Just got a platanna...

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Just got a platanna...

Postby Lillypod » Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:06 am

Everyone knows I like animals and I've wanted a platanna for a while now and a few days ago my boyfriend's dad gave me one that he found in the pond. At first I was afraid of the little gal (as it turned out to be a female), but now I'm comfortable at touching her and feeding her. I gave her a few insects and a small piece of mince just till I can find her some earthworms (they are not common in my garden, but for some reason I sometimes find mealworms there).

Can anyone give me some tips on how to take care of her, she is about 3cm long, without her legs outstretched. At the moment she is in a tank, but there is nothing in yet, only water, ofcourse. I don't have my own transport, so I'll have to wait till the weekend before I can search for stuff for her new home.

Oh, and do they make good pets?
I live in Richards Bay, KwaZulu Natal, do I need a permit?

I also bought the March/April 2012 edition of Ultimate Exotics, it has a nice article about Platannas, I want to hear your opinions as well.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Sico » Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:15 am

I just kept mine in a large 5l glass jar on my bookshelf, with just water in it. They really don't require much other than clean (unpolluted) water and food. They are awesome and simple amphibians to keep, and will eat fish food pellets (tetramin for carnivorous fish) or just about any insect you can catch. They like worms, flies, crickets, beetles, grubs etc, softer foods more than harder shelled foods. I used to just dump it into the bathroom sink every ten days or so, depending on how fouled the water was, was the jar out and fill it up again and pop it back in. The cholrine in tap water isn't supposed to be good for them, but it really seemed to have no effect on the little guy. Rain water, or pond water would be better if you have a supply of clear water.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Shaun P » Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:27 am

I keep a group of them in a 100lt tank, with a few fresh water lobsters and some fast fish. I do normal water changes as I have a hang on filter in that tank. I feed mine fish food - tetra bits, dried shrimp, tubifex worms, mealworms and crickets. Had some guppies in there and that was it, a quick snack for the platanna's. Have bred my albino's last year. One female gave me around 300 tadpoles but they don't seem to fare to well, only a few made it into little froglets.

Enjoy her as they are really simple to take care of.

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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Lillypod » Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:59 pm

Thanks for the advice. My Anna (that's her name now) is getting tamer by the day. She will sometimes come and sit on my hand if I put it in the water.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Zeiphex » Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:36 pm

Awesome! I myself have 6. They were in a 60L tank but that was too small, so I moved the few small tropicals I had in my 150L to the 60L, and the frogs are about to move in there. They're currently in my bathtub at the moment, take a look:
Image
Image
^ My biggest, squishiest lady
Image
^ One of two males I have - you can see the nuptial pads on his arms.

Anyways, as far as keeping them goes, it's really easy. Get a large enough tank (15-30L will do just fine for Anna for now) and make sure you have good filtration, as platannas are messy. A HOB (hang on back) filter is nice, as platannas are very sensitive to vibrations. The filter should have a turnover of at least the tank's entire volume every hour. I prefer to fill my tanks with filtered water, but tap water is good too, so long as you use a water conditioner - I can recommend Nutrafin AquaPlus or Seachem Prime, with Prime in my opinion being better value for money. One of the most important things you should know about housing platannas is that they are AMAZING escape artists - don't take chances! Once they escape they will quickly dry out on your carpet, and they often make it quite far from the tank before they do, which can make them hard to find again before it's too late. Keep the tank water level low enough so that she can't jump out, or use a good tight fitting canopy - it might be easier to use an internal canister filter if you go this route. As far as feeding goes, anything that they can fit in their mouths will do (though that doesn't mean that they are getting a balanced diet)! I feed koi pellets, Tetra-Prima, bloodworm and frozen lancefish. Oh, and you probably didn't know this, but it's not unusual for a well cared for platanna to live to more than 20 years old! I have heard reliable reports of them living to 24 and 25. Enjoy your froggy, they are great pets ^.^
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby fastback » Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:53 pm

They really are awesome, they are also brilliant trash compactors, any left overs or dead cricket gets feed to them.
If you have a pair of tweezers you can feed her of the end of the tweezers.

You can't hold them, kiss them or hug them :), but they make a very active feeding and nice display frog.

Just some more food suggestion, some you will be able to get at at your local pet store.

Brine shrimp
Daphne
Blood worms, Frozen and live
Roaches
Flies
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Joh » Sun Apr 15, 2012 5:54 pm

I just caught a lot of tadpoles the other day, there was more than I thought. About 50! Too many for me, so I will probably have to release, or rehouse, some.
5 of them are just about to turn into frogs.
They are very interesting, I enjoy them. Thanks for the info it will be really helpful to me as well.
The one aspect that people try to remove from naturalism, and that is to me the most important, is prayer. Without Prayer I would not have managed to do half the things that I have done successfully.

A small colony of Oxyhaloa dubia, two Tivia sp., an unidentified species of Cockroach, 8 tadpoles, 3 dogs, 4 cats, a budgie, and some other random animals.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Zeiphex » Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:56 am

Oh, and fastback - I have to disagree with you on "You can't hold them, kiss them or hug them" bit XD While I have never tried to hug or kiss mine, they are more than okay with being held and petted, so long as I don't lift them out of the tank They will sit in my hands and take food from me (but they try to swallow fingers too) - it's adorable.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby bomskok » Mon Mar 25, 2013 6:12 pm

it's such a battle to get platanna's for fishing, that i decided to breed my own. I caught one thus far and don't know if it's a male or female. is their any one that can assist me in tetermaning the sex. sincerely appreciated bomskok. Ps: must admit it gives me a weary feeling reading about other peoples platanna's which get tamed, it makes me feel guilty. Thanx
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Shaun P » Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:01 pm

Look between the hind legs. If it has a little tail its a female, nothing male.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Inyanga » Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:01 am

I grew up on a plot outside Krugersdorp and used to catch and raise Platanna tadpoles every year. They make really nice tank specimens and the newly metamorphised froglets are really cute.

The tadpoles are filter feeders and vegetarian as well. I always fed them spirulina tablets, the frogs are scavengers and active predators and are very happy tearing apart some raw chicken breast (they use the claws on thier hind feet) or earthworms, flies, cockroaches or whatever.

@ Shaun P, where did you get albino's? I've been looking for the longest time...
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby NewtTZ » Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:18 am

Get the March/April 2012 issue of Ultimate Exotics there is an article in it on the care of Platannas ( clawed frogs) that I wrote.
It covers all you need to know about this frogs care.
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Re: Just got a platanna...

Postby Shaun P » Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:32 am

Hi Inyanga, I actually bought 3 little albinos from a petshop in Pietermaritzburg. All turned out to be males, finally found a female at a petshop in Hillcrest, KZN. Unfortunately I don't have any platannas now.
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