A care sheet from Habitat-OS, a reptile husbandry software company, handed out at NARBC reptile shows, gives adult African dwarf frogs a tank of at least 24 x 12 x 12 in, and 36 x 12 x 12 in for a group of three to five. It wants water at 72 to 78 °F, gentle filtration and a tight lid.
Check a tank against the adult minimum with the enclosure size checker.
Which frog, and whose advice
This is the African dwarf frog (Hymenochirus boettgeri), fully aquatic, 1 to 2 in long as an adult and living 5 to 10 years. Habitat-OS says not to confuse it with the larger clawed frogs. Its care sheet calls itself reference, not veterinary advice. We found no vet or welfare care sheet for this frog.
Tank
| Stage | Minimum | Preferred |
|---|---|---|
| Tadpole or froglet | 8 x 8 x 8 | 12 x 8 x 8 |
| Juvenile | 12 x 8 x 8 | 18 x 10 x 10 |
| Subadult | 18 x 10 x 10 | 24 x 12 x 12 |
| Adult | 24 x 12 x 12 (61 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm) | 36 x 12 x 12 (91.4 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm) |
Habitat-OS says to think long and low, never tall: these frogs are clumsy swimmers that paddle to the surface for every breath, so a wide footprint with modest depth beats a deep tank. Its 36 x 12 x 12 in holds a group of three to five. Finish with a tight-fitting lid, since an escaped frog dries out fast.
Water
Keep the water at 72 to 78 °F (22 to 26 °C), easing to 68 to 72 °F (20 to 22 °C) overnight. Habitat-OS says a warm room may need no heater; otherwise use a small, guarded aquarium heater set low. Keep the filtration gentle: these frogs come from still wetlands and hate current.
Treat all tap water with a conditioner for chlorine and chloramine, which are lethal to them. Cycle the tank before the frogs arrive, keep ammonia and nitrite at zero, and change a quarter of the water each week, matched for temperature.
A University of Michigan lab protocol, written for lab tanks, keeps these frogs at 20 to 25 °C with at least 1.5 liters of water per frog.
Substrate and light
Use fine sand or a bare bottom. Habitat-OS calls mid-size gravel the classic mistake, because the frogs swallow whatever comes in with their food. UVB isn’t required.
Food
Habitat-OS calls them carnivores with a bottom feeder’s habits: frozen-thawed bloodworms, brine shrimp and sinking carnivore pellets, every 1 to 2 days. Food that floats is no use to them, so put it in front of them with a pipette or a feeding dish.
Company
Keep them in a group of their own kind, ideally three to five. Habitat-OS says community tanks are harder than they look: the frogs are slow, nearly blind feeders, and quick fish beat them to every meal unless you target-feed.
Handling and health
Habitat-OS calls this a watch-only pet, because its skin absorbs whatever it touches. A frog that still looks wrong a day later needs a vet who knows amphibians.