Breeding advise please

[AlbinoFroggy]

I have always wanted to breed african clawed frogs. My oportunity may have come because I went to my local pet shop which they had three adult ACF's (which upset me a little because the male looked really unhealthy and the adult were kept with live muscles). They had a healthy female which they are selling resonably cheap. It would be great if I could mate this female with my current male.

However I have read a number of articles about breeding ACF's and alot of them have said you shouldn't breed them until a year old. My male is sexually mature, but i would guess he has a good few months yet until he is a year old. So im asking for people's advise and experience ..... should I go for it or should I wait?

After just writing this I am now debating of getting a larger tank and saving all three ACF's at the pet shop lol .......Thanks for responses

[tgampper]

Breeding ACFs is not difficult at all. You need a large aquarium, at least 20 gallons and a healthy pair of frogs. Males develop much slower than females so you should wait a year, females mature in about 9 months. Jen has had great success in breeding, you may want to contact her for some ideas. Good luck!

[AlbinoFroggy]

thankyou

[Jenste]

here is the setup that has given me past success...excuse the ramble! I can clarify anything you need me to!!

first - - have your larger primary tank, and a smaller breeding tank (about 10-15 gallons)

then, when you are doing a water change on your main tank, take some of the siphoned water and fill about 1/4 of the breeding tank. this ensures that there is some "stuff" in the water for the tadpoles to siphon when they first emerge from their eggs.

fill another 1/4 of the breeding tank with new, dechlorinated cool water. put the pair you want to breed in the breeding tank. also add in an aerator to keep the water gently moving. no filter. you can add some driftwood or sturdy, non-hollow tank decor in to give the parents more surfaces to lay on. (keep away from hollow decor to prevent tad poles from swimming up inside them - you don't want to accidentally remove the decor with a bunch of tadpoles hidden away!!!)

keep the lights off and the tank cool and quiet. do not feed the breeding pair doing this time.

after 3 days, pour another 1/4-1/3 tanks worth of COOL dechlorinated water. tank temp should be around mid-60's.


this should stimulate them into laying if they haven't already.


once the eggs are laid, remove the parents immediately - they will eat their eggs and tadpoles.
put in and turn on the heater - raise the tank temp to about 78-80*. keep it at this temperature for the duration of the period where they are tadpoles.

once the tadpoles are out of the eggs and "clinging" to the walls (24-48 hours), start removing any decorations/drift wood that is still in the tank. any eggs still not morphed are not fertilized and will develop fungus that will spread in the tank like wildfire.

once the tadpoles are freeswimming (no longer wall clingers) you can begin feeding - - I made two mixtures that work out very very well - - the first = very finely ground reptomin sticks and HBH frog and tadpole bites. the second (I call it bloodworm broth!) = take a cube of frozen blood worms, defrost in a cup of water...then blend that mix in a blender on "puree" until it looks like pink water.

for both mixes, put only enough in the water that the tadpoles will "clear" within 30 minutes. Feed 3-4 times a day. Blood worm broth once, powdered mix 2-3 times.

increase feeding size as your tadpoles grow.

***remember to always keep the aerator and heater on!!!***

perform daily 30% water changes. best to use a piece of airline tubing - you can pinpoint the area you want to suck up and do not risk a tadpole - - do not leave the tubing unattended...I lost a tadpole that was twice the circumference of the tubing because it still managed to get sucked up.
* always check your water change bucket before you empty it out! you will be surprised how many times during the first week you will see little eyes swimming around! Scoop them back into their tank in a cup - - never use a net or your hands on a tadpole!!! *

you will notice whiskers forming, front legs budding, and then back legs budding. once their back legs are fully formed they will start to absorb their tails. during this time stop feeding.

withing 6-10 weeks you will go from eggs to frogs!