My african bullfrog has been in estivation for months? help on taking him out of it?

[kev485]

so my african bullfrog has been in estivation for a few months now and am now starting to get concerned for it. this is my first time owning a african bullfrog & experiencing estivation. how do i bring him back to life?? any tips or help is greatly appreciated. thank you!

[Maharg]

Whats the temp like? If its fairly high, drop it for a while then raise it again and mist the tank a lot. If its low now just raise it with a lamp or space heater and make it very humid. In nature they estivate when its colder and dryer. Best thing IMO is to make it warm and humid.

[Bruce]

Rains trigger them to arise from their sleep. You can try to raise the humidity, but you may need more than that. Heavy misting (very heavy) can work, if not very gently dig him up, carefully place him in a shallow pool of luke warm water, that definitely will wake him up for sure.

[Maharg]

And you will want to do a substrate change after he or she comes back. It probably hasnt been changed thru the estivation and the heavy misting and lack of airflow (your going to want to cover the tank lid about 80% with saran wrap) will make things moldy and a bacteria haven.

[Lija]

something is off with husbandry, - what are the temps/humidity/substrate, how long do you have it, what and how much were you feeding him, what is his size?

[GrifTheGreat]

Rains trigger them to arise from their sleep. You can try to raise the humidity, but you may need more than that. Heavy misting (very heavy) can work, if not very gently dig him up, carefully place him in a shallow pool of luke warm water, that definitely will wake him up for sure.

Bruce has the right idea.

[Eel Noob]

If it was me I would just let sleep because that's their natural habit. I'll be lucky to see my male pyxie Malochio for more than a few months out of the year lol.

[Bruce]

If it was me I would just let sleep because that's their natural habit. I'll be lucky to see my male pyxie Malochio for more than a few months out of the year lol.

You may want to check your conditions then... ABF's don't need to sleep in captivity unless you're breeding them. They sleep when conditions are unfavorable, to wait out the conditions until better ones arrive.

My four year old female has never dug under for more than 3-5 days.

[Eel Noob]

You may want to check your conditions then... African Bullfrog's don't need to sleep in captivity unless you're breeding them. They sleep when conditions are unfavorable, to wait out the conditions until better ones arrive.

My four year old female has never dug under for more than 3-5 days.

Who's to say they don't need to sleep? Any scientific study on this?



I have 5 frogs total, 3 male pyxies, 1 ornate, and 1 cranwelli. He's the only one that sleeps, all my others has been up all year.

[Bruce]

Who's to say they don't need to sleep? Any scientific study on this?



I have 5 frogs total, 3 male pyxies, 1 ornate, and 1 cranwelli. He's the only one that sleeps, all my others has been up all year.

Basically in the wild they estivate to survive the unfavorable African dry season. The beginning of the rainy season awakens then an triggers their mating season. This is why you generally have to estivate tear frogs to breed them.

However you've said it yourself. All of your frogs have not slept except for one. I won't jump to conclusions and say its the conditions, maybe he's just lazy!

When he sleeps does he create a thick layer of skin, almost like a cocoon?

[Eel Noob]

Basically in the wild they estivate to survive the unfavorable African dry season. The beginning of the rainy season awakens then an triggers their mating season. This is why you generally have to estivate tear frogs to breed them.

However you've said it yourself. All of your frogs have not slept except for one. I won't jump to conclusions and say its the conditions, maybe he's just lazy!

When he sleeps does he create a thick layer of skin, almost like a cocoon?

I know some hobbyist who would think otherwise. Some budgett and pyxies owners who estivate their frogs even though they have no intentions of breeding. They feel it's more healthier and it's a natural cycle for the frogs to sleep for couple months out of the year. No one has kept these frogs long enough to keep a record or study to see how sleep or lack there off affects their longevity. As for me, I let the frogs do what they want, sleep or not it's their choice lol.