Pet of the Day : Albino African Clawed Frogs ( Xenopus laevis)

Today is not about my goats. Today is about one of my many varieties of domestic animals I have as pets. Our Albino African Clawed Frogs, also known as Xenopus laevis meaning “strange foot”. This refers to the large sharp claws on the feet. My frogs originated from South Africa. These little guys are plump , medium sized, about 5 inches with smooth, slippery skin. They have large webbed rear feet. Their front feet are clawed with black tips. These are very hardy little fat frogs that when taken care of well, can live a very long time.

Providing the proper living conditions, which include a warm fish tank with at least 30 cm of water , with a temperature of 24 c or 75 F. You also need to provide a hiding place for  them, a large rock, plant or tube. Diet is very important.  These are not the first little frogs we have had. We were told they needed to eat fresh worm, so we were in the garden everyday to provide what we thought they needed. they ate with great relish, then died. this is after careful research into how to keep these exotic creatures. So we tried it again, thinking we had not gotten healthy or hardy specimens the first time. Well I am sorry to say that those little fellows were just as unhappy with a worm diet and joined the others in our tiny graveyard in the back. I swore that I would never have them as pets again. I talked my self into believing that maybe some animals just should remain in their natural habitat. Well never say never, because our new little frog group have been very happy here at Gullringstorp for nearly 2 years now! They happily eat melted frozen mosquito larvae or shrimp krill. How do I know they are happy?  A couple of factors lead me to believe they are happy; they have grown substantially since they came to Gullringstorp and they make the most lovely froggy sound. I know the  proper word is “croaking” but that does not begin to describe the soft contented sound that emerges from their tank that I hear as I eat my breakfast. I understand that they will only make that sound when they feel really happy! That makes me happy!

Meet our little frog family:

They love their big rock to hang over

There are all 3 of our little frogs and a companion gold fish who soon out grew the small tank and was moved to our larger tank

Our little frog gang

Oh I forgot to mention; these are supposed to be blind. They do respond to movement close to their tank, but sometimes have a difficult time finding food in the tank. When they do find food, they use their front feet to scoop it into their mouths. It really is cute to watch them scoop the tiny red larvae into their large mouth with those cute little (or big) front feet. They use both feet at the same time.

Generally, before I can sit with my breakfast and tea, I tend to everyone else first. I check on the goats, feed the cats and Max, say “good morning” to Little Lady and then check all the fish tanks, upstairs and downstairs. This morning I saw a tank full of tiny white dots in the breakfast room. I yelled to my husband that we had tiny frog eggs!

Tiny frog eggs were everywhere in the tank

I was so excited I hadn’t seen this:

The male rides the females like this as they mate. They can lay up to 1,000 eggs which will hatch in 2-3 days

I told my husband that we should give them their privacy!  Hee hee! But I couldn’t resist watching and photographing them!

As the female swims around the tank, her lover stays right on her back, clasping her around her waist. He goes on the ride, with her, where ever she decides to swim.

Here are our 3 frogs, two of which are obviously, engaged

We could end up with a tank full of little baby tadpoles! Wish us luck !!