African Dwarf Frog Bloated And Floating At The Top

Hey, so I have two ADFs. I feed them ZooMed Aquatic Frog pellets daily and freezed-dried bloodworms once a week. For about three days or so, I noticed one of my frogs, Darwin, has been getting kinda bigger and floating a bit. But today, he's floating at the top and not moving at all unless I tap the glass. And when he moves, he'll just float back up to the top. Almost as if he couldn't stay down if he tried. The other frog, Jazz, is completely fine, not bloated and is swimming. What do you think this is? Obviously its bloating, but could it be something more serious? I haven't given them any "starve days" because whenever I try, I always feel bad and give in and feed them. For the next few days, I won't feed them. But do you think that'll be enough? Advice on what the cause might be and what I should do? Thanks.

This is a photo of the one that's floating (Darwin) and a photo of the other one (Jazz) who seems healthy (just for comparison). I feed them the same diet, yet one is so much bigger.

 

First and foremost, ADFs don't do well without live foods - and please, please stop feeding freeze dried anything to them. It's bad for them; it'll cause bloating and gas retention - some people claim it causes frog dropsy.



Mine only get live black worms and daphnia; best diet for them.

 

First and foremost, ADFs don't do well without live foods - and please, please stop feeding freeze dried anything to them. It's bad for them; it'll cause bloating and gas retention - some people claim it causes frog dropsy.


Mine only get live black worms and daphnia; best diet for them.

- Thanks, but I've read both those articles before and they don't seem to help. Based on what I read, dropsy in frogs isn't something that can be treated. And I doubt its Chytrid bc he hasnt been shedding in shreads.

 

Well, you've stumped me then... I'd start by changing their diet.

 

Well, you've stumped me then... I'd start by changing their diet.

Yeah hopefully it works and my frog gets better. I mean I knew freezed dried isn't the best, but ive read once in awhile as a treat is okay. That's why I only give them once a week. But ill stop completely. And do you know any non-worm/non-insect live food that's good for them? What about brine shrimp or whatever the species of tiny shrimp are (I believe I'm talking about the species that's used as "Sea Monkeys"). Thanks again.

 

Brine shrimp aren't nutritious in the adult form; if you wanted to feed them brine shrimp napulii, well, that's another story - pretty much the most nutritious thing you could possibly feed ANYTHING - including people.

They're really easy to hatch.

 

Oh okay, thanks! I didn't know that.

So about a half hour ago, I checked on the frog and it finally came down and no longer floating. It was laying on a leaf on a plant. But not moving, so I tapped the glass several times and it still did not move. So I nudged it a bit and it still didnt move. So I nudged him somemore and he just sprinted down to the bottom of the tank. Since he's been there, he hasnt move a bit. Do you think its possible he's dying?
If its dropsy, do they stay afloat until they pass away or sink? Because if they always stay afloat with dropsy, that means Darwin doesn't have dropsy and its possibly something less severe that he'll make it through. But, if they do sink, then maybe it is indeed dropsy. I can't find more info on dropsy in aquatic frogs other than a couple of articles and it doesn't detail whether they ever sink at some point or not.


This is him on the leaf before I nudged him and he swam down. Does it look like he has any disease you guys might know about and be able to recognize?

 

Honestly, it's possible if he was cured from chytrid or is from a chain pet store he could be, as those aren't generally good stock. Both my sister and I have had frogs that were doing fine with a diet of mostly frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, (we don't have a hatchery) and fast days at least once a week, but even with good water parameters mine bloated a lot, at least once a week, and a few weeks later she stopped eating and died. She also swelled up during death, so if your frog is from a chain pet store I think it's possible. Besides that, a change in diet or fasting might help, but I'm not really sure. If you can get live food, it will probably help, and even if it doesn't it's healthy either way. Sorry I can't be of much help.

 

Honestly, it's possible if he was cured from chytrid or is from a chain pet store he could be, as those aren't generally good stock. Both my sister and I have had frogs that were doing fine with a diet of mostly frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, (we don't have a hatchery) and fast days at least once a week, but even with good water parameters mine bloated a lot, at least once a week, and a few weeks later she stopped eating and died. She also swelled up during death, so if your frog is from a chain pet store I think it's possible. Besides that, a change in diet or fasting might help, but I'm not really sure. If you can get live food, it will probably help, and even if it doesn't it's healthy either way. Sorry I can't be of much help.

Thanks for the advice. I fasted it for a few days, and when I offered it food today, it didnt eat. And I noticed there's a lump on his side, and that's what's causing him to float. I can't get a picture bc hes behind the filter, but it is similar to what this user posted:

And that user, whose frog had the same problem as mine, their frog ended up dying. So I wonder what the lump is and what can be done about it.

 

and please, please stop feeding freeze dried anything to them. It's bad for them; it'll cause bloating and gas retention - some people claim it causes frog dropsy.

I thought that freeze dried foods were okay, as long as they were soaked in tank water first? Or is that just for fish, and frogs are different?

 

This is how he looks now

 

This is how he looks now

I can't really help you, as I don't know anything about frogs. Hopefully he improves and pulls through!

 

Well, the bloating went almostly completely away by like Sunday. He was swimming around a bit but still wouldnt eat. I really thought he was getting better cause the bloating was down and he was moving much more-

But sadly, today when I got home from school, I saw that Darwin had died. I still don't know what caused this. I hope my other frog won't suffer the same fate.

 

It sounds like chytrid IMO. My frogs (2/4) died of it and they had the exact same symptoms.