Recently, I decided to go on a vacation, which I haven’t done in almost 10 years. I am not complaining, it is just a fact! So of course, my focus is on my pets and how will they be taken care of while I am away. Figuring out how long my fish and frogs can go without eating is a must!
How long can an African clawed frog go without eating? Most aquatic frogs can go three to four days without eating. This includes African dwarf and African clawed frogs. The longer an aquatic pet goes without eating increases the chances it will start nipping at other inhabitants of the tank.
You might not be going away on vacation, maybe you are just running out of food and wondering how long you can go without feeding your frogs before heading down to the pet store? I did some research online and found some suggestions. Also, being in the hobby for a few decades, I feel I am able to make the right call on this one. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Whether you have a dwarf or clawed frog doesn’t matter as the information in this article is interchangeable.
Automatic Fish Feeder Saves the Day
So before we get to far ahead in this article, why not consider an automatic feeder for your aquarium? Then, you know your aquatic pets are being fed, even when you are gone. Of course, you will have to consider that if you have fish in the tank as well, the fish might get some of the frog’s food.
If you mix the frogs and fish food in together in the feeder, you can cross your fingers and hope your frogs end up getting something at the bottom of the tank. Better yet, why not have two different feeders and time them so that the fish get fed first and then shortly after that the frog’s food will be introduced to the tank?
This way, the fish will hopefully be full and won’t bother going after the frog’s food.
Now of course, this will cost you more money, however automatic feeders aren’t that much so why not check one out? I like this automatic feeder from Amazon. It takes batteries so you don’t need to plug it in.
The only way this wouldn’t work is if you feed the fish and frogs the exact same diet. Which you probably shouldn’t be but if you are, here is what to do. Starting a few weeks before going away, make sure to feed the fish different food so that they will get used to it and know to expect. This way, when it comes time to using the automatic feeder, the fish will be expecting the food you feed them. Hopefully, filling up on it and leaving the frog food alone. I hope that makes sense to you.
I recommend feeding the fish flakes or anything else as long as it isn’t pellets. As well, feed the frogs their pellet food as per usual.
How Long can African Clawed and Dwarf Frogs go Without Eating?
I couldn’t find any scientific evidence to back up how long an aquarium frog could go without eating so I will use some of my own knowledge and experience with aquariums to come up with a recommendation. Of course, I have to say that you and only you are responsible with the health and well-being of your aquarium pets. That being said, let’s discuss this a bit.
I have been away for weekends and long weekends many times without my tank inhabitants being fed. Every time I came home, the fish were fine. I feel that most clawed or dwarf frogs could easily go at least three to four days without eating. In the wild, I highly doubt there is food available to these creatures every day, let alone twice a day. I could only think of two reasons why not feeding your frogs daily might be an issue. Here they are:
- If by chance your frog is not 100% healthy, then not feeding it for three to four days might be enough to weaken the frog enough that it won’t make it. This also means that if the frog starts showing signs of weakness in the tank, it could draw attention from hungry fish. The fish could start nipping at it, eventually killing the frog. Nobody wants that to happen.
- If the frog is healthy and strong and starts to get hungry, its temperament could change. If you have small fish in the tank with the frog when it gets hungry, the fish could be in trouble. It isn’t beyond an African clawed frog to eat very small fish. In the wild, this probably happens all of the time. That is the danger of having a hungry frog.
I feel that if you go beyond the four day mark, you are risking these things happening. It doesn’t mean that after four days your frog will be sick and die or eat bite sized fish. Not at all. It just means the potential for these things to occur will rise. That’s just my ‘two cents’ on the subject!
- After all of that, it should be noted that once African aquarium frogs reach maturity, they really don’t require feeding every day. A young frog will need to eat daily to build up its strength and grow. An older frog does not need to eat daily, it will if you feed it but it doesn’t require it to survive.
How Much Food Should you Feed an African Dwarf or Clawed Frog?
I recommend feeding your frogs a small enough amount of food so there is never any food left over after each feeding. Feeding two pellets per frog is most likely enough and maybe too much for a very young frog. Of course, the frog would eat more if you fed it more but it just doesn’t need it.
Leave your frogs wanting more then you know you are never feeding them too much. This will save you money over time, leave less food to clean out of the tank and you will end up with a healthy frog.
You can feed more than two pellets, if you have larger clawed frogs and just watch to ensure all pellets get eaten. It will take a week or two but after that you should have a pretty accurate feel for how much food to give them.
What to Feed your African Dwarf and Clawed Frogs?
Aquarium frogs, such as the dwarf and clawed varieties. are omnivorous. They will eat a wide range of foods. They will also eat live foods such as insects, etc. Chances are, however, you’re not going to feed your frogs mosquitoes. The foods available commercially will provide all of the nutrients your frog needs for a long healthy life.
Keep in mind when feeding frogs that the food needs to get to the frogs. If there are fish in between the foods path, there is a high chance the fish will eat it. One way to get around this is to use pellets as they fall to the bottom of the tank very quickly.
Pellets are a great option but that won’t give your frog everything it needs. Frozen foods such as mysis and brine shrimp can be broken off in small pieces while still frozen and dropped into the tank. These foods don’t drop as fast as pellets but will fall fairly quickly, especially while still frozen.
Frozen bloodworms and krill are another great option to add variety.
Conclusion
While some aquarists might say you need to feed your frogs and fish every single day, you just don’t have too. Just like with humans, sure, you like to eat every day but you could go a few days without eating anything and survive just fine. The same applies to your frogs. Going away and not feeding them for three or four days is okay. Doing this might actually benefit the frogs and the aquarium water parameters.
One thing you can do is give your aquatic pets a bit extra just before the few days of not eating, to make sure they are good and full.
Also, don’t discount trying an automatic feeder, if your budget allows you to do so. Then, you don’t have to worry about anything. Well, I guess the power could go out. If it does though, you will still be fine and so will the frogs. One more thing, most automatic fish feeders run on batteries so you should be fine. Just use fresh batteries. Good luck!
Want to know if aquarium frogs bite? Check out my article HERE on the subject.
Want to know if dwarf frogs can live with Betta fish? Check out my article HERE on the subject.
Best Tankmates for African Dwarf Frogs
