Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Uhm. . .I'm a novice frog man here. Caught a baby tadpole now a frog, just got sick and now won't eat. I fed it a slug, I believe, and he nearly perished.

Well, I don't know what to feed him since summer is past and bugs are scarce. He's not eating so I force-fed him last night a half a minnow. I can't get crickets and meal worms and such where I live. Just worms.

Anyway, any great websites or advice about how to care for bullfrogs would be greatly appreciated. Need to find the ins and outs of these cute creatures so I don't make the same mistakes twice.

You just broke the cardinal rule. NEVER FORCE FEED A FROG UNLESS IT IS ON DEATH'S BED. Force feeding can kill a frog quicker than letting it go without a meal. Can you not order crickets or mealworms or anything of that sort? Nightcrawlers make a good meal as well, and you can get them anywhere. Go to any feeder company and see how much it will cost to order. Heat packs can help if they are being shipped somewhere cold (which are nomrally included in shipping costs). Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I've never had a problem force feeding frogs. But I don't shove the food down their throats either. I've done this a couple of times and it has seemed to work. Why would it kill a frog, and is this just your opinion or a caretaker's cardinal rule?

Nonetheless, he ate a half a night crawler last night so I guess I'm back on track. I force feed only if necessary.

Because stress is the key word. Normally when a frog doesn't eat it is due to either some sort of stress or just a normal reaction to time/seasons that makes it decide to slow down a bit. Either way, if you try to reverse this with force feeding, you are compromising the frog's health? And I bet you ask how it could compromise the frog's health if you are not hurting the frog physically nor actually shoving the food item down its throat. The key is stress. Stress can kill the frog. Stress can cause the frog to stop eating for much longer than it normally would have. Stress can make the frog more succeptible to disease such as toxicity, red leg, ect. It is the cardinal rule for just about any herp keeper. Read any of the snake forums as well. Force feeding is a LAST DITCH resort to save a frog (or any other herp for that matter) before it literally dies. If the frog is losing say 30% of its mass in a short period due to it not feeding and it still won't eat, then it could be justified. If the frog skips a feeding or two but still appears generally healthy, then force feeding is truthfully unacceptable as far as the frog's health is concerned. Just wanted to clarify that. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

Well then, how often should frogs eat and about how much?

I'm afraid of over-feeding as much as under-feeding.

For a few days my frog wouldn't eat. It all ready looked premature-about the size of my thumb-when it reaches its full form as a frog. It wouldn't eat much at all. So I gave him a couple of worms to jump start his metabolism.

Then he stopped eating again. I waited a few days and, low and behold, jump started his system again with some reptomin and fish.

Now he's on an eating binge again, and that after nearly being poisoned by that darn slug.

Point is, I'm trying to get him past that critical stage. You know, when they're still fragile and week. It's tricky for a frog handler, especially when you have no insects small enough to feed it. Now I know better, however, and will forego any force feeding.

As for feeding, that is up to you. The size of your thumb at froglet stage is totally normal for a bullfrog. What I mean by feeding being up to you is that you need trust your instincts. Every other day is about normal for a froglet, but this can change with size of food item or amount fed. Basically, you need to watch the frog. If it is starting to put on TOO much weight, cut back on feedings. If it is too skinny, feed more or large prey items. There is no specific set rule on when it should eat. If it skips a few meals, no biggie. Just give him a few days, then try again. If he doesn't eat again, then just wait some more. As long as he isnt losing too much weight then there is no problem. Good luck! Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

Gotchya. I didn't realize frogs could get sooo fat, but I realize now I might've overfed one or two in the past, and will have to watch that too.

BTW What about butterflies? Safe?

Not sure why they wouldn't be, but I doubt they are very nutrient enriched. I would leave them be personally. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry