Keeping male and female ACFs together

[Gemma]

I am just wondering what people's thoughts are on keeping male and female african clawed frogs together? I read on one website that if ACFs breed more than a few times a year then the female can die from laying too many eggs, and also that you shouldn't try to breed them if the female is younger than a year and a half old for the sake of the health of her offspring. That was just one website and I haven't read anything else about it.

I have been keeping a male and a female together since they were tiny froglets. I think they're only about 7 months old now but I'm not certain because I don't know how old they were when I got them. For a couple of months now, my male has been croaking almost every night, all night long. I've caught them amplexing a few times since then when it's been dark, but every time I've seen them they've separated after a few seconds, so I just thought it was cute.

My male's hands have gone a lot darker than usual this week and for the past 2 nights, they've been amplexing way more than usual. Yesterday I noticed the frogs eating some eggs that I could barely see in the sand. Last night they were amplexing again, but I didn't pay much attention. Today, when the tank lights have been on and I've been making loads of noise in the room, they haven't cared and they've been at it almost none stop, croaking and amplexing. A few hours ago I noticed that there were eggs all over the glass, the fake plants and again in the sand. I don't have another tank to put the frogs in so I put them in a bucket while I removed as many of the eggs as I could. They were even trying to get it on in the bucket! Anyway, as I was removing the eggs, I found 2 tadpoles in the tank, so I removed them and put them in a large container of water with the eggs. I wasn't trying to breed my frogs but when I saw the 2 tadpoles, I couldn't bring myself to destroy the eggs. Now my frogs are back in their tank and my male's croaking again! I'm scared more tadpoles might emerge from the eggs in the sand (I couldn't get them all) and be eaten by the frogs before I see them.

Is it likely that my frogs will calm down soon or are they likely to be like this all the time now? Is it safe for my female to keep them together? I don't want to damage her health.

Thanks.

[mpmistr]

Your male frog being overly frisky constantly could stress the female out over time. You should perhaps add some plants and decorations to give the female frog 'hide outs' so she can avoid the male frog if she is not in the mood.

[SwimminSteve]

You are going to be overwhelmed with tadpoles very quickly at this rate. If you weren't planning on breeding the frogs and don't have the resources to raise hundreds of babies I would recommend getting rid of the eggs. Any that are left in the adult's tank will be eaten and you shouldn't feel guilty about that. Maybe you'd like to try raising just a few tads? Instead of trying to save them all.
I have a tank with 2 females and 4 males. Two of the males are calling up a storm and amplexing with each other and the females, but no one has laid eggs (in the 3 years that they've been together) and I usually don't see a problem with too much stress from mating. Once in a while I'll separate them to make sure the "female" can relax and eat, but for the most part no one is singled out too badly.
I would keep an eye on your frogs and if the male doesn't settle down in a week or so you will want to separate them. Make sure the female doesn't get exhausted from toting him around and that she is able to eat enough.

[Gemma]

Thanks for the advice. My female seems to be acting normally, she's eating well and she never seems to try to hide from the male, even though there are places she could hide. I've just been away for a couple of days so I'm not sure what they've been like, but tonight they've amplexed again a couple of times. The good thing is though, he keeps letting go after a few seconds, so I think he might calm down soon. If not I'll have to separate them :( I saved about 50 eggs, which have all hatched now. The 2 tadpoles that had already hatched when I started this thread are twice the size of the rest now because they're a few days older. It's amazing how much they've changed already! I'm so glad I saved some of them. I can't wait to watch them grow and develop :) I might start a thread to record their development.

Here is one of the older tadpoles:

[Gemma]

I was wrong in my last post. After I posted that last night I caught him chasing her all around the tank trying to grab her. I saw this at about 5am and he kept letting go after a few seconds so I decided to wait until this morning to separate them. This morning, again with the tank lights on, I woke up to them amplexing and about 20 eggs stuck to the glass and plants (and God knows how many hidden in the sand) :( She was clearly trying to get him off her and as soon as I put my hand in the tank she swum up to me. I tried to get them to separate by picking them up (under the water, obviously) and gently nudging him with my finger but he wasn't bothered and kept his grip for another couple of hours until I managed to tempt them apart with earthworms. I've got another tank with just 2 females in, but the tank's fully stocked already, so I've moved one of those frogs to the tank with the male and moved the female that's laid all the eggs to the tank with another female for now to give her a break. When I moved her to the tank with the other female frog I noticed that the little bump in between her legs was bleeding :( Poor little thing. My male frog just croaked a bit with his new female tank mate in there, but he hasn't tried to go near her yet.

It looks like I'm going to have to get a bigger tank to put the 3 female frogs in, and the male will have to live on his own or with another male ACF.

[tgampper]

It has been my experience that you should have at least 2 females for each male. One-on-one usually means that the male will harass the female. Also, your frogs are older than 7 months. It takes about 9 months for the female to mature and about a year for a male. Sexually matured males will have nuptial pads (blackened fingers) and females a swollen cloaca (vent). By the way, both males and females of this species will call. If you listen very carefully, you can hear the males call and the female response. The call of a receptive female is very different from the call of a female that isn't interested in breeding. I have several frogs and the duets are very loud and can be heard all over the house.

[Gemma]

Thanks for the reply Terry. I realised yesterday that they must be older than 7 months from reading about tadpole development. I didn't know how long it took a newly hatched tadpole to become a fully-formed froglet. It will be interesting to compare the size that they were to the size of the new tadpoles/froglets when they reach the same size, then I'll have a better idea of how old the parent frogs are. I can't see my male frog being a year old though because he was so small when I got him, but I might be wrong.

I'd love to hear my female frogs call back! I've been trying to listen out for it since the male started croaking a couple of months ago but I've never heard the females make any sound. What do their calls sound like?

[tgampper]

In this species, metamorphosis takes place in about 8-12 weeks. There are basically two calls of the female. They are known as "rapping" (female receptive to the male's advance) and "ticking" (unreceptive). The "rap" sounds very much like the male call, while the "tick" is a slow, monotonous sound, much like that of a ticking clock.

I recently presented a paper on the underwater vocalizations of African clawed frogs. If there is enough interest on Frog Forum, I can post the paper and recorded calls.

[Gemma]

I recently presented a paper on the underwater vocalizations of African clawed frogs. If there is enough interest on Frog Forum, I can post the paper and recorded calls.

Well I, for one, would be very interested in that!

I moved the female frog out of the tank with the male today because he wouldn't leave her alone. The male's on his own now, and right after I removed the female frog he started croaking very quietly. He's been doing it quietly all day since. Usually I can hear his croaks all through the house so it's odd hearing him being so quiet! I put the female in another tank with my 2 other females and she laid eggs. Thankfully she didn't lay any when she was with the male as I already have 80 tadpoles to look after!

[mpmistr]

In this species, metamorphosis takes place in about 8-12 weeks. There are basically two calls of the female. They are known as "rapping" (female receptive to the male's advance) and "ticking" (unreceptive). The "rap" sounds very much like the male call, while the "tick" is a slow, monotonous sound, much like that of a ticking clock.

I recently presented a paper on the underwater vocalizations of African clawed frogs. If there is enough interest on Frog Forum, I can post the paper and recorded calls.

Me too, I'm always up for more frog knowledge!

[LunaDay]

I don't even have ACFs and I think this would be interesting!

[tgampper]

OK, I am going on vacation this week and I will post the paper when I get back