Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have tried other food sources before but none of my frogs were interested in anything else except FF. what would be some good choices to try on them? Would they go after rice flour beetles, and spring tails? I have tried silk worms, micro meal worms, and many insects form outside all ending up with them not being interested.
Thanks for your help in advance.
ADAM

I doubt springtails alone would be substancial enough for the larger frogs like azureus (unless they are small froglets). While they are great as a suplemental feeder, you'll need large ammounts of food items that are roughly the size of ff's. Another option you could opt for is pinheads. You can buy them online, in some herp stores or breed them yourself. Another excellent alternative would be termites. You may or may not be able to collect them yourself this time of year (depends on where you are). During the spring/summer I collect them and feed my frogs solely on them. However, I do keep ff cultures going in the event of an emergency and so that I'll always have a line ready for the winter months when the termites no longer surface to feed. As for flour beetles, it's the larva that you feed. I haven't had the greatest luck with them and after a couple months the cultures aarent worth keeping around. The larva are very slow movers and when placed on the feeding dish they are often ignored due to their lack of movement and soon die due to exposure to moisture. So, all in all, your 3 top options are ff's, crickets and termites. Anyone else have anything to add?

-Bill J
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Updated list as of: 11/7/03
2.2.3 D. azureus
1.2 D. ventrimaculatus 'yellow' (22 tads in the water)
3.3 D. tinctorius 'cobalt'
0.0.3 D. tinctorius 'patricia'
0.0.1 D. tinctorius 'giant orange'
0.0.1 D. tinctorius 'citronella'
0.0.2 D auratus 'zwartgroene(Panamanian black and green)'
0.0.5 D. auratus 'green/black'
0.0.3 D. imitator 'Alex Sens line' (very soon)
0.0.2 D. reticulatus (soon)

I still plan on FF being the main source of food for them. I was just asking because I want to switch things up a bit for them, but am having many problems doing so.
For termites, aren't you worried about them getting out and into your house?
ADAM

I would suggest pinhead crickets if you are looking for a supplement. The easiest thing to do is get a small batch (20 or so) of adult crickets and put a small dish with moist soil in with them. In a few days, they will lay thousands of eggs. You can then rotate another laying dish in. Depending on temperature, the eggs will hatch in one to three weeks.

Some people keep a colony of adult crickets going, but if you are not feeding lots of animals it might make more sense just to get a new batch of adults at the local pet store when your breeders die off. The pinheads will eat just about anything, just make sure they have moisture. Also keep in mind that in a week or two they may be too big for your frogs! Cooler temperatures will slow their growth considerably.

This is actually a fairly cheap and easy way to provide some variety to your frogs. There are some people who simply place the dish in the terrarium and let the frogs eat as the pinheads emerge, but I would not recommend this as it is too easy to get a swarm which is more than the frogs can consume.

As for termites, most are a "colony" type animal, meaning there would have to be a queen to infeset a house.

They are subterranean termites and this whole area (most of the eastern US) is riddled with under ground networks of them. Bringing them into my home and into a sterlite box is actually safe. For one, the cellulose that they are feeding on must be moist, as they dry out rather quickly. Second, if they were to escape the box (which I deem as impossible) they would dry out trying to trek across the carpet in my frog room...these guys have the hardest time traversing the fibers of carpeting). In my opinion, they are one of the best foods available as they do not smell, they dont require any special foods aside from moist cardboard or wood, they are failry easy to collect and cost next to nothing if you collect your own.

-Bill J
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Updated list as of: 11/7/03
2.2.3 D. azureus
1.2 D. ventrimaculatus 'yellow' (22 tads in the water)
3.3 D. tinctorius 'cobalt'
0.0.3 D. tinctorius 'patricia'
0.0.1 D. tinctorius 'giant orange'
0.0.1 D. tinctorius 'citronella'
0.0.2 D auratus 'zwartgroene(Panamanian black and green)'
0.0.5 D. auratus 'green/black'
0.0.3 D. imitator 'Alex Sens line' (very soon)
0.0.2 D. reticulatus (soon)

unless you catch a queen and king and your house is rotting, you shouldn't worry.
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2.2.3 Orange Leucs
1.0 ventrimactulatus Blue leg
0.0.4 Orange galact

Always looking for female vents and plants

np

Tim

Hi: there was a recent discussion today and yesterday on Frognet on termite traps. Maggie

I feed my azureus small waxworms as a treat every once in a while. They work great for fattening up frogs. Just set up a culture with store bought waxworms. You can find recipes on the internet for culture media, just use a glass jar with either a few layers of cloth or a thick screen cover. Those little larva can chew through anything. Only use 6 or so waxworms to start the culuture off, or it will get out of control too fast. Check the culture daily, and when the waxworms are the right size, take them out and put them in a container with some pin shavings or something. If you don't do this they will be twice the size the next day and completely unusable.
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1.1.3 D. azureus
0.0.8 P. bicolor
0.0.7 D. auratus (polka-dot)
0.0.3 D. auratus (blue)
0.0.3 D. auratus (kahlua and cream)

Shannon

Another easy method is to purchase a fine butterfly net and do sweepings in uncontaminated areas. Works great for any reptiles or small amphibs. Good Luck