Do African Dwarf Frogs Eat Snails?

Last Updated on April 6, 2022 by cmoarz

If your considering adding African dwarf frogs into your aquarium it’s important to know if they will be compatible with the fish and other creatures that already inhabit the tank. The last thing you want is to wake up one morning and all your fish, shrimp, and snails are gone! Don’t worry that’s unlikely to happen, here’s why.

Do African Dwarf Frogs Eat Snails and Other Small Fish?

In general, the African dwarf frog is considered docile and peaceful and will not attack other fish out of aggression. If kept well fed, they will not be tempted to attack and eat other fish in your aquarium either.

The caveat is, yes, sometimes African dwarf frogs will eat snails and other fish. In particular, small fry and baby snails are on the menu. These small creatures make for easy protein and will likely be snacked on, even if the frogs are well fed.

Snail eggs are also vulnerable to the African dwarf frogs’ unyielding appetite. You can expect them to try and chow down on the free helpless meal if they get the opportunity to do so.

In most cases, adf won’t touch larger snails or fish as they do not make great prey for them. The snail’s hard shell is a deterrent from the frog, even if the snail is smaller than the frog’s mouth.

They have been known to swat around snails on occasion, as a way of playing. However, it’s rare. In almost all cases, adult frogs will not bother at all with your freshwater snails and cohabitate well.

If you intend on breeding fry or snails, it’s important to take that into consideration before adding adf’s into your tank. Consider setting up a breeding tank for fry, and removing snail eggs after they are laid somewhere safe. This is the recommended way to deal with snail eggs anyway as they tend to fall into the water and die.

Bottom line

African dwarf frogs will eat a variety of smaller fish and snails if they are small enough and the frog has not had enough food to keep it happy. These include shrimp, baby snails, snail eggs, guppies, and other small fish, fish fry.

Shrimp in general, such as ghost shrimp and amano shrimp and dwarf shrimp are almost always going to get the target of a quick snack by an afd, and should not be mixed in the tank with the frogs if they aren’t expendable.

Will African dwarf frogs eat Amano shrimp?

One common question that potential frog owners have is whether or not these frogs will eat Amano shrimp. The good news is that Amano shrimp are too large to be considered prey by African dwarf frogs.

In addition, these shrimp are gentle and unlikely to hurt the frog in any way. As a result, African dwarf frogs and Amano shrimp can often coexist peacefully in the same tank.

However, it is important to note that some frogs may still try to eat the shrimp. If this becomes a problem, it may be necessary to remove the frog from the tank.

Will African dwarf frogs eat ghost shrimp?

African dwarf frogs are opportunistic feeders, which means that they will eat whatever food is available to them. Ghost shrimp are small enough to be considered prey.

They are also slow-moving and lack the hard exoskeleton that many other types of shrimp have, making them an easy target for predators.

African dwarf frogs are known to eat live food, so it is likely that they would eat ghost shrimp if given the opportunity.

However, it is also important to note that diet varies depending on the individual Frog, so there is no guarantee that every African dwarf frog would choose to eat ghost shrimp.

Ultimately, the best way to determine what an African dwarf frog will eat is to observe its behavior.