Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I feed feed my horned (cranwelli) a fair amount of locusts (amongst other things like mice). this was adviced by the pet shop. I have not read anything about Locusts on this website and I was wondering if there is anything wrong with feeding locusts?

Also this weekend i am picking up a African bullfrog (adspersus) and was intending to feed it locusts too. Any harm in this ?

Thanks

It depends on where u r getting the locusts from...

If from a pet sotre........fine just try to gut load them before feeding them to ur frog.

If from the outside (backyard, park, etc.)........Then you are risking that the frog will get plant and pesticide chemicals in it.

Also... make sure that the length of the locust is smaller than the lenght of your frog's mouth.

Thanks.

yeah i get them from the Shop (I hate having crickets in my house for some reason so I prefer to buy locusts instead) . One more question if I may: What can i use to gut load locusts ?

Btw here is a photo of the Bull frog I picked up on Saturday. Isn't cool ?

You will need to dust them with a good vitamin/mineral supplement just like crickets as they have a poor calcium to phosphorus ratio. Any feeder insects purchased from a pet store should be fed a basic diet for at least 48 hours before being offered out as a food item as this allows for the insect to replace lost fats, protiens and some minerals.

Gutloading technically means feeding a diet that attempts to modify the calcium to phosphorus ratio. However with some exceptions this does not work in the vast majority of cases and/or is difficult to accomplish effectively as it requires exacting conditions. When a lot of people talk about gut loading, they are referring to feeding a diet that is percieved to be nutritious to the consuming animal but often do not weigh potential problems like goitrogenic or oxalate containing plants or the vitamin A ratio in the plant. These items as part of a gut loading diet can significantly reduce the value as a feeder item.

Ed

So do you think its fine to feed insects that have been fed only a commercial cricket diet?
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1.0.0 Pixie Frog
0.0.1 African Dwarf Frog
0.0.1 Ornate Horned Frog
0.0.1 Firebelly Toad
0.0.1 Firebelly Newt
1.0.0 Fire Salamander
2.0.3 Florida Bark Scorpions
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
1.0.0 Flatrock Scorpion
1.2.0 African Giant Millipedes
2.0.0 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
0.0.1 Chilean Rosehair Tarantula
1.0.0 Hamster!
1.0.0 Ugly Cat
1 Small freshwater aquarium
Grunngg@yahoo.com

what is in the diet and in what proportions? Is the intent to replace the lost nutrients or to attempt to modify the calcium to phophorus ratio?

Ed

Thanks very much for the advice.