Feeding African Dwarf Frogs & Other Questions...

[Phaedra]

So I've been reading around, feeling all hunky dory about my little ADF's (although the poor little buggers still don't have names) until I read a bit on wikipedia about them. Turns out they say that feeding them frozen bloodworms is a bad idea protein-wise, eek! I've only had them for about 5 days (they're sharing a 10g tank atm with an apple snail) and I want to make sure they're going to be happy and healthy, so what do you feed an adf to keep them healthy?

Also, the female frog is quite shy and spends a lot of time in hiding under her dojo decoration, so she's a bit hard to feed. I try to squirt shrimp down by her "door", but I'm afraid she's not getting enough to eat and that the worms may be falling in between the rocks/substrate. Is there any way to tell? They both have pretty happy looking bellies, but other than that, I'm not sure how to distinguish a well-fed frog.

Thanks in advance for any advice. If you have ADF's and have any more suggestions or advice that I didn't think to ask about, feel free to let me know.

 

[~T~]

I think its the live bloodworms as they can damage the frogs.I know my girlfriends ADF's will eat almost anything with favourites being chopped earthworm and chopped prawn/shrimp.Bu they also love reptomin and whatever the fish are eating.

 

[Phaedra]

Bloodworms can actually harm them?! I've heard of this Reptoman stuff, I'm going to the LFS today to see if I can find it. *fingers crossed* Thanks for the info ~T~

 

[karmagl]

I feed mine frozen bloodworms and shrimp he loves them and I have had him almost a year.

 

[fishboy619]

i feed mine frozen and live bloodworms and live brineshrimp
they are in a tank with sand substrate so i dont need to worry about them falling though the gravel,
i also feed after lights out and squirt the bloodworms near the frogs, they usally get a good helping, any left my shrimps and kuhlis with finish off.
on the gravel, how about putting a small plate sort of thing on the gravel witgh bloodworms on there, the frogs will be able to get to them, but they wont sink into the gravel, and if fish are ever present in the tank, put a cave ontop of the dish.
other methods are removing the frogs every few days and placing into a smaller container with water and feed with tweezers, personaly i think it stresses them out and if a lot of work.

 

[Phaedra]

Okay, so bloodworms aren't bad then. *Phew!* Scared me for a second.
I've thought about putting in a little plate, but I wonder if I could just put a squirt of blood worms on their decoration where the water flow doesn't move very much? My gravel IS pretty large. I didn't realize there would be a problem until after I bought my frogs.
I just bought a new bag of gravel though, so I'm going to be slowly adding that to the tank hopefully in the next day or two.

Any suggestions on exactly how many blood worms they'll eat? I don't want to foul my tank up too much. My little male frog (still need to name the little buggers) is very outgoing and will sit underneath the baster that I bought in order to feed them and strike at it as I slowly try to squirt the bloodworm down to him. The frustrating part is that he often misses when the worm finally gets down to him.

 

[~T~]

Have a look at this site thats actually a specialised site for ACF and ADF.

http/www.pipidae.net/faq_feeding.php

 

[Phaedra]

Thanks for the link T, I'm going to the pet store to get some proper food for them today anyway, they don't seem to like the bloodworms much anyway.

Looks like a great website, I've been hard pressed to find any really good sites on ADF's.

 

[fishboy619]

squrting the food directly over the frogs is a good way, wait till the frog is looking at the baster, and then gently squeeze the end and alloq the food to come out slowly, giving the frogs time to grab it, putting food on the frogs decor isnt a bad idea either, give them time to eat them, and maybe feeding when lights are out.
depending on the othr fish on the tank, they will finish off and leftover food.

 

[Phaedra]

I've tried squirting the food right over them, but it's tricky business. If I squeeze too hard, I blow the poor little guys away. Not to mention that just getting the blood worms into the blasted baster and keeping them there until I get into position is a particular chore. When I do finally get that perfect combination of pressure and aim, the darned frogs just let the blood worms sink slowly past their noses, often staring right at me as if to say "stupid human". Sometimes they'll even let it land right on them!

The little female is the hardest, she's really shy. But the male will strike at the baster impatiently while I try to carefully let the blood worm drift down to the end.
I managed to get the gravel changed out today, so now their food won't get lost in the cracks, but by the time I was able to get to the pet store today to get the new specialized food for them, it was already closed. So I'm letting them fast tonight (which I haven't done since I got them yet) and hopefully I'll get something nice and healthy for them tomorrow. The pictures on that website of balloon frogs was almost enough to give me nightmares. Is an african dwarf clawed frog the same thing as your run of the mill african dwarf frog though?

 

[Kevin_D]

Is an african dwarf clawed frog the same thing as your run of the mill african dwarf frog though?

They are both the same Frogs, Hymenochirus sp. common names can be confusing though, especially when one animal can have several, so in my opinion its easier to use the latin/scientific ones.

Theres species of African Pipidae (like Xenopus pygmaeus and Pseudhymenochirus merlini) that could (and probably would) be described as Dwarf Clawed Frog if either ever got established in the pet trade.

 

[poopsydrew]

I've tried squirting the food right over them, but it's tricky business. If I squeeze too hard, I blow the poor little guys away. Not to mention that just getting the blood worms into the blasted baster and keeping them there until I get into position is a particular chore. When I do finally get that perfect combination of pressure and aim, the darned frogs just let the blood worms sink slowly past their noses, often staring right at me as if to say "stupid human". Sometimes they'll even let it land right on them!

The little female is the hardest, she's really shy. But the male will strike at the baster impatiently while I try to carefully let the blood worm drift down to the end.
I managed to get the gravel changed out today, so now their food won't get lost in the cracks, but by the time I was able to get to the pet store today to get the new specialized food for them, it was already closed. So I'm letting them fast tonight (which I haven't done since I got them yet) and hopefully I'll get something nice and healthy for them tomorrow. The pictures on that website of balloon frogs was almost enough to give me nightmares. Is an african dwarf clawed frog the same thing as your run of the mill african dwarf frog though?

Dont let all the hype about not being able to feed them scare you!! I was new to adfs recently and was so worried he was getting the food. I would feed the tank way too often because he is in there with community fish. After a lot of trial and error, and experience, i really disagree with the consensus they are hard to feed with other fish. I may be worng and am willing to accept that(let me know older and wiser members) but i have found with my adf if i drop in a cube of frozen bloodworms the fish will eat some, then most of it will sink in a big clump, i just put a net and stir them up so they scatter all throught the bottom of the tank. He gets plenty to eat even competing with cory cats for the bloodworms. So i guess all i am saying is dont worry feed bloodworms once every other day or so, put some close to him if u want, but just know that if some sink to the bottom he/she will smell them and find them, there are so many in one of those frozen cubes. If you are worried about the days inbetween feedings u can try sinking shrimp pellets mine will eat them. Mine also loves to eat the corys algae wafers. Enjoy your pet!!! no worries

 

[Phaedra]

Thanks for the encouragement Poopseydrew!

I have since lost my little female ADF, but my male is still going strong.
I'm on of those paranoid people who doesn't want to dirty my little 10g tank up with too much food, so I don't know if I could bring myself to put an entire cube of bloodworms in there, particularly since my bottom feeders consist mainly of my frog, a snail and one shrimp.

I've taken to thawing blood worms in a shot glass, then using a pair of tweezers, I reach my hand down into the tank and hand-feed him. I've now got three varieties of frog food. One of which is made for ADF's, but is tiny pellets that quickly get lost in the gravel. When I submerge them in a shot glass, my snail and shrimp clean it out before Fhergy (my frog) can get to them, so I bought some larger pellets intended for "amphibians of all types" that have larger, floating pellets. I soak those a bit then hand them down with the tweezers. It's still a bit of a crap shoot, but he's getting food.

Maybe I'll try those sinking shrimp pellets, those sound much easier.

 

[poopsydrew]

Thanks for the encouragement Poopseydrew!

I have since lost my little female ADF, but my male is still going strong.
I'm on of those paranoid people who doesn't want to dirty my little 10g tank up with too much food, so I don't know if I could bring myself to put an entire cube of bloodworms in there, particularly since my bottom feeders consist mainly of my frog, a snail and one shrimp.

I've taken to thawing blood worms in a shot glass, then using a pair of tweezers, I reach my hand down into the tank and hand-feed him. I've now got three varieties of frog food. One of which is made for ADF's, but is tiny pellets that quickly get lost in the gravel. When I submerge them in a shot glass, my snail and shrimp clean it out before Fhergy (my frog) can get to them, so I bought some larger pellets intended for "amphibians of all types" that have larger, floating pellets. I soak those a bit then hand them down with the tweezers. It's still a bit of a crap shoot, but he's getting food.

Maybe I'll try those sinking shrimp pellets, those sound much easier.

Aww sorry to hear about your female, these things just happen sounds like your having more success, if feeding him by hand works and isnt too much work for you then sounds great, it definatley wont hurt. I understand you dont want to pollute your tank and you are right in that regard, most people lose fish because of over feeding which leads to ammonia spikes. But if you are ever in a rush i can reassure you that it is ok to drop a cube in your 10 gallon, your frog will eat every single one on the bottom by the morning. Do whatever works for you and let me know how its going! good luck

 

[Phaedra]

Thank you. She was my first loss. I took it pretty hard. It's all too easy to get attached.

I think I'm going to drop by the pet store after work today and pick up some shrimp pellets. I'm sure my shrimp and snail would appreciate them too.