Black Hands?

[JayFrog]

Jayfrog here, I'm having an issue with my smaller clawed frog =T His hand seems to have blackened for some reason. At first I thought that it may have been that he was changing colors but it looks very unusual. I tried searching for those symptoms but unfortunately I found nothing. The inner part of his hand and arm are black the outer looks fine. This only started happening recently and I'm going to test the water now. Will provide a picture as soon as I find my camera. Any ideas are appreciated as always.

[Gnag the nameless]

Hmmm... that's a peculiar case.

I'm no expert on Clawed frogs by a long shot, but from what I know, it could be either a:

Ammonia Burn [unlikely]

Infection [Fungus/virus is uncertain]

Coloration changing

Otherwise, I am not sure. However, I am sure an ACF expert will see this thread and comment. Also, pictures would really help.

[JayFrog]

Took the picture!
I tested the ammonia and the PH, the results came back good.

[mpmistr]

Male ACFs hands will darken now and then and this is perfectly normal. The reason this happens is because their hands form 'nuptial pads' allowing them to more easily grasp a slippery female ACF for mating (via amplexus).

It just means your little guy is ready to party, if there are any receptive females around.

[JayFrog]

Male ACFs hands will darken now and then and this is perfectly normal. The reason this happens is because their hands form 'nuptial pads' allowing them to more easily grasp a slippery female ACF for mating (via amplexus).

It just means your little guy is ready to party, if there are any receptive females around.

Ah, didn't know that! Weird that google didn't bring that information up. Thanks for clearing everything up, I thought it may have been something fungal. The last sentence made me chuckle for some reason, I guess I should setup some smooth jazz music and a few lit candles there is a female present in the tank.

Now that you mention it, would it be bad if I didn't let them reproduce? I don't know if I can take care of all the eggs they drop. Then again I wouldn't mind the extra work Are there any informative websites out there for breeding?

[mpmistr]

I don't think that ACF will mate in aquariums very often. Mine have never gotten frisky to date nor have I heard any mating calls or anything of that sort, yet. There are ways to stimulate them via water changes (adding cooler water) or subjecting them to hormones (which they often do in laboratory settings).

I wouldn't sweat too much over it, worst case scenario is they will lay eggs and just eat the tadpoles or you could discard the eggs. When they DO mate they lay a lot of eggs, I don't think any of us can care for 1,000+ frogs either.