Dwarf African Clawed Frogs

[InvisibleTouch]

Has anyone successfully kept these? I've been trying for months. Out of a group of 8 that I was hoping to grow into a breeding colony, one is still alive, and she seems to be doing fine. But I have no idea what I did wrong with the others. Well, I have some guesses ... I don't have proof, but I think I shouldn't have fed blackworms. The first trio lived about 3 weeks on mostly live blackworms, and then very suddenly died within days of each other. The second trio got dried tubifex and live earthworms, and lived a few weeks longer (of these, my one female is still with me). The most recent 2 (I was trying to get a male for my lonely girl, and saw another nice female in the store at the same time) did not even make it a week. :(

Water conditions - I have kept them in established aquaria, as well as bare-bones plastic shoeboxes. I've been scrupulous about changing water and keeping any sort of cleaning chemicals away from the cages. Temperature has been in the 70's and 80's. I talked to the pet stores and they admitted after being pressed that even they had problems keeping this species alive - that there were usually a few dead ones in the tank every morning. And yet, I'm told they're captive-bred in large numbers in Asia for the pet store market. What's the secret??

If anyone has kept these guys, please chime in with your experience.

Just to clarify, this is the dwarf African clawed frog, Hymenochirus, not the larger Xenopus (who are indestructible).

[mwdem]

1. We had one a long time ago..

it was kept in an aquarium with some larger fish. We fed it bloodworms, and it lived for quite a few years. It even escaped a couple of times!

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. I had the same problem with guinea pigs.

Could never keep them alive, though I found the hard way not to feed them lettuce. Who knew?

[stpalmer]

3. Clawed frogs

I'm a teacher and I've raised many, many clawed frogs! Several batches even lived to such a large size (dwarf, my a__) that we eventually let them live in my in-laws pond/water feature. They keep the goldfish population down. Although mine often produced eggs, they generally ate them before they hatched.

Never, ever use tap water if it hasn't sat out for a couple of days first. Try to stick to distilled water (not purified). Never use chemicals. Don't overfeed. Don't handle them until they are larger. Feed live food if possible., but they'll eat pellet food too. Never feed them dog food or cat food. When they are larger, you can buy large feeder fish, and they'll eat about 10 per week each. They like plastic plants or areas in the tank to hide. If you use a light, keep it away from the tank (at least 2 feet), they prefer cool temps and don't like direct sunlight. Be sure you are using river stones on the bottom of the tank, not fish tank rock. While they are little, make sure your water is not too deep. My aquatics get out of the water from time to time and sit on a rock that protrudes from the water. They seem to know hos long they can stay "upside" before having to submerge again.