Breeding Questions ADF's

I have several questions, so please bear with me.

I've had 2 ADFs for a couple of years and assume they're both female since I've never seen them breed or found any eggs. They're also real chubby and flat in shape. A several months ago I bought another ADF in hopes of it being a male. Just the other day I found eggs in the tank for the first time ever. I later saw one of the females with a string of eggs coming from her back end, but unfortunately neither of the other frogs was with her so I assume since no amplexus = unfertilized eggs and duds.

Is it normal for females to lay eggs with no male in the tank, or is my new frog a male, but just not sexually mature yet?

Also I very gently moved the eggs into a floating plastic breeder box so they wouldn't get eaten by the frogs or the snails in the tank. I made sure they weren't exposed to any air. Was that a bad idea? If they are ok how long till they hatch?

The new frog has reached the same length as the other two, but is WAY thinner in shape. I've checked many times for the whiteish or pink patch behind it's arms but no luck, nothing there. It's belly is a lot whiter than the other two, who are dark and speckled all the way around their bodies.

Is there any other way to tell if it's a male, or do I just keep checking for the pink patch by it's armpit?

Last question, can female ADFs sing? Before I added the new frog I swore I heard one of the females sing several times one night. I even looked up ADF mating calls on Youtube and it was the same sound. I unfortunately haven't heard anything since.

If anyone can help answer any of my questions I'd be very grateful, thank you.

Are you sure the thin male is getting enough food?

Yes, I'm fairly sure. I feed a mix of frozen blood worms, aquatic frog pellets, and sinking shrimp pellets for a varied diet. They all eat like little piggies. It's body shape has always been different from the other two, even before I bought it.

With mine the males also are a lighter colour than the females plus have a rougher looking skin

Only males sing. I have found that the patch under the armpit is more of a raised bump than a different color, and that it is sometimes much more obvious depending whether he is "in the mood". The body shape is the easiest way to tell on mine. When the girls are full of eggs they are almost twice as thick as him, with a bulging belly.

The girls have always been chubby, so that's why I was so shocked to see eggs coming out of one of them that night. I hadn't really noticed a size change. No partner, so they were duds and went fuzzy and cloudy. :sad:

The females(at least I think they are), are both "rough skinned" looking, and a lighter grey with speckled bellies. The "male" is an even dark steel grey color with a white belly and has finer and smoother looking skin. It is both longer and thinner than the other two.

Also I'm POSITIVE that one of the female sang one night, I was pretty surprised! It hasn't happened since though. Unless one of the "Shes" is actually a "he"? Maybe they're too fat? I just don't know anymore, this is all so confusing...

do you know whlch ADFs you have ?There are at least 2 diffrent dwarf frogs in the pet trade

I know about African Clawed Frogs and African Dwarf Frogs, that's it... mine are African Dwarf Frogs, the little ones. Any other ones I don't know about, sorry.

In dwarf frogs the two most common in the pet trade are Hymenochirus boettgeri and H curtipes atleast in here in England.They are great fun to watch

I have read that many in the pet trade may actually be hybrids of the two species. Different sources have conflicting information on describing the two species, also.

That may well be the case.Another common remark is that they no longer exist in the wild i would hope that some pure lines exist but its not a species that has a high profile.They ars so much fun to watch.I just wish someone could point us in the right direction with regard to raising them

I have about a dozen tadpoles I'm growing right now. They're not that hard to raise- I've found the key is clean water and lots of tiny live foods. They don't need much space, either.

My results are rubbish i have set out 5 times to raise some a total of about 150 tadpoles i raised 7...not a great strike rate

That is pretty low. I know Ian on here had really low survival rates as well. Maybe the European lines are more prone to problems? I think mine are H. Boettgeri. I feed with copepods and baby daphnia til they are big enough to take chopped blackworms. Out of my small group I had to cull one with a tail deformity, the rest are all growing great so far. I would recommend working to perfect a technique with a small group, then trying for more. I think they're more likely to starve in large groups because of all the competition for tiny bugs.

Here's my setup for about a dozen tadpoles. I think I have 13, but they'd hard to count! It's a plastic food storage container with about 1" water floating in the parents tank to keep temps constant. I change about 30-50% twice daily with parents tank water, and I feed them when I add fresh water. They're a couple weeks old now. You can sort of see a few in the lower left corner.

Yes i have spoken with Ian i think we both agreed it is a lot of work with not much to show for it