aestivation

[Preston]

hello. im getting an afb next week. currently its 3 inches. basically is aestivation mandatory to give it a longer life span? if so, how do i trigger this? how many months of the year does it have to be aestivated? how are temps and humidity maintained during this? how do i wake it up? can they aestivate in moss as opposed to coco fiber?

if aestivation is mandatory, is that only when the frogs have reached adulthood? so i wouldn't be trying to aestivate my afb until hes fully grown?

i know they aestivated in the wild but i didnt realise they have to in captivity as well, i want to do this right. would really appreciate some info. thanks.

[daybr4ke]

I only know a little. I think its only after they reach adulthood. I know you need to cycle the frogs, make them think the seasons are changing. I don't even know how mandatory it is. I might be able to dig up some more info later, and other members may have more to add.

[Preston]

I only know a little. I think its only after they reach adulthood. I know you need to cycle the frogs, make them think the seasons are changing. I don't even know how mandatory it is. I might be able to dig up some more info later, and other members may have more to add.

thanks.

i dont have a problem doing it. i just want to do it right, heard some horror stories of people messing it up and the frogs shrivel up and die. id be gutted if i did it wrong. thankfully i dont have to think about doing it for another year or so i guess. but i want to learn about it now so i can prepare for the future.

[daybr4ke]

Yeah, I understand. I've read a bit about cycling for pacman frogs. I feel like the method is similar. I'm going to review the pacman info and look for info on ABF aestivation. I need to look over it for my own Pixie lol.

[daybr4ke]

So, I did some reading, on African bullfrog aestivation(and breeding because the two are related and I figured articles and whatnot about breeding might contain aestivation info.) and aestivation in general.
It seems the role of hibernation and aestivation in the longevity of a frog is hotly(or at least warmly lol) debated amongst frog hobbyists. Some people suggest not aestivating drastically lowers the lifespan of the frog, while others suggest the impacts are negligible. So far, the longest aged captive pacmans I've seen are aestivated.
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread....0-26-years-old!
While not a pixie, it is a good example of a frog that has lived a long time(most resources suggest a 10-15 year lifespan, "maybe more", but 26 is as much as double that lol)
Pixies have a possible lifespan of 30-40 years according to some resources, but this seems to be on the very high end of the spectrum, as many frogs don't seem to live that long in captivity. I found some good threads and articles, and I'll link them below.
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread....e-and-Breeding
(Thanks to John Clare, Frog Forum and Cautata.org's founder and writer of the guide!)
Adding more links in a minute via edit.
Edit:
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread....ce-aestivation
This thread contains a lot of useful info on aestivation, especially advice on feeding prior to aestivation.
Finally, I have a recommendation for a book.
Giant African Bullfrogs: Life History and Captive Husbandry - Kindleby Robert Mailloux, Philippe de Vosjoli
I hope this helps!

[monster]

Aestivation is not mandatory, some people try really hard to not let this happen because its always a gamble if they will come out of it in good conditions if at all. Is it a male or female that your getting? after they estivate they have 2 things on there mind, food and makeing babies. So if its a female she will come up egg bound more then likely and if you dont have a male to mate with her she may not drop her eggs, and if she doesnt absorb them it will more then likely die. I have been lucky with my females that they have absorb them but I will be honest and say everytime they come up I'm biting my nails worrying if they are going to or not, its very stressfull.

[Preston]

Aestivation is not mandatory, some people try really hard to not let this happen because its always a gamble if they will come out of it in good conditions if at all. Is it a male or female that your getting? after they estivate they have 2 things on there mind, food and makeing babies. So if its a female she will come up egg bound more then likely and if you dont have a male to mate with her she may not drop her eggs, and if she doesnt absorb them it will more then likely die. I have been lucky with my females that they have absorb them but I will be honest and say everytime they come up I'm biting my nails worrying if they are going to or not, its very stressfull.

that does indeed sound stressful. atm i have 2 likely males, both 4-4.5 inches.
basically im trying to keep their temps and humidity high to avoid this and so far they have both been out in the open moving around. obviously this is early days so ill have to wait and see if i want to aestivate them if they keep trying to in the future. thanks for the info.