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Atlas / Library / Aquatic frog / African Dwarf Frog
BeginnerIUCN LC
Aquatic frog

African Dwarf Frog

Hymenochirus boettgeriกบแคระแอฟริกัน

Narrower than the page we cite. The source we cite, read on 10 Aug 2026, gives a wider range than the one above. The narrowing is ours and nobody here has written down why. aquariadise.com

Photograph: Marius Burger · CC0

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

Aquatic · temperate · dryFrom the sheet: 22–26°C, humidity null%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/hymenochirus-boettgeri

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Temperature22–26 °C
Humiditynull %

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
22–26°Ambient

One ambient band, 22–26°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states22-26 °C; gentle aquatic heater

Humidity

null%Target RH

The sheet states100% aquatic; dechlorinated water pH 6.5-7.5; very gentle filtration (low current); 20-25% weekly water change

UVB

Not needed for this species

Stated in the sheet, not inferred.

The sheet statesStandard lighting 8–12 h; UVB not required

Enclosure
Aquarium 15–20 L for 3–4 individuals (10 L minimum per group); lid needed; depth 20–30 cm (surfaces to breathe)

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m2.5–4 cm
1520100400 cm
2.5–4 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Adult size
2.5–4 cm SVL; juvenile ~0.5 cm
Lifespan
5–8 years in captivity
Legal status
Unrestricted
Difficulty
Beginner
Cohabitation
Groups of 3+ individuals recommended; social species; avoid fast fish (feeding competition)

How common this animal is

1,082,602Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Terrarium / aquarium
Aquarium 15–20 L for 3–4 individuals (10 L minimum per group); lid needed; depth 20–30 cm (surfaces to breathe)
Temperature
22–26 °C; gentle aquatic heater
Humidity / water
100% aquatic; dechlorinated water pH 6.5–7.5; very gentle filtration (low current); 20–25% weekly water change
Lighting / UVB
Standard lighting 8–12 h; UVB not required
Substrate / setup
Fine sand or bare bottom; aquatic plants (Anubias, Java moss); hides (pipes, flat rocks); no coarse substrate
Feeding
Carnivore: frozen bloodworms (mud worms), brine shrimp, daphnia, small sinking carnivore pellets; poor eyesight — targeted feeding with tweezers recommended; 3–4×/week

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
5–8 yrLifespan in care
5 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Sexing
♂: small white post-axillary gland visible behind each armpit; ♀: rounded, more voluminous abdomen
Maturity
9–12 months
Triggering
Simulation of dry/rainy cycle: lower water level by half for 2 weeks, then add fresh water 5 °C colder and gradually raise to 26–28 °C
Spawning
100–750 floating eggs deposited at the surface during inguinal amplexus; eggs adhere to plants and surfaces; remove adults after spawning
Tadpoles / metamorphosis
Hatching 48 h; filter-feeding larvae (infusoria, suspended spirulina) then brine shrimp nauplii; metamorphosis 5–8 weeks
Juvenile rearing
Very small at metamorphosis; daphnia, brine shrimp; slow growth; separate from adults

Common health problems

Dropsy (oedema)
Signssubcutaneous swelling, general bloating — bacterial or viral cause; isolate and treat with amikacin under veterinary supervision
Chytridiomycosis (Bd)
Signsless documented than in terrestrial anurans but possible — PCR advised
Underfeeding in cohabitation with fast fish
Signstargeted feeding mandatory for these poor-sighted frogs
Quarantine
Signs21–30 days in a separate aquarium; check appetite (target with tweezers) and count individuals (tendency to hide); observe posture (swelling = dropsy alert)

Good to know

  • Underwater song emitted by vibrating hyoid muscles: no visible air bubble; nocturnal courtship signal
  • Very poor eyesight: feed with tweezers or stop the filter for a few minutes during feeding to prevent food drifting out of reach
  • Surfaces to breathe air (functional lungs): keep max depth 30 cm for comfort
  • Underwater song emitted by vibrating hyoid muscles — no visible air bubble; nocturnal courtship signal
  • Surfaces to breathe air (functional lungs) — keep max depth 30 cm for comfort

Common questions

Can it go in my community aquarium?

With calm, small fish, yes. Avoid anything fast that will steal its food, because these frogs are slow and near-sighted feeders.

Does it need to reach the surface?

Yes, it breathes air, so keep the water shallow enough for an easy trip up and never fill the tank right to a sealed lid.

What do I feed it?

Sinking frozen bloodworms or small frozen foods dropped near it. Flake food floats away and it will never find it.

Should I get more than one?

Yes, they do better in small groups of three or more, and you will see far more natural behaviour.

What it needs

A thermometerbecause temp22-26 °C; gentle aquatic heater
No UVB: the sheet states none is neededbecause uvbStandard lighting 8-12 h; UVB not required
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « Aquarium 15–20 L for 3–4 individuals (10 L minimum per group); lid needed; depth »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

62%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 4 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: enclosure size audit, day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.