African Dwarf Clawed Frogs

Behaviour of African Dwarf Clawed Frog tadpoles

The tadpoles do not display any shoaling behaviour. During the first weeks of their lives they swim immediately below the water surface. They will not eat food that has fallen to the bottom of the tank. This makes feeding them difficult for us. In some literature you can read observations about Hymenochirus curtipes and H. boettgeri tadpoles swimming in lower regions of the water. At night they should swim directly towards the light of a torch. In my opinion this is because water organisms in the frogs’ natural habitats swim towards the light. At the end of metamorphosis the juvenile frogs do not display the hiding behaviour of adult ADCFs