Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After some research, it seems that more than a few people believe that feeding easterns a strict diet of rodents can/will lead to health problems and or premature death. My quetion is, does anybody feed their easterns both toads and rodents? I'd worry that eventually they would only take the toads.
My second question it what's the consensus on how long a toad should be frozen to minimize/eliminate possible parasites? Also, besides finding and/or buying toads, is there another downside I'm not aware of to feed easterns their most common food in the wild?

Thanks in advance!
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Hey Weekend Herper,

This is a somewhat subjective subject that comes up every now and then and I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions. Having said that, here is mine: Amphibians have less body fat then mice, thusly hogs that eat mice often have health issues with fat the same way some Americans do. However, this does not mean that they can't be healthy living on mice only. When you see a hog in the wild they are much thiner and stronger then most captive hogs because they eat less often and get more excersize as well as the diet of amphibians. I have had hogs live to 25 years on mice with no problems, simply because I feed them a little less. Often people get caught in the habit of feeding them every week like clock work or some times even more often! Start with weekly meals, but let them miss a few here and there. Make sure when you hold them they feel strong and energetic. If they get soft, it's time to skip a week or two. A healthy hog can go quite a long time between meals every now and then. Also, a larger encloser with some stuff to climb on will inspire a little exercise. I hungery hog will "hunt" around it's cage and get exercise. When you see this "hunting" behavior, wait another two days and then feed. No different then us people really. We can eat Mc Donalds, but we need aditional excersize and less McDonalds if we are to stay healthy. There are a ton of drawbacks to feeding amphibians. And trying to switch between mice and frogs does sometimes and up with the hog choosing frogs exclusively, which can be a pain. Much better to feed mice less often.

Red

Nicely stated. I couldn't agree more. Fatty liver disease is a legend in hognoses. Obesity is not.

I go by this controversial statement that I have posted before:

Undernutrition without Malnutrition.

This isn't as bad as it sounds in true application. Kept your hogs strong, svelt, and active. In the wild, it is feast, then famine for a while. Good toad nights, they may eat 2 or 3 in the wild, then go for weeks if it gets dry and things get cool.

Feeding rodents is not a problem in and of itself. It's the FUR on the rodents that seems to be the main issue with them.. they have a difficult time digesting it as they are not really adapted to eating rodents in the long-term. Feeding pinky/peach fuzz mice to babies and later pinky/peach fuzz rats as adults is the best option. If you can find a supplier of hairless mice/rats even better. As to obesity from fatty rodents... don't keep to a clock work schedule. Let the snake tell you when it's feeding time. A hungry hog will hunt the cage so ok, feed it. A hog that is not hungry usually spends its time hiding.. don't throw food in. My one eastern is over 2 years old now and has been strictly fed rodents since day one (she is addicted to rats). She is in perfect health - not skinny, not fat.. just nice and sleek. She goes through periods where she is a total glutton wanting food frequently. Then she goes through periods where she doesn't want much at all.
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PHWyvern

Young rodents tend to have more body fat than adults, and don't have as much calcium etc. I read a post below where someone had their adult hondurans (I think) die of obesity related issues after being switched from adult mice to young rats. If hairless mice aren't available, it may be worth trying to shave most of the hair off the feeders before you offer them (I'm assuming you're offering pre-killed or f/t).
-Alice

>>Young rodents tend to have more body fat than adults, and don't have as much calcium etc. I read a post below where someone had their adult hondurans (I think) die of obesity related issues after being switched from adult mice to young rats. If hairless mice aren't available, it may be worth trying to shave most of the hair off the feeders before you offer them (I'm assuming you're offering pre-killed or f/t).
>>-Alice

my two year old hog has been raised strictly on pinky/fuzzy mice and then once big enough pinky/fuzzy rats and is in perfect health... not obese at all.

baby rodents have as much calcium as the adults... adults have it in the bones, babies mostly in the milk in their stomach...if the babies didn't have enough calcium then baby snakes/lizards that eat baby rodents wouldn't be able to grow and have a strong bone structure themselves! calcium isn't an issue. I have never heard of problems of snakes dieing with switching from mice to rats... only time there seems to be problems is when someone feeds a rotten food item that has been thawed and refrozen a few times causing bacterial buildup even though the rodent may still "look good"... or tried feeding an item too big that got stuck or ruptured the stomach or something like that. Obesity is basically caused by over feeding an animal that isn't getting any exercise.
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PHWyvern