How to Care for African Dwarf Frogs

African dwarf frogs make great pets. You don't have to walk or groom them, yet they provide hours of entertainment by frolicking in the water. And some owners swear their frogs sing! These amphibians live under water all the time. Look to these water frogs as good pets for a beginner once you understand these steps for African dwarf frog care.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Aquarium with lid
• De-chlorinated water
• Frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, or amphibian food pellets
• Aquarium heater (optional)
• Filter (optional)
• Bamboo plant (optional)

1. Buy African dwarf frogs at a pet store. Buy at least two as company for each other. Make certain you choose active frogs with clear eyes and no skin sores. Don't confuse African dwarf frogs with African clawed frogs or dwarf clawed frogs, a larger and more aggressive species.

2. Use a regular aquarium with a lid, allowing for no more than two frogs for every gallon. Overcrowding causes stress on the frogs. Start with a larger tank if frogs will share a home with fish. The aquarium top should not have holes in it, although air slits are OK. Remember, these are frogs, and frogs jump.

3. Provide clean, de-chlorinated water for the aquarium. Let tap water stand for at least 24 hours to allow chlorine to evaporate, or use de-chlorinating drops available at the pet store. Frogs function best in water that is 76-78 degrees. If water temperature falls below 68 degrees, buy a tank heater. Change water as it becomes murky. If you want to decrease the number of tank cleanings or plan to add fish, you should have a filter.

4. Feed your African dwarf frogs frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp from your neighborhood pet store. These frogs need protein. They also have to locate their food by sight, not smell, so make sure you drop the food near your frogs. Live bloodworms and brine shrimp are favorites, but messier than their frozen counterparts. You can also feed your frogs amphibian food pellets that sink to the bottom of the tank. An easy to grow bamboo plant in the tank offers nutrients to the frogs as well.

5. Watch your frogs swim. At times, they look like they are leaping around underwater. They do have their down time though. Look at the bottom of the tank as they blend in with their surroundings. Sometimes they float near the top. A slight tap on the glass will assure you that they're not dead.

6. Look for signs of illness. Cloudy eyes or a lack of appetite can be signs of problems. African dwarf frogs are hardy creatures, but sometimes bacteria or a low pH level can cause problems. Test the pH level occasionally. These frogs like it best between 7.2 and 7.6. Frogs do occasionally shed their skin. This is not a sign of illness, but a normal part of their development.

Tips & Warnings

• If you notice tiny black things swimming around your tank, your frogs have mated and given you some tadpoles. Separate them from the adults as soon as possible, in case the adults mistake them for food. Due to the small size of the tadpoles, it might be easier to move the adults to a different aquarium. Offer the tadpoles a protein powder made for fish or spirulina flakes. After they grow a bit, switch them to frozen bloodworms.
• You can mix your African dwarf frogs with non-aggressive freshwater aquarium fish like tetras and goldfish.
• Cover filter openings with clean hose or cheesecloth to prevent frogs from getting caught. They are attracted to the air current.
• If you have a joint fish-frog community, remove the frogs to a new tank when a fish dies. The tank must be cleaned before the frogs can join the fish again.
• Don't overfeed your frogs. Give no more than your frogs will consume in an hour or two; if food remains in the water, it will rot and cause disease. Never feed your frogs fish flakes that float. On the opposite end of the scale, African dwarf frogs sometimes become anorexic because they can't find their food, or fish in the aquarium eat it. If this happens, scoop your frog into a smaller container of chlorine-free water and leave it alone with food until it eats enough.

[brittm1114]

on 6/30/2009 Hello, I've had a frog for about 8 years and it all of a sudden swelled up quite a bit. Any advice?
Thanks!

[guineacrab]

on 2/9/2009 Sorry. I think my other comment was too long. Anyways,here is the last half of it. :)

I have all plastic plants in my tank,real ones never sprouted... :l Although,now that I think of it,I did grow two wheat seeds to about 7 inches once... I feed my fish WARDLEY ESSENTIALS GOLDFISH FLAKES with natural color enhancers. Occasionaly I add some WARDLEY ESSENTIALS Ick Away. I have a AQUA-Tech 5-15 design power filter.

I was woundering if I have all the required(and hopefully more) needs to fit two(mabey three) Dwarf African Frogs?

[guineacrab]

on 2/9/2009 Hey,I am very interested in learning as much as I can about African Dwarf Frogs. Infact I think I might go to Pet World on Wednesday and buy two or three. I have a 76 degree tropical,ten gallon tank with two fish in it. They are both small,probably around 2 inches long and one inch tall. They have fairly small mouths that don't seem to open very wide,also,I noticed,I do not think that they have teeth. One,Spritz or Spaz,is a pink Fruit Tetra,the other is a five year old Sand dollar named Dibbs. I have gravel ranging from the sizes of a pepper seed to an orange seed to a grapefruit seed or a small grape. I never test the water,just check to make sure it is clean and warm,at about 76`(degrees). There are two holes in the cover on for my small heater,the other for my medium strength filter. I have all plastic plants in my tank,real ones never sprouted... :l Although,now that I think of it,

[whitney21]

on 10/30/2008 My frog is lying upside down at the bottom of the tank... i have no other fish or frogs in the tank. It will move if I touch him with my net and flip him over, but then he flips right back minutes later. Is he going to die or am I doing something wrong to tak care of him?

[stavdal]

on 8/24/2008 Frog mommy

We have raised some African Waterfrog tadpoles from a kit we ordered for our son recently (6/20/08). We noticed legs on a few of them in late July, about 4 weeks later. Now we have 2 frogs and the other 7 are at various stages of growth. Only one has no legs front or back yet. They will always grow back legs first.
To add/change the water I used water from our fish tank. We have been very successful. We received 13/14 tadpoles in the kit and 9 were still active after tyhe first 3 days (normal to have some die off). All are still alive and growing today (8/24/08).
To add/change the water I remove about 1/2 the current water and replace it with the same amount I removed. To add water add no more than what you currently have every 48 hours until you get to the desired level. I started my tanks with about 32 oz of water and by the end of the first month I was up to