African clawed frog

About African Clawed Frogs

Area of origin: Southern Africa
Adult size: 10-15cms
Captive lifespan: 10-15 years (But up to 30 years in exceptional circumstances!)

Housing, heating & lighting

Let’s jump right in to looking at the right type of aquarium for African Clawed Frogs. The size of aquarium you need will depend on the number of frogs you intend to keep. But 1-2 frogs will do well in a 100l aquarium, aim to add 25l worth of space for each additional frog. These frogs tend to stay still a lot of the time, but when they do swim, they swim either upwards or from side to side at a decent speed.
As these frogs spend time at the surface to breathe, it’s important the aquarium is wider than it is tall, this will allow the frogs more space to swim from side to side. African clawed frogs are also escape artists and will leap from the water, so it’s wise to have a lidded aquarium.
Your aquarium needs to contain lots of hiding spaces for your frogs - these can be achieved with plants, branches and rocks if you prefer a natural approach. Or, you can just as easily provide great hiding places and enrichment with plastic caves, tubes, and artificial plants. Whatever you choose, make sure there aren’t any sharp edges that could harm your frogs. In the wild, these frogs live in muddy, murky pools of water or slow moving river beds, but in captivity that’s less than ideal. Use a filter to keep your water clean, and use a riverbed sand substrate, river rocks, or if you prefer, a bare aquarium bottom. African Clawed Frogs eat by shovelling food towards their mouths, so be sure not to use a loose substrate they can easily ingest - it can lead to impaction, and ultimately death.

African Clawed Frogs do well at room temperature, thriving in temperatures between 16 - 24ºC. You won’t need to provide a water heater unless your home gets particularly cold (especially in the winter) - use a good quality thermometer so you can keep an eye on the water temperature throughout the year. On hotter summer days, you may want to do partial water changes with cooler water, to bring the overall aquarium temperature down.

Your frogs will require a day/night schedule, and you can provide this with aquarium lighting. Be mindful that these frogs are prey animals and can be very nervous - bright lights will make them feel very exposed and also poses a risk to their eyes. Keep any overhead lights on the dimmer side. Aim to provide your frogs with 12-14 hours of light each day. You can use LED lights, or, if you have a planted aquarium you can use grow lights.

Feeding & handling

African Clawed Frogs are most active at mealtimes, with multiple frogs instigating a feeding frenzy. As I mentioned, the frogs will use their front limbs to scoop food towards their mouths, and they’ll eat just about anything. You can feed your frogs a varied diet for both health and enrichment. They’ll eat live insects (you can feed these on tongs at the water surface), dried insects, terrapin pellets, and worm pastes (typically sold as fish food). If you exclusively feed your frogs at the surface, they'll become accustomed to this routine and will often be found waiting for you at mealtimes. For the sake of enrichment, aim to offer floating foods as well as foods that sink. African Clawed Frogs have a great sense of smell and will seek out food easily. To make sure your frogs don’t become overweight, aim to feed them every 2-3 days.

When it comes to handling, it’s worth keeping to a minimum. Like most other amphibians, these frogs have incredibly delicate skin that can easily absorb the toxins on your hands. If you must handle your frogs for any reason, use powderless plastic or latex gloves. When you’re cleaning your aquarium, use a soft net or smooth plastic cup to catch your frogs and transfer them to a temporary container.