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African_Water_Frogs
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Name: Susanna
Birthday: 3/6/1990
Gender: Female
Interests: 
Expertise: Reading, writing, playing the piano, and taking care of my African water frogs
Occupation: Librarian assistant
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/23/2006
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|  Hello! My name is Susanna, and I'm very glad you have chosen to view my site, which is all about African water frogs and how to care for them. I have been interested in frogs since the age of eight, and I have been raising African water frogs since the age of twelve. Right now, I have five of these creatures, which will be four years old on June 4. Their names are Mom-a-Mia, Chocolate, Chad, Lacy, and Bilbo. I recently lost one, Chelby, as a result of kidney failure. I absolutely love my pets, but I am always so frustrated when one of them is sick. That is why I started this site: to provide clear information on how to care for African water frogs so that people will have easy access on what to do for their pets. I hope you find all of the articles on here to be helpful. Be sure to read all the pages on my site by simply clicking the arrow at the bottom of the page. I'd hate for somebody to miss their opportunity on finding an important article just because he or she did not know there was more! I am not planning on posting more weblog entries, but simply adding to the ones I already have, so check back often. I will also check this site for comments regularly, so if you have questions or comments about anything, please comment me on any of the articles or in my guestbook. Unfortunately, you can only do so if you have an xanga site yourself. But, if you don't, you can always e-mail me at froggyqueenslb@hotmail.com with any concerns you may have. I would love to hear from all of you, and I hope I can be of assistance with the animals I love so much. Thank you, and enjoy!
 * Please note that all pictures on this site, except the actual photos of me and my African water frogs, have been taken from Google. They are not my own, so do not give me credit for them.
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|  African water frogs are very different from most other types of frogs. First of all, they live in the water their whole lives, and they should not come out (if they do, their skin dries up). Although they live like fish, they DO develop lungs and do not have gills. Therefore, they are what I call "surface breathers." They will come up to the surface and take a deep breath of air. They will then plunge back under the water and stay there for some time before going to get more oxygen. Sometimes, they will simply hang at the surface for a very long time, where they can get plenty of it. These amazing creatures have been known to live for twenty years and even more. They can grow to be rather large, but mine are only about six inches long when they are fully strechted out. Once an African water frog reaches the age of about two years old, it is sexually mature. The male frogs will sometimes "sing," or simply make a croaking sound that attracks females. To mate, the male frog places his "hands" around the female's waist and begins squeezing. If the female is ready to lay eggs, she wil let loose up to several thousand tiny, sticky, clear eggs. The male will then fertilze the eggs, thus staring the process of metamphosis all over again. African water frogs make excellent pets, and this site is pumped with information, which is based from my own experience and knowledge, on how to care for them.
     
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|  The environment of your African water frog(s) is primarily the most important thing in your care. Where this type of frog lives determines how it will become. For example, if its home is too crowded, it may not eat well or grow well. If the water is too dirty, your frog(s) are very likely to develop a disease or a bacterial problem (see "Common Diseases" below). You need to be sure you have an adequate environment before you even purchase these creatures for pets. The first thing you will need is an aquarium. Since these amphibians CAN NOT come out of the water at all, please provide them with an aquarium that is the right size. If you are unsure about the size you will need, consult an expert or the employees at the pet store from which you are making your purchase. If you are only buying one African water frog, you may only need a two-gallon aquarium, whereas if you have eight frogs, you should probably get a twenty-gallon one. I have five african water frogs, and I have a twenty-gallon sized aquarium. I really don't need one this big, but it's all that I have, since some of my others have unfortunately passed away. My frogs have grown beautifully in their home, and they love having so much room. Make sure that the aquarium you decide on has a lid with a place to put filters on it and a light.
What you put in the aquarium is the next biggest issue. This type of frog loves to hide and play, so you will need some decorating to make it happy. However, you don't have to spend much money to do so. I have used small, clean, never-before-used flower pots, sea shells I have collected at the beach, and regular rocks you can purchase at a pet store for a very cheap price. These small, simple objects have provided much joy for my babies. Many people have wondered if it's ok to use gravel in the aquarium, and this subject is very debateable. Some have said it was fine for their frogs, but I personnally would never use it. Because these creatures can be VERY aggressive in their eating habits, I think it is possible they would accidentally eat the gravel. If you want my opinion...AVOID GRAVEL! This is a risk you should never take, but the choice is your's. Make sure you clean EVERYTHING throughly before it enters the aquarium.
There are just a few more details about your pets' environment that I really must mention. First of all, no matter what size of aquarium you have, you really DO need a filter. They clean the water so well, and you only have to change it about every four to five weeks. Secondly, you will want absolutely NO openings anywhere in the lid of the aquarium because these frogs have been known to escape, and if they do, it is VERY dangerous. I lost one of my own in this way, and ever since, I have been careful to put tape around the top of the lid beween the filters and the light. LEAVE NO OPENINGS!!!! Also, one more thing you need to be aware of is the cleanliness of your pet's home. You can purchase a syphon at your local pet store, which looks like a hose and can be used to drain some of the dirty water out of the aquarium. Something else you should consider having for when you are doing a small clean-up job is a regular turkey bastor. I have two of these, one I use for cleaning up minor dirtiness, and the other for holding food up to the frogs' mouths to give them easy access to their food. Just be sure to keep the frogs' home as clean as you possibly can, and use only lukewarm, FRESH water inside it (NO DISTILLED WATER). AmQuel is another product, which dechlorinates the water, that you should look into.
 
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|  What type of food an African water frog should eat is one of the most commonly asked questions. Well, these frogs can eat a variety of foods. Mine eat only shrimp pellets and reptile sticks, but live food (bloodworms, small fish, and crickets) are also popular. To avoid parasites, I highly recommend not using live food, but rather using pellets. Some frogs will only eat a certain type of food, so find out what your frog(s) like best. But, be careful about what you feed them, and DO NOT overfeed. Also, make sure that the size of food is appropriate for the animal. For example, you may have to break the pellets in half so that the frog(s) will not choke on one that is too large. Likewise, the fish you are feeding your frog(s) need to be a great deal smaller than the frog itself. In addittion to food, these creatures also will consume their skin, which they shed every once in a while. (Eeew!!!) Don't be alarmed if you see one do this, and don't take the skin away from it. They NEED it for nutrition. Just be VERY careful about your frog's diet, and it will grow nice and healthy!
These type of animals can go a long time wthout eating, so if one of your's do not eat for several days, do not worry. It could simply be that it ate too much on its last feeding, or it may be that its hormones are changing and it dosen't want to eat. If it is acting strange, however, in addition to not eating, it may have a viral infection (see "Common Diseases" listed below).
  Here are some suggestions to help your frog(s) to start eating again: 1) Don't give up! Keep trying to feed your pet. One of my frogs just went ten whole days without eating anything! If I had given up, it still wouldn't be eating. 2) Make sure the frog has clear access to the food and another frog isn't hogging it all. You can do this by sucking the food up in a turckey bastor, and then holding the bastor right up to the frog's mouth. 3) Try hand-feeding your pet. Just hold the food directly in front of the frog's mouth with your own fingers. Don't worry if it bites you. These animals don't have teeth, so it doesn't hurt at all. Wash you hands in hot water before you try this. (Don't use soap, or any other cleaning products. It could hurt the frog's skin). 4) If nothing else works, try placing the food pellet directly on top of the frog's head. Sometimes when I do this, the frog will move, and the food will fall right in front of its mouth. This startles the frog, but it eats the food. 5) Empty out your jar of food (shrimp pellets would probably work best) and find the smallest pellet. Then soak it in water for a minute or two to get it soggy. Next, drop the tiny piece of food directly in front of the frog. This should be very easy for the frog to eat and digest because it's so small and soft. Sometimes they simply have trouble eating something that's too big or hard (since they eat their food whole and don't have teeth). 6) Try feeding them at an irregualr hour, such as early in the morning or late at night. If you feed them in the morning, don't turn their aquarium light on. This scares them, and they almost always refuse food when they are scared. So, try feeding the animal(s) when it is in almost complete darkness. Of course, there can be light on in the room, but just not in the aquarium. *If none of these suggestions work, don't give up! Just keep trying to feed your pet, and it will eventually eat. Have patience, and give the animal as much love and care as you can! | | |
|  African water frogs make excellent travelers. Years ago, they actually rode on a space shuttle to the moon. That shows what hardy creatures they are! If you, like myself, cannot leave your pets in the care of anyone else, do not worry. You can take them with you when you travel. My frogs have traveled with me many times, including on an 18-hour trip to Sanibel Island Fl., and they always did very well. Below are some instructions for taking your African water frog(s) on trips.
1) Find a big, empty, plastic container(around to or three gallons). Make sure it has a lid. If you have a lot of African water frogs, you may need two. Be sure to give them plenty of room.
2) Thouroughly clean out the container(s) with hot water. NEVER USE SOAP OR ANY OTHER CLEANING PRODUCTS. IT COULD POISON YOUR PETS.
3) Put airholes in the lid(s), so that the frogs will have plenty of oxygen, and fill the container(s) with clean, fresh water.
4) Use a clean, plastic cup to transport the frogs one-by-one from their aquarium to the container(s). Keep water in the cup with the frog, and use a paper towel over the opening of the cup to keep it from escaping.
5) Gently lower the cup into the container, and let the frog loose.
*Do steps 4 & 5 as quickly and as carefully as possible. Moving them around too much can shock them.
The best way to keep the frog(s) from getting too hot or too cold while traveling is to place the container(s) in a cooler the moment before starting the trip. Also, you will definetely need to bring along a small aqaurium to put the animals in once you reach your destination. Be sure to bring all the food and other items they will need. Make sure each frog two-four pellets before even putting them in their containers. These frogs travel well, but sometimes they will refuse to eat for several days afer traveling, so let all of them have enough to last a couple of days (don't overfeed though!). Once they are situated in their aqaurium, however, they usually will eat after they are comfortable. When you are starting your trip home, do everything the same as you did when you came.
    
*Please note that you should only take frogs that are fully grown on trips. NEVER risk taking tadploes or very small frogs. A trip would be way too much on them!
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