The African Claw Frog

The African Claw Frog

History of the Claw Frog:

African Clawed Frogs are native to southern Africa. They grow to about 4-5 in and can live up to 15 years! They are easy to take care of, making them a popular choice of aquarium frogs.

These frogs have been bred for many generations under laboratory conditions. They were once used as a pregnancy test. If a female Clawed Frog was injected with the urine of a pregnant woman, the frog would release eggs.

What Claw Frogs look like:

These frogs are muticolored, with their backs in various shades of olive gray with large gray blotches. Their bellies, toes and legs are creamy white. A yellow tinge may be present. They also may come in Albino (which is what I have). They are a pink color on their backs and an almost creamy white on their bellies, toes and legs.

They have a flat body. Their head is smaller than their body with eyes on top of their head. The eyes are small, found and lacking eyelids. They have four "fingers" on their front hands and webbed hind limbs with three black claws on each foot. They have no tongue. But they do have lungs which they depend upon for their air.

They have no visible ear. They have smooth skin with a stitched pattern. Males do not have a cloacal (dicharge canal cavity) flap. Females do though. The male will develop darkend "nuptial pads" on their inner forarms and fingers during mating season.

Cool things about Claw Frogs:

If you hear a metallic clicking sound lasting about 1/2 a second at a rate of 100 per minute, your frog is talking. Both the male and female are capable of doing this though the male has no vocal sacs. They can be heard at a distance of 100 yards.

They give off a mild "fishy" smell that repls many verebrate preditors. They also generate organic compounds labeled "migainins" that contain antibiotic, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antivirul actions.

Be careful with Claw Frogs:

Your frog may seem frightened of you. He may bash himself against the sides of the tank when you approach. So be careful not to overly excite them.

You can put your frog in with fish, as long as the fish are bigger than him. I have learned from experiance that even if the fish is the same size as your frog, the fish will disappear in a short time. Clawed Frogs love to be with other Clawed Frogs so it is possible to have more than one.

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