African Clawed Frog

In their natural habitat, the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis) live in streams that are not too fast-flowing and also in ponds.

They have small eyes high up on their heads, near the top, to enable them to look out for predators on the surface of the water. They have very muscular legs and fantastic large, fully webbed feet that are just perfect for swimming. Their bodies are quite flat. On their toes they have claws (hence the name!). They are usually a grey/brown colour and white underneath.

The females are usually larger than the males and this is quite common amongst frogs. Females do tend to be larger.

There is also a golden clawed frog which is actually an albino variant of the african clawed frog, and this is more commonly seen in captive-bred frogs.

This frog is totally aquatic and is very easily looked after in an aquarium. It is nice to keep a pair of these frogs and they can be bought from tropical fish shops.

If you are going to keep these frogs, then your aquarium needs to have an escape-proof lid that is well-ventilated. They enjoy basking in the light of which there should be a good amount.

The water should be kept at about 20cm depth, and heated to a temperature of between 22-27 degrees centigrade. The water should obviously be kept clean so you will need to change it partially often, and totally change the water every couple of months.

A layer of gravel could be used as a substrate. Then you can decorate the aquarium however you wish - perhaps with some rocks and artificial plants.

African clawed frogs do enjoy a lot of food! They have wide mouths and will have a go at eating practically anything that moves! Feed them earthworms and insects two or three times a week.

Unfortunately you cannot handle clawed frogs and a net should be used when you need to clean their aquarium and so need to transfer them to another container.

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