Any advice?

AfroNewtkeeper

AfroNewtkeeper

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I've been keeping this frog for seven or eight years now. I raised her from a tadpole out of a Grow-A-Frog kit and named her Froggy... She's been living in the same 10-gallon for maybe six and a half years, and I've changed it over time. At the moment, it consists of river rocks as substrate, a small turtle dock as cover, and two moss balls. I feed her 4-6 ReptoMin sticks each day. She's never had any health problems, although I used to avoid cleaning her tank for months at a time... She had red webbing from the ammonia. That's over with now. I fully clean her tank about once a month. Does anyone have any advice? Anything's appreciated.
 

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I think it could do with a bit bigger tank, maybe with some tough water plants like the java ferns or elodea. I used to run a small internal filter with my clawed frog as they can be greedy feeders and make a fair bit of mess! You could add variety to the diet by offering earthworms etc from time to time. Hope this helps :)
 
I would also remove the pebbles - Xenopus like soft bottoms to their tanks, either sand/silt (like in the wild) or bare-bottom. A bare bottom tank will also facilitate removing waste from the bottom.
If you include a filter, make sure that the flow is minimal as Xenopus prefer still water; an air-driven sponge filter may do well.
If you can include live plants, they will also help to maintain water quality; just make sure they are floating/midwater types otherwise the frog will destroy them!

C
 
Yes, maybe a sand bottom would be fun, I've read that these frogs will bury themselves in sand with just their eyes poking out, and then wait to ambush any passing pray! I haven't kept clawed frogs for a long time but i would like to try a sand bottom if i ever get any more!
 
You should never fully clean her tank. I would change half the water every two weeks. Ideally you should change out 2 gallons every week while cleaning out any waste from the bottom. It will keep her from experiencing a rollercoaster ride with ammonia levels but as you have found they are a very tough animal. I would also go with sand Im sure she would love a big old handful of elodea to hang out in but you will need a night for any plants. Use a bulb marked daylight or sunlight. I think you will find they work better than the one marked plants.
 
Once my elodea has grown a bit I'll clip some off for her. Does washed play sand work?

Oh, I also have a good bit of elodea I was keeping with a sick newt. Would it be safe for an ACF? It's been about a week since they were removed from the newt's quarantine tank.
 
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Yes, play sand is perfect, i use it a lot in my setups. I like it because it only needs a quick rinse before you can use it whereas other types can take hours of swilling round in a bucket before the water runs clear! The only thing to watch is the depth of the sand, if it's too deep it can develop stagnant areas. I use between 10 and 20mm, maybe slightly deeper where my rooted plants are.
It's your call with the Elodia i'm afraid, most likely the frog would be fine but we don't know what exactly killed the newt in the end so there may still be a risk?
 
Well, I placed the elodea in there earlier, and she's been behaving normally. When I fed her however, the food drifted into the plants and she grabbed a stalk of elodea by mistake. She promptly spit it out, but is there something I could do about that? Dividing the surface of the water? Sinking the elodea?
 
I have 2 bachelor ACF's in a 30 long. Here's a pic of their totally unglamorous setup. The plants are about half silk, half live (transitioning to all live), some random hides. I had a Tetra rock waterfall filter thing, but the snails like to clog it up so I just removed it.
 

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My Clawed frogs used to bite stuff by mistake at feeding time,They like their food so much that they seem to go into a kind of frenzy! Seriously though, In nature I think they spend a lot of their time buried in the silt with just their eyes exposed waiting for suitable pray to pass by, once it gets within reach they lunge at it and hopefully get a meal if they're successful so it's in their interest to grab first and ask questions later! If it turns out to be inedible they'll just reject it like yours did with the plant, she'll soon learn the plant is to be avoided, after all plants are still pretty new to her at the moment.
 
Here's a photo. As you can see, she's really been shredding the elodea.

Oh, and would a sponge filter be a good idea?
 

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Yes, a sponge filter would be perfect for that tank. She's looking well fed so the elodea shredding must be for fun! :)
 
I got a grow-a-frog kit once. Died right away. I was mad. But I read all about them, and according to what the book said ( ok, I am not positive this is the exact words ) "these are special scientifically ( made? altered? ) frogs that will never leave the water". So does that mean its not a clawed frog?

Congrats on keeping it alive Afronewtkeeper, all the kits like this I have ever done have been a crazy failure. -Seth
 
I don't remember that part, probably just a marketing ploy or something. Anyways, I got her a filter, which promptly started making an incredibly loud gurgling noise. I attached an air control valve and it got much quieter. She doesn't seem bothered by it al all.
 

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Adding a flowerpot this afternoon. I'm also going to start feeding her frozen bloodworms, in addition to pellets.
 
I have 3 ACF's and they love the plants in their tank, they will swim in and out of them and they do occassionaly bite at them during their fending frenzy. I have also fed mine earthworms and crickets (store bought), they love the worms but were a little unsure of the crickets. (My bearded dragon turned his nose up at them so thought what the heck I'll throw them in and see what happens.) With the sponge filter I found that it helps keep the tank cleaner to use a turkey baster to remove food, waste and unwanted debris thats stuck to it inbetween water changes.
 
She was very enthusiastic about the bloodworms- stuffed the whole cube down in under twenty seconds. The pot looks nice as well. I removed the turtle dock, as the tank was getting a bit crowded.

By the way, how fat is too fat? At times she's been over 2 1/2 inches thick. (From top to bottom)
 
They're not 'engineered', ACF's are aquatic. Those webs are no good for walking on land. It's just a gimmick to get you to buy it.

My guys were also from grow-a-frog. The lady I got them from said she'd had them 3 years.
 
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