African Bullfrog "Pixie" enclsures. Ghost killers and water bowls!

[mattfish]

It has been awhile since i have written anything in the forums but after years of hearing about sudden frog deaths that seem to have no cause i thought it time to share information with everyone that may shed some light on these "ghost" killers.
I have an African Pixie, Mr. Pickles, He is 2 1/2 years old now and almost 9 inches long. When he was 3 inches long i decided to remove his water bowl and Not to have any water feature in his enclosure. I feed him in a 10 gallon aquarium, not in his home enclosure. After he eats i add luk warm declorinated water to that feeding tank and within 1-10 minutes he goes to the bathroom. I then clean that tank out and put him back in it and again add more luk warm declorinated water about 2-3 inches deep for him to "soak" in for a while. During this time of him soaking it gives me a chance to check or thoroughly clean his home. After about 30 mins - 2 hours he will start getting restless and want to come out. I then put him back in his home enclosure. He NEVER goes to the bathroom in his home enclosure! the cocoa fiber in his home cage MUST be kept very wet. not standing water wet but soupy wet.

This is a way that works!!!! But i fully understand that many frog owners want to have water bowls or water features in their frogs enclosure for their frogs to go into whenever they choose to. That is fine! But there is something about Pixie frogs that need to be known and their are issues in having open water in their enclosure that needs to be understood to then be maintained properly.

First thing is the natural environment these African Giants come from. The area these frogs originate from is a Very Very dry area in Africa most the year. After the rainy season and after breeding is done these frogs are RARELY ever found in open water! They usually are found in moist dirt under shrubs. They do go into open water occasionally to go to the bathroom. But they rarely will ever sit in open water for long stretches of time after breeding and brooding of young is over. This is why i decided to remove open water from Mr. Pickles enclosure. Just because someone's frog may choose to sit in water 90% of the time in their enclosure doesn't mean its Healthy for the frog to do! It is something that rarely happens as a normal behavior in the wild so it may because of a different reason they are sitting in water other then because they just love too. It may stem from other things going on IN the frog that they feel compelled to spend so much time in the water. But it is NOT a natural instinct. American Bullfrogs and African Bullfrogs are very different in that way! But unfortunately many people treat their African Bullfrogs like American Bullfrogs to many Pixies demise.

If you choose to have a water bowl or water feature in the main enclosure there is something you need to understand. Bacteria and Mold spores proliferate in the environment we keep our frog in. Wet Warm Humid areas are a perfect place for these bad Bacteria's and Mold colony's to develop and multiply at rapid rates. Not all bacteria is bad! Not all molds are harmful to frogs overall health!! BUT when a bad Bacteria or Mold spore enter the frogs enclosure and are not kept in check it will soon reek Havoc on the frogs health. A frog suffering from illnesses caused by these microscopic "Ghost" killers will rarely be noticed because the frog looks overall healthy. A frog, just like any other animal, instinctually will not show weakness until they are so deathly sick that they can no longer go on. So a frog that has a deadly lung infection will look fine for months until one day he will just be dead. The owner will sit puzzled at this because that same frog may have just eaten the night before. It is the same with birds, a bird can be tweeting and happy one day and the next day may be sitting on the bottom of the cage and dead that night. The bird was sick for a long time but never showed it because they are instinctually programmed to never show weakness. By the time they are sitting on the bottom of the cage Most vets will tell you that the bird is to far gone for any help or effective treatment. It is the same with our beloved frogs. Most people wouldn't even notice when a harmful Bacteria or Mold has entered the frogs enclosure because the water may even look Crystal Clear and that owner may have a little filter in the water pool that has carbon in it. But CARBON DOES NOT KILL BACTERIA OR MOLD! In the fish aquarium long term carbon use can be damaging to fish. Carbon can strip water of beneficial elements that will cause the fishes slime coat to vanish. Once their protective slime coat is gone they can develop pits in their skin and parasites will then attach to them much easier. Frogs are even more sensitive than Fish to this! Carbon should only be ran for short periods of time. Usually if the water is discolored from natural waist build up or if the water smells then carbon should be used for a short time but then removed.

"But i like to use water bowls!" Okay that's cool! but you will need to buy 2 or more water bowls then. At the end of everyday take that bowl out and replace it with a sterilized bowl. Running the dirty bowl under warm water and using your fingers to clean it or just using soapy warm water to clean used water bowls IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Your fingers rubbing the bowl under running water does little to nothing and soapy warm water will NOT kill most mold spores or bacteria. To properly sterilize a used water bowl you can either soak it in bleach water ( a capful of bleach to gallon of water) for an hour or boil the dirty bowl for 10 mins. IF you use bleach you MUST rinse thoroughly usually until you can no longer smell the bleach on the item. then let it sit out for a day before using in the fogs home again. If you Boil it you can immediately use the bowl once it cools back down. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN SAFELY HAVE A WATER BOWL IN THE FROGS HOME!!!!!

"But I want an enclosure with water in it and maybe even a little waterfall!" Awesome! But now you have a bigger problem to deal with. You cannot easily boil or bleach the water side everyday. You can run a "intank" filter unit but that only removes heavy waist and has Absolutely no way to remove Bacteria and Mold Spores! So if you want this type of enclosure for your frog you MUST somehow install an Ultraviolet sterilizing unit! The Ultraviolet light bulb is housed in a housing unit that has water pumped around the light and out into the tank. (Ultraviolet light is harmful to your eyes, that is why it is inside a housing unit.) Once mold or bacteria enter this unit and are exposed to the light it is literally destroyed. the water is then sterile and gets pumped back into the frogs tank. The bulb needs to be replaced once a year and the quarts glass sleeve it sits in in the housing unit must be wiped down every 2-3 months for the light to have proper penetration for sterilization. The best brand names of U.V. units are "Aqua Ultraviolet" and "LifeGuard" and will cost around $100.00. Installing an external canister filter unit to the enclosure and purchasing an "inline" U.V. unit is the fastest and easiest way. You could then install the inline U.V. unit to the return line from the canister unit. (a 18 watt U.V. unit will work best!) NEVER USE OZONE!!! to much ozone will kill your frog very fast!!!! IF YOU WANT A WATER FEATURE IN YOUR FROG ENCLOSURE THIS IS THE ONLY SAFE WAY!

I know i sound bold with my absolute statements but its true! It hurts me to know that people are babying and spoiling their frogs but not realizing that there are huge problems with what they dont even see. Mr. Pickles is a Big Beautifully part of my family and i did a ton of research on what is best for him to live a long healthy life. I decided to remove all water bowls and water features because of the potentially high risk problems both harbor. IF you decide differently i ask that you look into the information i presented and properly maintain that water addition to stop these "Ghost" killers. I wish all the best to every frog lover out there!!! (:

[Krispy]

I personally do not own a big african myself. But i do have 2red eye leafs, 10 mixed species firebellies, and a baby pac man. This is really good information. Especially the part about water feature filtering. With the 10 water is a... well... b.... pain yeah... knowing now what ive read im going to try out the uv sterilizer and a external fluval filter setup. Man do i see this making my life so easy... Wanted to anyways but this confirms it. Also with the water dishes. Most poo in the water anyways and realizing this may be an issue for soakers like the pac man a 2nd dish will be made. While a little brutish in delivery this is actually some good info for any species. Thank you

[jfw60]

I am interested and will adopt the bowel free method. It does make sense, may I ask what you feed your Goliath Afr Bullfrog, and how often in terms of a feeding schedule? Cogent article.

[Lija]

I am interested and will adopt the bowel free method.

dont nobody relied to this only because we had this discussion way too many times before.

please refer to the care sheet Frog Forum - African Bullfrog - Pyxicephalus adspersus - Care and Breeding

[LittleFrog]

dont nobody relied to this only because we had this discussion way too many times before.

please refer to the care sheet Frog Forum - African Bullfrog - Pyxicephalus adspersus - Care and Breeding

Yeah, I personally prefer to listen to people with vastly more extensive experience than someone who's only owned ONE frog. His advice flies directly in the face of the advice of all the experts. I know my GABF is thriving in his viv with a large water source.

[SwimminSteve]

Mattfish, can you share your source of info for the natural history of the species? I would like to read more about their time spent away from water. Thanks.