African Dwarf Frog Care Sheet

The African Dwarf Frog is a rather interesting little frog, that is low maintenance and easy to care, which makes it an excellent choice for a beginning frog keeper.

They are aquatic frogs that will spend the majority of their time under water but, they do have lungs, which means they must surface for air, much like a dolphin or whale. Some other features about this frog you might find interesting is, they do not have any teeth, a tongue or ears. They use their sensitive fingers and keen sense of smell to find their food, then stuff it into their mouths with their hands.

The African Dwarf Frog color varies from a light brown to an olive green, and some may develop dark spotting on their back. They range in size from 2-2 1/2 inches, so they don't require a large aquarium.

Housing Your African Dwarf Frog

As small as these frogs are, you can comfortably house 2-3 frog in a 10 - 15 gallon aquarium, allowing one gallon of water per frog. You never want to fill the aquarium all the way to the top though. Remember, they need to surface to breath, so make sure you leave a couple of inches between the lid and the water surface. Another thing to keep in mind; these frogs are slow swimmers, and spend a lot of time on the bottom of the tank, so make sure you don't make the water so deep that they can't make it back to the surface to breath.

Be sure you have a tight fitting lid on the tank, to prevent the frog from escaping. They do have the ability to climb short distances on glass.

Water Quality and Temperature

For the moment, think of these frogs as tropical fish. They have specific water quality and temperature needs similar to that of a tropical fish.

Water quality is very important to ensure a healthy frog, so your tank should be kept clean using an Aquarium Filter along with regular, weekly water changes. If you are using tap water to fill the tank, be sure to de-chlorinate it with a Water Conditioner otherwise, use mineral water.

Keeping the proper PH levels is also an important requirement. PH levels should be maintained between 6.8 - 7.8 so be sure to test the PH levels regularly with a PH Test Kit.

The water temperature should be kept between 72 - 82 degrees Fahrenheit, 75 degrees being optimal, so you may need to install a Submersible Aquarium Heater to maintain the correct temperatures.

Lighting

African Dwarf Frogs are nocturnal and in order to maintain their natural instinctive routines, they require a day/night lighting cycle. Without a lighting cycle, they can become disorientated and stressed, which can lead to illness or death.

Never put the tank in front of a window to simulate these lighting conditions. The sunlight coming through the window can cause the tank to over heat. Use an Aquarium Light with a cycle of 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Be mindful, some lights can raise the water temperature by several degrees.

Substrate

Some types of aquarium gravel are suitable as substrate, but make sure it is the Aquarium Pebbles type. Some of the smaller granule types of gravel can be rough and can damage the delicate skin of the African Dwarf Frog. If you plan on using live plants in your tank, then Live Plant Soil makes a perfect substrate.

Decorating Your Tank

There are two reasons you are going to want to place decorations in your tank. One, to make it aesthetically pleasing, two and more importantly, you want to give your frog plenty of places to hide and explore.

When choosing plants, if you are opting for artificial plants, only use the soft, silky type. Again, these frogs have very delicate skin so, you don't want to use hard plastic plants that may have sharp edges on it, that can cause an injury. Live plants are always the best choice in order to create a more eco- friendly environment.

To finish out the tank, include some larger rocks and a Hide or two.

Diet

Providing a varied diet will keep your African Dwarf Frog happy, healthy and thriving.

There are many types of food sources that can be fed such as:

Frozen or Freeze Dried; Baby Shimp, Beefheart, Bloodworms, Brineshimp, Glassworms and Krill.

Frog and Tadpole Pellets

Live Food; guppy fry, Earthworms and night crawlers. All should be purchased from a reliable feeder source. Never feed your frog wild caught live prey. It could lead to parasites.

When feeding your frogs, always drop the food into the tank in the same place and tap on the glass near the bottom of the tank, in the spot you are placing the food. After some time, the frogs will learn where to go to feed, but will only eat off the bottom. Since these frogs do not have very good eyesight, they will begin associating the taping with feeding time.

Only feed the African Dwarf Frog every couple of days and only feed as much as the frog will eat within a five minute time period. Over feeding will result in the tank becoming dirty more quickly. 

In Conclusion:

The easiest and most simple way to set up an African Dwarf Frog tank is to purchase an Aquarium Kit. It will come with almost everything you need. The items that are not normally included in these kits are inexpensive items such as, the PH test kit and substrate.

Good luck with your new pet frog!

Reptile Care and Information

Welcome to Reptile Care and Information. I'm glad you stopped by!

As the keeper of many reptiles and other exotic animals, many of which are rescues, I have found myself in the position of being in possession of an animal I know little or nothing about. Many of the animals I take in, have not been cared for properly and are in need of immediate changes to their habitats and diet, in order for them to survive. The first thing I do, is go online and start reading.

In many cases, I have found myself spending many hours scouring the internet for reliable information regarding the proper care for these animals. Much to my dismay, I have learned a great deal of information is outdated and incorrect. The time and patience, it has taken me to find credible information, in my opinion,  was much greater than it should have been.

In an attempt to teach others what I have learned through all the painful research, I decided to write this blog, compiling as much information in one place as possible, to give others the opportunity to find information in a more effortless, clear, concise manner. A one stop shop for reptile information, per say. Hopefully, you will benefit from my many years of experience and research.

Here you will find information that is based on a combination of my own personal experience and the most up to date information I have found in my research, on the animals I care for and other animals that are commonly kept as pets.

Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments.

Fire-Bellied Toads Care Sheet

Fire-Bellied Toads are relatively simple to set-up and care for, which is why they make a good choice for beginners. Not only are they pleasing to the eye, they are very active and have the cutest call, that will undoubtedly make you smile every time you hear it.

As a defense mechanism, Fire-Bellied Toads secret a mild toxin that is not dangerous to humans, but if you have sensitive skin, it may cause a rash. Because these toads are very sensitive, for their own safety, they should not be handled unless absolutely necessary. You will find that they will have to be handled occasionally, for tank cleaning, so I suggest wearing powder free latex gloves. This will protect you and your toads.

Housing Your Fire-Bellied Toad

Housing your Fire-Bellied Toad can be very simple, or if your are like me and want to simulate a more natural habitat, a bit more complex.

The size tank you choose should be based on how many toads you intend to have. You should allow 3-5 gallons of space per toad. This will give the toads plenty of space without being on top of each other. The photo below shows a 30 gallon tank that houses 6 toads.

Fire-Bellied Toads are semi-aquatic and should be supplied with both land and water of equal parts. Your land area should slope down into the shallow water side of the tank in order to make it easy for the toads to make their way out of the water. The water side of the tank should be no more than a couple inches deep. The toads prefer to float in the water with their toes touching something solid beneath them. It gives them a good sense of security.

In my tank, shown above (pardon the glare), I chose to split the land area into two parts with the water area in the center. On the right side of the tank I used aquarium gravel to form the slope, then covered it with moss and smooth rocks. This is important because the toads have sensitive skin and the aquarium gravel is a bit coarse.

The left side of the tank was built up with larger smooth, flat rocks. This area serves two purposes. One, it hides the filter and two, it gives them a completely dry area to hang out on. An added plus to using the flat rocks was, it gave me the ability to build them and underwater cave as a second hide.

You can take a more simple approach and make the tank all land and install a shallow water dish but you will notice the frogs will be much less active, as they will spend the majority of their time sitting in the water bowl.

You can see that I opted to go with plastic plants, for ease of maintenance but you can use live aquatic plants if you choose to do so.

Temperature and Lighting

Fire-Bellied Toads do not have any special requirements as far as temperature and lighting. They are perfectly fine with room temperature. I chose to provide lighting simply for esthetic reasons.

A couple things to keep in mind if you plan on using a light; be care not to use a light that is going to raise the temperature more that a degrees or two, you don't want to overheat your toads, and only install the light over the end of the tank that you will not be feeding the toads at. If they stare into the light while hunting their prey, it could damage their eyesight.

Filter

In order to keep the water fresh and clean, you will need to install An in the water filter. Fire-bellied toads prefer to relax in a pool of still water. Most filters you will find are rather tall, so you will have to install it in a way to slow the water down so as not to create a current.

Referring back to the photo of my tank, you can see the method I used. I stacked the large flat rocks to create a slow running waterfall, then at the bottom of the waterfall, I installed a piece of Mopani Wood to obstruct the water flow further. Mopani wood works very well in this type of tank because it is heavy and will just sit on the bottom of the tank, rather than float.

Hides

You will want to provide at least one hide for your toads. Sometimes they just want to have a little privacy. In my tank, there are three places for my toads to hide. There is a Half Log Hide on the damp land side, an under water cave on the lighted side and under the Mopani wood in the center of the water.

Diet

Fire-Bellied Toads diet will mainly consist of small crickets. Make sure the crickets you provide are no larger than the space between their eyes. This will prevent a possible choking hazard. Offer 2-3 crickets per frog, three times a week. A couple of times a month, you will want to provide a different food source for variety such as, wax worms, earth worms cut into small pieces and black worms. The worms will need to be fed from a shallow dish. Do not drop them into the tank or water.

Supplements

Your toads are what they eat so be sure to provide them with good nutrition. You can dust their insects with a high quality nutritional supplement or you can gut load the insects with a highly nutritious diet such as Fluker's High-Calcium Cricket Diet  which is what I use.

In Conclusion:

Fire-Bellied toads are easy to care for and relatively simple to set-up. With the proper maintenance and diet, they will provide you with many years of enjoyment.

 

Best Pet Frogs for Beginners

If you're thinking about getting a frog as a pet, and have never had one, then choosing one from this list is going to be your best bet. You should always start with a frog that is inexpensive and easy to care for.

There are other frogs that are low maintenance that I have not included on this list such as; Pacman, Tomato and Pyxie frogs, simply because they tend to grow quite large, and they are very inactive. If you get a frog that just sits in it's tank like a bump on a log all the time, you will end up getting bored with it very quickly.

The frogs included on this list have been chosen not just because they are easy to care for and inexpensive to set up, but because they are relatively active. One thing you should keep in mind, frogs are not pets that can be taken out and handled on a regular basis. Frogs are more or less for your viewing pleasure only, kind of like fish.

Fire-Bellied Toads             

The classification of these amphibians have changed many times, from frog to toad and back again. They live like frogs, being semi-aquatic but their skin texture is that of a toad.

The most common fire-bellied toads are the Oriental toads. They have green backs and a bright red underside. There is also the European toad which has a brown back with the red underside. Most pet stores that sell these toads will have the Oriental fire-bellied toads.

These toads make excellent pets for beginners because they are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, unlike most frogs. They also have an appealing whooping call that sounds like a small dog barking.

Fire-bellied toads are social and prefer to live in groups so, it's best to get at least two. Though, they remain small, only reaching approximately 1 1/2 inches in length, you should allow at least three gallons of space per frog. Five gallons per frog is even better. The more space you give them, the active they will be.

These toads should only be handled when absolutely necessary. They have glands in their skin that secrete toxins, though not dangerous to humans, it can cause a rash. It's more for toads safety, that you keep handling to the minimum. Any type of soap residue or even the natural oils from your skin can harm them.

African Dwarf Frog             

The African Dwarf Frog is another small frog, that will only reach lengths between 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inches. Their color variations range from a light brown to an olive green with dark spotting down their back.

These frogs are mainly an aquatic species, and will spend the majority of their time in the water, but will surface from time to time, as they are air breathing frogs.

African Dwarf Frogs can be kept by themselves or in a community. Since they spend the majority of time in the water, you should allow approximately ten galloons of water per frog.

If you are not keen on keeping live insects in your home, this would make the perfect pet frog for you. These frogs can be fed a variety of frozen and freeze dried foods such as, brine shrimp, bloodworms, dried krill or baby shrimp.  

Whites Tree Frog/Dumpy Frog

The Whites Tree Frog is a larger frog then those mentioned above. It will reach an approximate length of 5 inches. Their coloring is light green, some may have a blueish hue, with a white underside. Some may develop white or yellowish spots on their backs and along their sides.

As the name suggests, these frogs prefer to live in the trees and will require a vertical tank, as opposed to and aquarium. These frogs do very well in a community as well as on their own.  If you plan of keeping more than one, you should allow approximately five gallons of space per frog.

Unlike most frogs, the Whites Tree frog does tolerate some handling. They may even become accustomed to it. Keep in mind, they do have delicate skin, so make sure your hands are clean and free of any soap, lotion or oil residue before handling them. Also, remember to wash your hands after you have handled them as well. 

In conclusion;

Remember to do your research first, to determine which frog will fit into your lifestyle. Ask yourself a few questions. How much time do you have to devote to your pet frog? How much can you afford to pay for the frog and it's upkeep? Are you willing to commit to the frogs needs long term?

Which ever frog you choose, if taken care of properly, will bring you years of enjoyment.