Reptile & Amphibian Forums

From what I've read, it seems like crickets are the staple of a firebelly's diet, and other things are offered for variety. I have two new firebellies, one of them very active and outgoing, and the other one shy who is spending her (?) time hiding. When I fed them their first crickets, the crickets ran away and hid. I know that the active one ate, not so sure that the shy one ate. So the next day I gave them earthworms and it was great. I know that they both ate, and the shy one practically took her worm from my daughter's hand. This makes me want to feed them earthworms as the staple and keep the crickets for variety because I would hate to see the shy one starved. Does anyone know if this is a bad thing to do nutritonally? If I were doing it regularly, I'd keep the worms in cornmeal. Or should I just dump in the crickets and trust the toads to find them when they are hungry?

Also, should I keep feeding them food until they stop jumping on them, or will they gorge themselves? I see that I'm supposed to feed them every other day. Would it work to feed them a bunch of bugs at once and let them eat when they're hungry? Since I wasn't sure that they ate enough the first day, I fed them two days in a row and they ate eagerly the second day.

it can be dangerous to leave large quantities of crickets in a vivarium, as often the cricket will eat the skin of the animal when it is sleeping. if you just got the new toad, let it adjust. if you must put in a bunch of crickets, hobble the crickets by removing their back legs (sounds cruel, but may be excusable in the name of toads). you do this by squeezing the leg at the thickest part, near where it connects to the thorax (body). it should pop off easily. this will slow the crickets down, and prevent them from jumping, and make them easier to catch. i do not suggest using earthworms as a staple, just because crickets have such a solid backing as a staple food for FBTs.

"From what I've read, it seems like crickets are the staple of a firebelly's diet, and other things are offered for variety. I have two new firebellies, one of them very active and outgoing, and the other one shy who is spending her (?) time hiding. When I fed them their first crickets, the crickets ran away and hid. I know that the active one ate, not so sure that the shy one ate. So the next day I gave them earthworms and it was great. I know that they both ate, and the shy one practically took her worm from my daughter's hand. This makes me want to feed them earthworms as the staple and keep the crickets for variety because I would hate to see the shy one starved. Does anyone know if this is a bad thing to do nutritonally? If I were doing it regularly, I'd keep the worms in cornmeal. Or should I just dump in the crickets and trust the toads to find them when they are hungry?"

You may be interested in this:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Amphibiary/frogfood.html#10

"Also, should I keep feeding them food until they stop jumping on them, or will they gorge themselves? I see that I'm supposed to feed them every other day."

DON'T overfeed! See:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Amphibiary/frogfood.html
-----
Mike.
--
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Amphibiary