identifying frogs

[gontofe]

Hello all,

I've just bought some aquatic frogs from a pet shop, although the salesman was unable to provide me with any more information as to what they were.

There is a (bad) picture of two of them at:

http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~jhm1mh/froggies.jpg

Can anyone identify them?


Mike

[Rabelais]

It looks like and African Dwarf frog, for information on thier care and treatment see the following link.

http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html

[PurplePixie]

These are African clawed frogs. They don't grow very much bigger than they are now & are pretty peaceful in a tropical aquarium. They are not very good at having pea sized gravel to live on as they are pretty dopey & can swallow anything that fits into their mouths...sand is better as it just passes through them.

Also don't overdo the blood worms as it can bloat them out. Alternate their diet to include different tropical yummy stuff like frozen daphnia & that sort of thing that you can keep in the freezer & drop in to sink to the bottom.

[FP]

I find it absolutely dreadful that a salesman in a pet shop doesn't know what he is selling.  They should be able to advise their customers on all the animals and know at least the fundamentals of looking after them, what they eat, etc.  How can the pet shop care for them properly if the staff do not have the appropriate knowledge?

I hope your frogs do well Mike.

[Lily]

Hello there, they are definitely African dwarf clawed frogs - Hymenochirus boettgeri as opposed to African Clawed frogs Zenopus laevi, a larger breed.  It is important to know the difference!  As an owner of a couple of much loved Zenopus I spotted some little frogs in the shop of yet another ignorant pet shop owner and bought two, assuming they were young of the same breed.  However, after popping them in the tank and examining them more closely I spotted differences.  I researched them online and found they were in mortal danger as the larger ones eat the smaller ones!  I whipped them out quickly as poor little �Slim Shady� was a mere bite size at the time.  There are arguments about whether you should filter the water or not due to danger of little limbs being sucked in, also frogs have more acute hearing than fish and apparently its like putting them in a tank with a jackhammer!  There are also dangers if you net them as their little fingers are easily broken � I scoop mine out in a pint glass when cleaning the tank.  There is a lot more sound information at this site �

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:9w-BKlN8oqwJ:allabout frogs.org

Good Luck � I have had years of entertainment from my frogs � they have been singing to me this morning while I made my cuppa! 

[brachiopod]

I agree with FP on this one. I can't believe this so-called salesman! If he can't even name the creature, how is he supposed to advise you on how to care for it?

Was this an individual pet shop, Mike / gontofe, or one of those big national 'We-Duz-Petz'-type chains?

[gontofe]

it wasn't a big chain - to give the guy some credit he did tell me what they would eat, whether or not they would be ok in a community tank and how big they would get. From his answer to the last question, I have been doing some research on t'internet, and it would seem that they are indeed african dwarf frogs (not the clawed ones, as they grow massive). Anyone got any of these things - any tips greatfully accepted. Will also accept offers of names, although not identified the sex as of yet (will have a look at next feed tomorrow)