$$$ and African Dwarf Frogs (ADF)

Here's the break down on how much money I've spent on my ADFs:

The aquarium set actually came with the filter
and a LED lamp. I don't like the lamp, so it's
put away in a box somewhere

• Aquarium + filter $30
• Gravel $5
• live plants $2.50 for the small, $7 for the large (looking back, I should've just gotten few smalls)
• Spongebob pineapple house (decoration) $6
• Fish decoration $2
• Rock plate (decoration) $3
• ADF I think they were $3 or $4 each. Not crazy expensive
• Food pellets $3
• Frozen bloodworm $4 (36 cubes, each cube lasts about 4 or 5 feedings for my 3 frogs..these last forever)
• Frozen brine shrimp: same as bloodworm $4
• Turkey baster $2
• Filter cartridge $7.50 for a pack of 6 (I think they recommend that you change every 2 months? I've had my frogs for a year now, and I've only bought a box of 6) 

Total: $70, excluding the 3 ADFs

All these things except for the frogs and live plants came from Walmart. I'm sure you can get them on amazon.com for good prices too. 

To Have or Not To Have African Dwarf Frogs (ADF)

I first got the idea of getting ADFs from my friend that I met in college. Our school has a policy that only allow animals that can survive under water for 24 hours and in less than 10 gallon tanks. When I saw my friend's ADFs, I thought they were the cutest and most interesting  aquatic creatures I've ever seen! They're very lively and playful; I can literally watch them for hours. I don't think they're too high maintenance creatures, especially if you have a live aquarium.

Here's a list of things you want to take into consideration before buying ADFs:

• Aquarium. These playful creatures need lots of space to swim and hang out to be happy. Happy frogs = healthy frogs. The general rule of thumb is 1 gallon per ADF. Since I have 3, I have a 3 gallon tank. I will post about how I set up my aquarium soon. 
• Diet. While they can get all the required nutrients through pellets, they like live foods a lot better. Can you handle frozen live food such as bloodworms and brine shrimps? Most pet stores that sell aquatic pets carry them. 
• Tank decorations. ADFs need a lot of hiding space, especially if you have multiples. Their skin is also very delicate, so you would need silk or live plants. NO PLASTIC PLANTS. This is also where you'll want to consider COST OF ADFs
• Patience. Most pet stores (such as Petco) carry ADFs...but are infected with chytrid fungus. I went through a few frogs in Petco before realizing that I need to find a different ADF carrier that don't have chytrid infected ADF environments and tools. You may want to consider finding a breeder (chances are, if their frogs can breed...they don't have chytrid). 

Look how cute! Froggy eyes :)

There are other websites that go more into detail about raising ADFs...but I'm just going to share my personal experience with them. Because I'm a college girl, I don't have that much time and dedication to responsibility...yet somehow I'm doing it right! So really, in my perspective, these aren't very high maintenance pets. This may sound very irresponsible, and borderline animal cruelty...but I last winter break I completely forgot about my ADFs and left them at school for a month. When I came back, all 3 were still alive and happy, however I can't say the same about my live aquatic plants. So, clearly they ate the plant and lived. This is why I highly suggest live plants in the aquarium. 

Why "brog" About Frogs?

Last Saturday (Feb 22nd, 2014) my African Dwarf frogs (ADF) laid eggs, and it was super exciting at first. So, first thing I did was remove the eggs because I remember once reading on a website that the frogs will eat their eggs if you don't remove them. Knowing how fat my ADFs are, I knew they would get to the eggs soon.

Then I started to research about ADFs breeding and raising their young, and that's when I realized that there isn't enough information out there in the net on ADFs. I was hoping to find detailed information on other people's experiences with raising ADF tadpoles...but there were only a few. It was surprising, because I know these are pretty popular pets. When I first wanted a pair, Petco would sell out too fast; it was hard to get my hands on a pair because of the high demands. Then I realized why there weren't a lot of info on these little guys: chytrid fungal infection. It's an infection that's deadly to ADFs, and it's very common in pet stores. I'm guessing that there isn't too much information out there on ADFs because they just die off :( So I decided to share my experiences with ADFs with the internet.

These are my super cute and playful ADFs

Princess Peach

 Toad

and Yoshi