Other Xenopus species coming Friday!

[TommyBoi]

I just wanted to let everyone know, that on Friday, I will be taking some pics when my new frogs arrive!!!
I ordered several other Xenopus species!!!! I'm so excited!!!
I will be getting adult pairs of:
Xenopus amieti (Volcano Clawed Frog)
Xenopus clivii (also referred to as Eritrea Clawed Frog, and Peracca's Clawed Frog)
Xenopus muelleri (Muller's Platanna)
CO3 (unknown taxa)

X. amieti are a small frog, growing to about the same size as S. Tropicalis
X. clivii & X. Muelleri grow to a medium size, similar to X. Borealis
CO3 (I should know by sometime tomorrow)

When they arrive, I will officially have 7 species of Xenopus, all Pairs of M/FM
X. Laevis; X. Borealis; X. Boumbaensis; X. Amieti; X. Clivii; X. Muelleri; CO3
I am VERY excited, as u can probably tell...I am going to get a pair of trops next month, so that'll make 8 different species of clawed frog that I'll have!!

the other day, when i took a couple pics, that the X. boumbaensis have 4 claws (like tropicalis)...just thought it to be an interesting mention ;o)

If anyone knows where we can find the endangered X. Gilli, PLEASE let me know! I've seen a few pictures of them, and they look AWESOME! - sincerely, Tom

[SanderB]

Can´t wait to see the pictures. I have seen 1 other species of clawed frogs in my life, I should have bought them, I think it where Xenopus tropicalis.

[TommyBoi]

The CO3 is a yet unnamed taxa, but they come from the Congo ;o) And they grow to medium/borealis size ;o)
I CANNOT wait til Friday morning!!

[rodsboys]

That is awesome. I assume you have plans to breed all of them? You will soon be the resident Xenopus expert. lol I have only seen a few pics of some of those species. Little info out there. You should record everything and get a good camera for the future book.

[TommyBoi]

I am going to invest in a better camera in the next month or so...and, as for being an expert, lol...thanks!! Yes, I do plan to eventually breed them all, at least once each. As well, I have about 200 tads hatching last night/today, and they're in a 20 high tank...I was advised to space them out to 1 tad per gallon, after a few days ;o) I am very excited about it all!!!!

[rodsboys]

I am going to invest in a better camera in the next month or so...and, as for being an expert, lol...thanks!! Yes, I do plan to eventually breed them all, at least once each. As well, I have about 200 tads hatching last night/today, and they're in a 20 high tank...I was advised to space them out to 1 tad per gallon, after a few days ;o) I am very excited about it all!!!!

Sounds like you are going to have to invest in some sponge filters and Rubbermaid trash cans. lol

[TommyBoi]

I believe ur right!!!! And I'm looking forward to every minute of it!!!

[tgampper]

You will soon have a very nice collection of Xenopus!
It will be great if you can successfully breed them so the less common species will become easily available. In the past, I've kept Silurana tropicalis, which are my favorite. Unfortunately, right now, I don't have the room at home to establish another tropicalis colony. I do not recommend interspecific breeding. Many interspecific hybrids are sterile due to the arrangement of their chromosomes. Some examples of natural hybrids are laevis X gilli, laevis X muelleri and victorianus X borealis.

I doubt very seriously you will find X. gilli on the market (they are the most colorful of Xenopus). They are endangered right now, but I believe they will be critically endangered soon. They are interbreeding with the more aggressive laevis that share their range. The range of gilli is very small, being restricted to the Cape peninsula of South Africa. Their habitat is "blackwater", acidic ponds of the low-lying areas of the coastal fynbos. Their call is quite different than laevis.

[TommyBoi]

OMG!!! Less than an hour til the new frogs arrive!!! I'm going stir crazy, waiting for the time to come lol!!!! I hope I can get some fairly decent shots of them for you guys!! I can't wait!!!

[Jenste]

Demanding pictures the moment they come in!

I am very jealous, at this point I do not have room to set up any tanks for other species, so I will live vicariously through you!


How many frogs will you have total? I am at my limit with 14 frogs (plus two I am babysitting so a total of 16) and 2 axolotls - not bad for an apartment ha! . . . oh and a fiance and 3 cats

[SanderB]

Photos?

[rodsboys]

Photos?

Agreed!

[buddythecat]

where can you order these frogs??

[TommyBoi]

Hello everyone! First of all, let me apologize for being away - literally, the day the new frogs arrived, a bunch of personal drama started happening, and I've spent a great deal of time dealing with those issues.
During this time, I have tried numerous times, to get some recordings or clear pics of the frogs, but my camera outputs fairly blurry images, and the other species' pigmentation, features cannot be seen clearly, or appreciated ;o(
So, today, I posted 3 clips on youtube, of the "Mama" african clawed frog, and 2 clips of the tadpoles, at 1 week, and again, at 2 weeks...
Mama frog...YouTube - Female (mama) African clawed frog
Tadpoles at 1 week...YouTube - African Clawed frog tadpoles clip 1
Tadpoles at 2 weeks...YouTube - African Clawed frog tadpoles clip 2

And, here's a pic of the "CO3" clawed frog...
http://i51.tinypic.com/2w20nld.jpg

[artes]

She's pretty! I like her.

[TommyBoi]

I recorded the tadpoles tonight, to add to my video diary of their progress...I have never had the tadpoles survive more than a couple of weeks...so this is definitely exciting for me. They ALL have their hind legs now, and 3 of them have their arms out now!!
In the next few days or so, I'm gonna prepare another tank, to try breeding my pairs
of X. Muelleri, the X. Clivii, the X. amieti, and the CO3... Im excited, & nervous all at the same time. But if I can get success at breeding them, then, we can have them more abundant & available for any of you guys that would like some...so wish me luck.
I would like to know, a good, basic combination of flake foods, etc...so i can blend/grind up my own tadpole powder, so its ready for when I get tadpoles again...any help is greatly appreciated!!
Here's a clip of the x. laevis tads at 5 weeks old (as of 5-4-2011)

[Jenste]

I use a mortar and pestle to finely grind up Reptomin sticks and HBH frog and tadpole bites. You don't want to use fish flakes because they aren't fish LOL.... the flakes do not meet their dietary requirements

[SanderB]

Is spirulina good food for them?

[Jenste]

No, spirulina is actually a blue-green algae. While it would be great for fish fry (babies), it is not very beneficial for xenopus tadpoles.

Besides the powdered reptomin and frog bites... taking a cube of frozen bloodworm in a cup of water, completely defrosting and the "liquifying" in a blender for 60 seconds is a great supplement into their diet.

Xenopus are filter feeders, meaning they absorb their food from the water of their environment so their food has to be exceptionally fine for them to be able to eat it. This differs from Hymenochirus (dwarf frog) tadpoles who eat live food as tadpoles.

[rodsboys]

No, spirulina is actually a blue-green algae. While it would be great for fish fry (babies), it is not very beneficial for xenopus tadpoles.

Besides the powdered reptomin and frog bites... taking a cube of frozen bloodworm in a cup of water, completely defrosting and the "liquifying" in a blender for 60 seconds is a great supplement into their diet.

Xenopus are filter feeders, meaning they absorb their food from the water of their environment so their food has to be exceptionally fine for them to be able to eat it. This differs from Hymenochirus (dwarf frog) tadpoles who eat live food as tadpoles.

Wouldn't being a filter feeder make it pretty likely that algae is a large part of their diet? Just a thought.