good diet to feed them?. They are not accepting food yet, but I'm hesitant to leave it in there for too long. So I drop it right in front of their faces and they ignore it completely.


Any info would be great. :) I tried to talk him into getting a Betta but he wouldn't go for it. LOL

[Mgamer20o0]

I had some frogs and they just ate the flack food, but I also gave them blood worms and brine shrimp. But I have read on the forums about them catching fish in the tank. I never seen them kill or even eat dead fish. I kepted the frogs with neons, zebras, and mollys. I never had any trouble with them.

[ewok]

depends on whether or not they are dwarf frogs. there is a dwarf and a clawed frog version. i think the dwarf was the one with the webbed front feet? if they are albinos they are clawed frogs.

as far as food, my dwarfs ate shrimp pellets, freeze dried or frozen bloodworms and possibly live ghost shrimp. my friend used hikari? sinking carnivore pellets for his albino clawed frogs. i also think they clawed frogs are noted for being fish lovers, my dwarfs never showed interest in the otos that were with them at all...... clawed frogs also get fairly large, my dwarfs stayed around an inch and a half the whole time i owned them.

something to note, keep the water level down somewhat and/or keep them in a shallow tank. they need to breathe air occasionally otherwise they will drown.

[Matak]

My frog eats HBH Frog & Tadpole bites. Got it at Big Als/Aquarium services. The frog also likes Nutrafin Max Complete Micro Granules. I got those at my LFS.

HTH :)

[riffless]

I buy aqua yums frozen blood worms, melt them in tank water then feed the frogs directly with a turkey baster... I was concerned with mine when I first got them, but they acclimated very well, they live with a bunch of community fish, and they have maintained a size of an inch and a half... I did notice that they will eat themselves into severe obesity, so I feed my two frogs half a cube total, once a day (meaning they split a cube between them)

you will notice that they're very curious little critters and they generally respond to anything they see going on outside the tank

[LindaD]

Thanks.

Yup they are Dwarfs. The webbing on the front feet was the first thing I checked for. Plus they are Green.

I have shrimp pellets and beef and turkey heart. They wouldn't accept either of those. I'll look for HBH Frog & Tadpole bites, Nutrafin Max Complete Micro Granules and also get some sinking carnivore pellets. They must just still be getting used to the tank. I'll wait and try feeding again tomorrow.

I also have the tank pretty much full to the top.. I guess I'll drop the water level some more. I originally had the water level lower, but they didn't seem to like the current from the filter so I raised it back up. I have seen them at the top resting on the plant leaves with there 'noses' out of the water. So they seem to be able to get to the top easily. But after doing some more reading I'm worried about them jumping out.

Also judging by one of the sites I found, I have male and a female. The one frog has a white patch behind each front leg. And the play dead posture they do scared the crap out of me. LOL Arms and legs outstretched, balancing on one foot.

I was never much for frogs.. lol. But these guys are pretty cute. I think so far I like them more than my son does. :D

[petes]

Mine always ate flakes. But I found that it didn't eat too often. My girlfriend bought it a long time ago and had it in a tank with mollies and platies but I had to move the frog out when she decided to start keeping convicts. Unfortunately it died a few days after I put it in my mbuna tank.. I thought it might have a better chance in there.. and it probably did compared to 3 inch breeding convicts

[Matak]

The biggest fish in my tank are a pair of Mollies and a 4" CAE. It amazes me how bold my frog is. From time to time I will feed my fish (and frog) a broken up spirulina disk. If the frog ever finds a chunk (he's rather dopey) he will spread his arms and feet out and present his whole body in front of any fish to make himself out to be as big as possible, and it works, even with a mildly aggresive CAE. They usually back off and let him eat in peace.

I wonder how these things ever survive in the wild. My frog is the last to find food, even if it is right under his nose. I often worry about him (or her) starving, but it is very healthy after four months.

If I am concerned about his lack of eating, I will take a two foot piece of rigid air line tubing, dip one end in water, and dip the wet end into the Frog Bites container. A number of pellets will stick to the tubing. I will then open my tank lid and put the Frog bites right by the frogs nose. This mostly works, but even then he sometimes still can't find the food. :rolleyes:

[OrionGirl]

Don't have the dwarfs, but I do have a female african clawed frog in with 4 gouramies and 2 bristlenose. She is an aggressive feeder, but ignores flakes. I feed the Watley's community formula, algae wafers, and chunks of worm--chopped into 1 inch chunks so she can easily eat them.

The big concern is the ACF do not have a tongue--they feed by using their arms to sweep food to their mouth. I keep mine in a bare bottom tank to avoid her eating rocks.

Mine is very sweet--she'll come up to the surface to get her belly rubbed, and eats from my fingers. Well, sometimes she tries to eat my fingers, but that's okay. :)

[LindaD]

Well they are still not eating.

I put a shrimp pellet right in front of the one frog a few minutes ago. It's nose touched the pellet and it backed up as if to say 'ewww' So I left it in there. If they don't touch it I'll get out the gravel vac and clean it up. I figure I'll try one food at a time until I find one that they like.

Maybe I'm just rushing it. But any fish I've ever bought was eating within the day. They probably just need more time to get used to the tank. I hope. If something happens to them my son will kill me.

[OrionGirl]

Contact the LFS and see what they were feeding the frogs. Keep in mind that amphibians don't need to eat every day--they have very slow metabolisms, so can live without food for many more days than a mammal.

[LindaD]

I called them earlier and they said fish food. LOL I'm like umm ok, what kind? Flake food? And she said yes. I usually only deal with the owner and he is on vacation and his employees don't seem very knowledgable.

None of my fish eat flake food, so I don't buy it. The only flake food I have is Nutrafin plant diet, but they are carnivores correct?. Or will they also eat veggie based foods? I have some Wardley algae wafers also. And I found Nutrafin Max mini pellets, but they float unless I soak them first.

Good to know they can go awhile without food. I'll try everything I have. And get some earthworms. The lfs owner is due back in 2 days. So if they are not eating by then, I'll go in and buy whatever he was feeding them.

Thanks for the help.

[yashinfan]

I knew someone who used to have them and they said that they had never seen them eat but they lived for 4 months, so I assume they ate somehow?

[JP457]

I had the same experience as Yashifan's friend. I had one for a few months but never saw the thing eat.

[riffless]

but I messed up when I tried to clarify how much I feed mine... they share half a cube once a day, and they really will eat like pigs if you let them...

[Matak]

The Nutrafin Max Complete Micro Granules are fish food, just like flakes except that they are compressed into tiny granules. Are you near the GTA? If you can't find the flakes, PM me and I will give you the address & Ph # of my LFS.

[PCDawg]

I have a couple of dwarf frogs in my lil 5.5 gallon tank at work....

They love frozen bloodworms......they go hunting for them on the ground and when they see one, they pounce on it as if it was alive.....

Very nice lil critters....and u can still have tetras in that tank as these frogs can not eat fishes....unless they are fry....

[melloak]

I have 2 clawed frogs that eat any fish they can fit in their mouth (2 inch fantailed goldfish, especially) and my roommate has 2 dwarf frogs. She feeds them regular tropical fish flakes, the same stuff she feeds her 4 tetras. I have never personally seen them eat, and I doubt she has, but she's had them about a year, and they're as healthy as can be.

-Ash

[LindaD]

The one finally ate, the female. And go figure it was the last food I thought to try.. cocktail shrimp!.. LOL The male hasen't ate anything yet that I know of. But he's been a little busy. And because of that I have another question. LOL

From what I read on sexing them males have the white bump behind each front leg and the females do not. Is this fairly accurate? Are there any other differences?

The reason I ask is that the one I believe to be male has actively been searching out the one I believe to be female. During his search he is 'singing' as I guess it's called. It sounds more like a buzzing. Which is fairly loud if he's at the surface. When he finds the female he moves his back legs up and down like he's marching.. lol. Then he proceeds to 'hug' her for a few minutes. Then he lets her go and starts the whole process over again. He's been so pre-occupied with her that he's not even bothering to stop and eat. LOL So he must not be too hungry.

I'm trying to figure out if he's attempting to mate.. Or what he's doing. But he's pretty determined. LOL