Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone tried this? I've fed carotene-rich foods to aquarium fish in the past with amazing results (to their colour).

I should imagine that feeding carotene, as a supplement, to an albino Pacman (for example) would really improve their colouration, especially the red and orange hues.

I'm interested to hear your views...

Unlike fish, in most anurans it looks that the intensity of color is fixed either at metamorphosis or in a few species within a year or two of metamorphosis (such as Epidobates tricolor).

Not all of the colors in a frog are the result of carotenoids, there are also a group of pigments in the pterin group that are synthesized by the frog and are not affected by color feeding (these provide the yellow in the belly of a fire belly toad that did not include astaxanthin in its diet before or after metamorphosis). In addition, there are other colors that are the result of light reflecting off of crytals embedded in iridopores.

The best chances to modify color would be if you could raise the tadpole on a color enhanced diet (a little hard with Ceratophrys as they are carnivores) and then continue the color enhancement for a period after metamorphosis.

Ed

Thanks Ed.

If I ever have the chance to raise some tadpoles, I'll definitely give it a shot.