Description: From the African Congo, 2 similar looking species are available, the more common Hymenochirus boettgeri and the more warty H. curtipes. These are flat shaped, fully aquatic frogs that need to stay in the water to keep from drying out. Large adult females can reach about 2 ½" in size, most stay under 2". Can live for 3 years or more.

Temperature: 77°F, a small drop at night is ok.

Water: Filtered with a pH of about 7.6 to 7.8. Some hardness is beneficial. Change about 25% of the water every 1 to 2 weeks as needed.

Lighting: Not important.

Feeding: A voracious bottom feeding predator that mostly uses eyesight to find prey. Frozen or live foods should be given, as fish food flakes are not well recognized as prey. Blood worms, earthworms, tubifex worms, brine shrimp, etc. Be careful not to overfeed.

Habitat: A one-gallon tank will work for 2 frogs but a larger tank would be easier to maintain. Under-gravel filtration breaks down wastes biologically using beneficial bacteria. I highly recommend them for effectiveness and ease of use. Smooth gravel should be used to avoid irritating the frogs skin. Live or artificial plants can be included and hiding places to sleep in, such as caves, are a must. Take precautions to prevent the tank décor from trapping the frogs if they dig under them. Fish may be aggressive toward these frogs and will certainly out-compete them for food. Small scavenging catfish and small algae-eaters are compatible.

Sexing: Adult males are smaller/thinner and have 2 small pimple-like post-axillary subdermal glands behind their front legs. Males also sing, it sounds like humming. Sexual maturity is reached in about 9 months.

Breeding: Breeding pairs need a tank all to themselves. The male will sing at night to attract the female (she should be fat with eggs) and if she is ready, amplexus will occur. The female will tow the male around to fertilize the eggs as she does a flip and lays them up-side-down at the water surface. This can last for hours.

Eggs should be incubated in a separate tank away from the adults. The parents can be removed or the miniscule eggs can be siphoned out.

The tadpoles are very, very tiny and about a week after hatching they will be ready to start feeding on micro organisms. An infusoria culture is needed to supply the tads with enough to feed on for 1 to 2 weeks. At this feeding stage they need Daphnia larvae, brine shrimp nauplii or other very tiny prey until they are large enough to eat adult food.

ENJOY YOUR PET LIFE FORMS, Dave & Donna