The dwarf clawed frog (Hymenochirus boettgeri) comes from Africa.
It is brownish in color and grows to around 3.5 to 4cm in size. It lives in ponds in eg Cameroon, Nigeria or in the Congo basin. They live purely aquatic, that is, in water. But of course they get air on the surface. Dwarf clawed frogs are tongueless frogs.
A tongue would interfere with them hunting underwater. (You’ll understand this if you try to move your hand quickly and purposefully in the water. That’s rather difficult. It’s the same with a tongue, so it’s better for the dwarf clawed frogs to suck in the prey with their mouths.)
gender differences
Females are larger than males. In addition, they are built stronger / thicker and have a slightly longer stubby tail than the males. However, the most reliable feature for sex determination are the reddish/pink knobs under the armpits of the males.
attitude
Dwarf clawed frogs are best kept in a species tank. So you can observe them well and get to know their behavior. Only when you are well acquainted with them can you attempt targeted socializations.
You can keep the dwarfs from a tank size of 25l. In such a small tank there is only one male with two females. I would plan on 7 to 10 liters of water per frog. This way you can calculate how many you can keep in your aquarium.
The pool should not have too much current. The frogs like lots of plants and caves as hiding places. They also like to use some duckweed or other floating plants on the surface, they rest on them. You can use roots, clay pots or piles of stones as hiding places. But everything must be in such a way that it cannot fall over, otherwise the frogs could injure themselves. You can glue stones with aquarium silicone.
Shrimp or snails, for example, are suitable as roommates for your dwarf clawed frogs. But baby shrimp can be eaten by the frogs.
If you want to add fish later, you should take very calm and peaceful fish. It is best to find out more about this from adults who have experience with it. Some keep a betta with the frogs, others thorn eyes. But of course you have to make sure that the tank also meets the requirements of the fish.
You have to find out as much about the socialization as the frogs are often afraid of fish and then want to climb out of the tank. Or they just hide.
They will never mate if fish are present. And sometimes they don’t get any food at all, you have to watch out for that, otherwise they’ll starve.
lining
Dwarf clawed frogs need frozen and live food. For example, they like white and black mosquito larvae or Artemia very much.
To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t feed red mosquito larvae. It’s very controversial, but many believe these can make frogs sick.
What’s on sale?
© Sarah Hahn – Albino dwarf clawed frog
Both wild caught and bred ones are commercially available. But I wouldn’t buy wild caught ones, because they are often very weak. Even with offspring, care must be taken to ensure that the frogs are at least 1cm, preferably 2cm, and not too thin. It may be better to resort to private offspring.
There is one thing I would like to point out here: there are no albino dwarf clawed frogs. Albinos are large clawed frogs. But the large clawed frogs are also available in brown or grey. Therefore, you have to be careful not to accidentally buy them if you want dwarf clawed frogs.
Because the large clawed frogs need much larger aquariums! You can best recognize the dwarf clawed frogs by the webbed feet they have between the toes on their front legs. The large clawed frogs do not have this.
FAQs – Frequently asked questions about dwarf clawed frogs:
How do you keep dwarf clawed frogs?
Dwarf clawed frogs can be kept in smaller tanks with a capacity of 25 liters or more. Of course, the same applies here: the more, the better. If kept in pairs or groups, the rule of thumb “10 liters per frog” is recommended as a guide. There should be more females than males in the group to avoid fights among themselves.
Since dwarf clawed frogs prefer calm waters, the aquarium or its filter system should not have a strong current. The dwarf clawed frogs need hiding places in the aquarium such as hollow trunks, roots or clay pots. They like to rest on floating plants. The frogs are happy about a sandy underground for digging.
What do you feed dwarf clawed frogs?
are dwarf clawed frogs carnivore, i.e. pure carnivores. Frozen and live food are used for feeding. For example, the following are particularly popular:
– black mosquito larvae
– white mosquito larvae
– water fleas
– Brine shrimp, also called Artemia
Feeding dwarf clawed frogs with red mosquito larvae should be done very sparingly, if at all. Red mosquito larvae are suspected of being responsible for the pathological bloating of the frogs.
How do you socialize dwarf clawed frogs?
As a rule, they live harmoniously together with shrimp or snails. Calm, peace-loving species should be chosen for socialization with fish. Among other things, the following are suitable for this:
– fighting fish
– guppies
– thorn eyes
– and more