How do you feed your African Dwarf Frog?

**CrunchyLeaf** · 03-27-2012, 07:10 PM

Hey all!

I love my little African Dwarf Frog and I would even love to get a bigger tank so I could have more of them one day. I wondered if anyone has a streamlined process for feeding ADFs. After having the tank for about a week I was concerned that he wasn't finding the little frog pellets I was dropping in the tank for him. That's potentially two problems because he's not eating, and the food is decaying in the tank.

The ten gallon setup I inherited from someone else had one of those little clear, floating breeding containers with it. So I started catching the frog in a net and putting him in that breeding container, then feeding him those little frozen bloodworm cubes (thawed of course).

Sometimes I find myself spending 15 to 20 minutes just trying to catch the little guy without tearing up all the plants in my tank. He's so fast! Then he sits in there for awhile and eats.

I don't have a problem feeding him this way, but wondered if there's something easier that I haven't thought of.

**guppymummy** · 03-27-2012, 07:14 PM

Well I don't know much about the little frogs, but I do know that by catching him you are stressing him out big time and that is not good.

It may just take him longer to settle in before he feels like eating. He does not need to eat every day to be ok, and even if he doesn't eat much for days he will still be fine.

Maybe someone else can add to that about how best to feed him.

**CrunchyLeaf** · 03-27-2012, 07:18 PM

Yeah I was concerned about stressing him as well. I should have mentioned that, for that reason, I only do this 2 or 3 times a week.

**Fishkeeper** · 03-27-2012, 08:31 PM

Use a turkey baster to squirt food directly in front of him. He'll soon learn that baster=food.

**bmwguy525** · 03-27-2012, 09:04 PM

ADFs are definitely hard to feed, but you shouldn't be catching them every day. That only leads to stress and they HATE it.

If you are open to using live worms, they are very attracted to the moving worms, and if you drop the worms anywhere near them they will be quick to chomp them up. I was using sinking pellets to feed my 2 ADFs, and they barely ate any of them on a daily basis -- this might've been the size, lack of smell, texture, hard to find, etc. I read a lot about having to carefully place food in front of them, using plates, straws, etc, and I never used anything.

I started feeding live worms every now and then, and now the ADFs hunt out the worms. Now they are in a planted 20 gallon with a GBR and a school of neon tetras, and the ADFs are the FIRST ones to the worms once they hit the bottom. The ADFs wouldn't come out of the woodworks when I was using the pellets. With the live worms they instantly come to the front of the tank, and power their way through the fish to get their food first before they go back to their business.

**Tiari** · 03-28-2012, 12:24 AM

Target feed using 12 inch tweezers found in the reptile section of pet stores. Just pinch up your worms, soaked frog bites, and get your hand in there holding it until its right in front of him. He'll snap it up. Mine usually takes several servings this way, every other day. Its the best way to make sure they are eating.

**cardiocentric** · 03-28-2012, 04:39 AM

buy a pair of reptile tongs, thaw out your cubes under a bright lamp, and feed the worms individually... that's how i do it, every other day. it becomes very simple after doing it a few times. a snail is a good thing to have for the tank they're in because they tend to eat the leftovers if one or two worms happen to make it to the bottom. they aren't exactly the smartest little buggers in the world... i love mine to death though <3

**cardiocentric** · 03-28-2012, 04:41 AM

+1 to bmwguy... i have never handled mine, they get really scared/stressed during gravel vacuuming, i can't imagine handling them unless i had to. never feed the pellets either, like he said... mine NEVER ate them.

**ekfishlover2011** · 03-29-2012, 02:17 AM

they are also very easy to train. If you train them to expect food at a certain time every day, you can get like a little reptile water dish and put it in a corner of the tank. Then use the baster or just aim well and put his pellets in the bowl. Once hes trained he will wait there around feeding time everyday. They really love bloodworms IME as snacks. Mine rip them right out of my fingers. Its fun to drag them around when you dont let go and they wont either. XD

**magicmed** · 04-02-2012, 08:54 AM

i have 2 ADF in a 10 gallon slightly planted tank. had them about 6 months now and they seem to look for food when they see me hovering over their tank. i feed mine a mix of frog pellets and frozen bloodworms and they eat til their little bellies pudge out. mine are very active so they have no problems finding food. great little frogs, good choice :)