African Dwarf frogs bloated, dropsy or fat?

Hello, this is my first post

I have a 3.5 gallon with two African dwarf frogs and a snail. I have two live plants, and a cave to hide in. They have a filter and a heater. I have had them for a little over a month now. I'm feeding them Mon, Wed, Friday, mainly pellets and thawed brine shrimp as a treat once a week instead.
I woke up this morning with both of my frogs looking generously fatter than yesterday. I'm worried they are developing dropsy or bloating. The frogs in the pictures are two different frogs. I absolutely am in love with these two: bones and zippy, and I want to do anything to help them if something is wrong.

Any advice on what to do? Do they have dropsy?
Thank you for your help

As you have them on sand it could be impaction, as African dwarf frogs have no tough they tend to through themselves at there food and push it them with there hands. if they are on the sand they can swallow some sand and this can get stuck inside their digestive system. this means food can get block leading to bloating a swelling

Seen this with many ADF's. Get that water clean asap. However, once this starts, it escalates very quickly. They are already taking on the characteristic balloon shape of dropsy. No more food for a bit, and clean the water and substrate. With luck, they may recover.

ADF's aren't beginner level critters. You should have them in a much larger aquarium. 3.5 gallons is a betta tank as far as I am concerned. Even a 10 gallon is too small.for 2 of these little fellas. Maybe 1. They require a little more care. I'd venture to guess the water in that glass is more than likely polluted. This is what kills them. They could be impacted from sand, but, you're not feeding them bloodworms, which are a major killer of these little guys (mostly cause of parasites, but also because for some reason most aquatic critters don't digest them very well...least some frozen brands). You're more than likely not noticing all the uneaten pellet detritus that is fermenting in the substrate. These guys are pretty much blind. They never get all the food you put in. You need to clean the substrate daily. You have to feed them in the same spot as.well, so it is easier for them to know where the food is. In the wild, they starve until they 'bump into' something to eat. Feeding them in the same spot every time assures they will be fed, but they are still going to miss a lot of what you put in. Once a day feeding is best. They will let you know when they are hungry.

Also, are you being sure to leave a couple inches of air at the top of the tank, with plenty of air exchange outside of the tank? These guys are air breathers. They don't have gills. They need plenty of fresh air on top of the water, or they'll suffer issues as well. Leaving a couple inches above the water surface, with a well ventilated lid is best. They need a lid too, cause they can and will leap out.

Fishiemang said:

Seen this with many ADF's. Get that water clean asap. However, once this starts, it escalates very quickly. They are already taking on the characteristic balloon shape of dropsy. No more food for a bit, and clean the water and substrate. With luck, they may recover.

ADF's aren't beginner level critters. You should have them in a much larger aquarium. 3.5 gallons is a betta tank as far as I am concerned. Even a 10 gallon is too small.for 2 of these little fellas. Maybe 1. They require a little more care. I'd venture to guess the water in that glass is more than likely polluted. This is what kills them. They could be impacted from sand, but, you're not feeding them bloodworms, which are a major killer of these little guys (mostly cause of parasites, but also because for some reason most aquatic critters don't digest them very well...least some frozen brands). You're more than likely not noticing all the uneaten pellet detritus that is fermenting in the substrate. These guys are pretty much blind. They never get all the food you put in. You need to clean the substrate daily. You have to feed them in the same spot as.well, so it is easier for them to know where the food is. In the wild, they starve until they 'bump into' something to eat. Feeding them in the same spot every time assures they will be fed, but they are still going to miss a lot of what you put in. Once a day feeding is best. They will let you know when they are hungry.

Also, are you being sure to leave a couple inches of air at the top of the tank, with plenty of air exchange outside of the tank? These guys are air breathers. They don't have gills. They need plenty of fresh air on top of the water, or they'll suffer issues as well. Leaving a couple inches above the water surface, with a well ventilated lid is best. They need a lid too, cause they can and will leap out.

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what you said is great but one thing, you should not keep AFD on there own as they are social animals, also there rule is generally the first frog should have 3 gallons and each other frog should get between 1-1.5 gallons. I have 4 in a 7.5 gallon planted tank. one gets 3 gallons then 3 additional gallons for the next 3. as long as you check the water it is a great size, I also have a large canister filter

Just because we can don't mean we should.....

If I went by guidelines, hehe, I wouldn't have any pets, let alone fish. Yes, it is true that as long as you keep the water clean, you can keep them in that small a tank. You could keep an oscar in a 10 gallon. Would it be happy?

As for social, some are, some aren't. If you get them all at the same time from the same batch, then yea, they hang out and do frog stuff together. Once they reach adulthood, they will typically peck at each other. If you mix male/female in the right conditions you may get some lil frogs. But to keep them in such confined space, to me, is cruel. They need room to swim around, just like fish. They are happiest roaming.

I have had lots of ADF's. I stopped buying them however because they can be sensitive to water conditions. They also don't do so well with a kid that likes to slap fish tanks, so there is that as well. Plus, they will eat until they explode. This means everything. If they could fit another frog in their mouths, they'll eat that too. Caught mine many times over the years clamped down on another frogs legs. Separating them can be a pain. Lost a few frogs to this very issue. Wait till you see one with anothers face in its mouth. That's a trip. ADF's are dumb...haha. But they will eat anything that fits in their face....or at least try to.

I kept mine with fish. Some gasp when ya say that but, they were ok. Took losing prolly 9 or 10 to dropsy before I figured out bloodworms are not a.good plan. They love them, but, it can kill them. Then I lost a few to water issues. I'm not talkin high issues either. Even the smallest ammonia spikes caused dropsy. They can be a tough critter to keep. My last grouping I had for about 4-5 years. Then they just died off one after another over a few months, then the last guy lived another year by himself. Just lost that one maybe 8 months ago. The kid was slapping the tank amd stressed them out, another thing that kills them. Swear to God that a strong breeze gives these things dropsy....haha. Done right tho, they are awesome critters. I will get more someday.

I think keeping 4 African dwarf frogs in a 10 gallon is very different from keeping an oscar in that tank. in my experience they are social and when I have kept them one there own they have shown signs of stress until I got a few more.