Hello

[AmandaChau]

Just wanted to stop and introduce my-self. I am an avid animal lover who tries to encourage her children to be as well.

That being said I live in a zoo. We have 3 cats, 1 dog, 1 Ball-Python, a 75 gallon fish tank with more fish than I can count and now my 5 year old wants a frog. (I understand getting children animals is a recipe for disaster and that I will be the one caring for the animal.)

I have looked into getting either a White’s Tree Frog or an African Clawed frog please give me your opinion on these animals. I know that one is a totally aquatic frog and the other will need his own environment. I personally thing the tree frog is way cutter and my son could care less he just want a frog in the house and I refuse to keep WC.

Thank you for reading my rant and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[bshmerlie]

Welcome aboard. If you want the true frog experience I would go with the Whites tree frog. They are easy to care for and a fun pet to have.

[Jace]

Welcome to the Forum. Your house sounds like my house with the variety of pets! May I suggest another possibility besides the two you mentioned above? Fire Belly Toads are a great addition to any home. They are smaller so you can have several in a smaller set up. They are active day and night, hearty eaters, easy to care for, and the males make a variety of sounds, including barking like a dog that sounds off in the distance.

[Cebby75]

I agree with Jo-Anna. Fire bellies make a great addition especially to newer frog owners. You can't go wrong with them, they're a safe bet and a great source of entertainment!

[Kurt]

Welcome aboard.

Fire-bellied toads, Bombina orientalis are most often wild caught and as such should be treated for gastrointestinal parasites. With captive bred frogs, unless you are buying directly from a breeder, they too should be treated. Most pet stores carry both captive bred and wild caught stock, and the hygiene protocols aren't always perfect.

Fire-bellies are insectivores and most be fed live insects. They are semi-aquatic and should have some shallow water in which to swim in. They are also toxic. They lack vocal sacks (unlike most frogs) so their call is quiet.

Here are the pro's and cons of both White's treefrogs, Litoria caerulea and African clawed frogs, Xenopus laevis.

African clawed frogs are always captive bred, the likelihood of getting a wild caught one is almost nil. White's can go either way. If the frog is labeled Indonesian and is big, its wild caught. Australian and small, most likely captive bred.

White's, unlike most frogs, will tolerate some handling. While, holding a clawed frog is almost impossible. It's like trying to hold runny raw eggs.

Both frogs make noise, but in clawed frogs the female also calls.

African clawed frogs come either in a natural brown form or an albino one. Indonesian White's have a tendency to be a more yellowy green than the bluer green Australian White's

As with all amphibians, the set up needs to be species specific. In other words don't house different species together. In most cases, its a matter of toxicity, they will poison each other over a period of time. Other reasons include the exchange of pathogens and the unlikelihood of satisfying more than one species' needs. Some people keep African clawed frogs with fish, but this is often a bad idea, as the frog will often try to consume its tank mates, sometimes choking to death on them.

White's are insectivores. They will only eat live prey, such as crickets, mealworms, waxworms, roaches, and so on. Feeder insects should be dusted with calcium and vitamin supplements, as commonly available insects are not nutritionally complete. African clawed frogs will eat anything, from life prey to dry and frozen foods.

Now the real bad news about African clawed frogs, they are known carriers of the deadly frog-killing fungus chytrid. They are immune to it, but if you are planning on keeping other amphibians done the road, proper precautions will need to be taken. Chytrid is responsible for wiping out whole populations and even species of frogs in Central America, Australia, and California. It has also struck else wear in the world.

[AmandaChau]

Thank all of you for your replys.

Any frog that we get will be a strictly look only animal. If he wants to hold a frog he has enough of the platic kind.

The tank I have is a converted 20 long (it stands up does not lay flat) would I be able to keep a fire belly in this or would it be better in a flat tank?

Thank you again for all your help

Amanda

[Kurt]

Flat for fire-bellies.

[AmandaChau]

Another Question: What (other than size) is the difference between an African Clawed Frog and an African Dwarf frog? What are the different housing, food and tank mate issues?

thank you

[tgampper]

Another Question: What (other than size) is the difference between an African Clawed Frog and an African Dwarf frog? What are the different housing, food and tank mate issues?

thank you

Welcome, Amanda to the forum!

The basic difference between African clawed frogs and the African dwarf frogs is size. African clawed frogs are much larger and in my opinion more exciting and easier to care for. They are fun to watch and of course they are very difficult to handle, much like catching a greased pig .

[Ken Worthington]

Hi Amanda, I believe that albino varieties of the African clawed frog (ACF) are probably more common in the UK pet-trade than natural coloured ones.
Also, as far as I'm aware, African Dwarf frogs (ADF) don't exist as albinos.

ADFs can be kept quite happily in numbers (depending on tank size) and can be kept with fish.....although feeding might be a problem as the fish and ADFs will compete for food and the frogs will probably lose out......I personally would go for a single species tank.

ACFs will require much more space per frog, hardier plants, and won't be ideal to share a tank with fish.....

I hope you and your family really enjoy your new pet

[Kurt]

Physically, the dwarfs have webbing between both their toes and fingers. Xenopus have it only between the toes.