My African Bull frog looks.. well, weird!

[Caine]

Hi.

I just bought an African bull frog about two weeks ago. Bull frogs are very rare where I live and I've been looking for one for ages so I'm stoked to finally have one.. but after taking a closer look at him, my bull frog really doesn't look like the African Bull frogs you see on google. Mine is much darker in color and the head seems different too. He has a large cage with the required heating ect, eats a lot and is fairly active during the night, so I'm pretty sure he's not sick. I was told he's about 6 months old. Here's a pic of him, sorry about the crappy quality.. I have a video of him also if you guys need to see it.. Can anyone please tell me if my boy really is a normal African Bull Frog? I like him just the same anyway, but it'd be nice to know!

[JimO]

There are quite a few African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus sp.) keepers and experts on the forum who will probably be able to help you, but from that shot it looks more like an American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) to me, due to the pattern on the legs and the size of the legs compared with the body. There is also another large frog in the U.S., referred to as the Pig Frog (Rana grylio) that is often confused with the bullfrog. Both get quite large, but not as fat or quite as large as the Aftrican species.

[willtilian]

im sorry but you have been conned its a american bullfrog not an african

[Caine]

Oh, okay! This is a bit disappointing since I really like the African bull frog, but I guess it's my own fault for not being able to tell the difference! I just trusted the guy I got it from since he had a lot of frogs.. Anyway, I'm still very happy with my new frog and don't wanna trade him for anything. But do I care for him the same way as I would with an African bull frog? I know nothing about the American species, so I better start doing some research.. Thanks!

[Malachi]

They are not the same, American bullfrogs are very aquatic and need a larger cage relatively..

A few more shots would be nice just to make sure it is an American bullfrog.

[Caine]

His cage is one meter long and 60 centimeters wide. I hope this is okay for now at least, if not, I'll have to get him something better. I feel so stupid now. I'll be back with a video in a second. All the help is really appreciated.

[Caine]

Here is the video:

Imageshack - ff0011.mp4

[pixiefrogman]

Is he dead?

[Caine]

He's not dead I know he's not really moving in the video, but he's very active once he's in his cage, especially at night.

[DeMontague]

Hi, great picture and post! This is very similar to a frog I received about nine years ago from an African shipment. My best research was that it is a Dicroglossus occipitalis or Hoplobatrachus occipitalis. Use these names in a search engine and it may help to get information.

[Malachi]

SO! It would be a "african bull frog" ( Crowned Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus occipitalis) ) but not a pixie..talk about confusing labels

[Eel Noob]

Very cool frog. Didn't think it was that big from looking at the picture

[Caine]

So he's NOT an American bull frog after all? This is confusing! I googled Hoplobatrachus occipitalis and I think this is the species that looks like him the most.. are they rare? And thanks, I think he's pretty cool, too.

[Kurt]

Definitely not an American bull or pig frog. The back is too textured.

[Kevin1]

It looks to me to be some kind of Conraua species

[Kurt]

That's what I thought too, but since others have seemed to identified it, I didn't bother researching it myself.

[JimO]

It's a cool frog either way. And now that I've looked at the photos of the species you suspect, that does appear to be what it is.