Reptile & Amphibian Forums

During the summer I work at a scout camp, and this year I was thinking of bringing my frog along and keeping it in the eco building. Anyway, I was wondering if I could feed it local insects or vertebrates? We always have a wide variety to choose from - grasshoppers, crickets, minnows, green frogs, wood frogs, small gater snakes, field mice, shrews, huge moths, june beetles, long horn beetles, baby pheasants, and chipmunks or red squirrels(just kidding!). Could any of these be acceptable? I know there are probably parasite issues with feeding wild frogs.

Thanks

Well wild insects may be ok as long as your POSITIVE no one is using pesticides anywhere near where you found them.I would say no to the rest they would be parasite infested.

Wild insects are a great vector for many parasites including coccidia. The same for the other wild collected animals (even nightcrawlers can carry parasites as they are collected from the wild).

Ed

So, feeding wild food to a captive animal is a no. All right, just wanted to make sure. Thanks anyway.

Its not necessarily a no as people use nightcrawlers all the time to feed the frogs. You just need to be aware of the potential issues. It would be better if you could freeze anything you fed it for 2 weeks or more before offering it. If that is not possible I would pretty much just offer it fish and nightcrawlers and get a fecal check done when you get back. (Even though wc rodents have great fat to protien ratios, I really am leery about suggesting them as a food source because of the potential issues of what they could have sequestered during their chewing on things.

Ed

You wouldn't catch me going after wild rodents anyhow.....

In my first post I didn't mean to say that I wouldn't be able to get food itmes from a pet store. I just wanted to know if it was possible to feed wc food items. Concerning wild mice (for Edk), do you mean that they develope harmful toxins when they eat things, or do they carry amphibian transferable parasites?

Thanks,
Matt

I would be more concerned about the possibility of them picking up small amounts of rodenticides/herbicides and pesticides from interacting with the enviroment.

Ed

Not to mention the possible zoonosis. Hantavirus and rabies come to mind
I'm no expert, but a rodent would probably be a little sick anyways if someone was able to catch it with any ease.
Do you have a freezer in the cabin your staying at? If so, I'd pack this guy a lunch

It depends on the rodents. Peromyscus are not that difficult to catch by hand but you are running the risk of zoonotics if you are not careful.

Ed

Rodenticides/herbicides would not be a problem. The place I work at in the summer is a Boy Scout reservation. We do not use any pesticides. Also, it is several miles away from any towns, so chemicals really arn't an issue. The rodents can be caught easily with live traps.

No pressure treated lumber around???

Lol, didn't think of that. I'm not going to risk it, it was just a thought. Thanks for all the info.