Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a new froglet who is absorbing is tail. I've read on a site that I can't seem to find anymore that Bullfrogs can be trained to eat dog or cat kibble. The closest thing i've found is this site: http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Rana_catesbeiana

On that site they say they feed them protein pellets. What I want to know is what is the best way to go about getting the frog eating kibble?

They should not be fed things like dog and cat food. They need things such as crickets, roaches, nightcrawlers, etc and as adults they can have the occasional pinky or chic peeps. Dog food ain't even that great for dogs, much less reptiles and amphibians, but especially not for frogs.
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www.frogfreaks.com

I had a feeling this might happen. I might use fish pellets.
Now run along and tell peta that the people raising them for food are feeding them fish pellets. lol On another note. I had an Iguana that loved dog food.

I'm not sure what you are talking about now. What does a loser group like peta have to do with dog food?
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www.frogfreaks.com

Note the part about "people raising them for food." When you're raising an animal that only needs to live to slaughter size, you don't have to worry about its long-term health. It doesn't matter if it would die at a year old from the effects of a bad diet if you're planning to eat it when it's six months old, y'know? That does not make the diets used for meat animals (mostly designed to promote fast growth) necessarily the best for the overall health of the same animals. Even if you can get that frog to eat something like you're proposing, you're not likely to get a very healthy frog. Reptiles and amphibians tend to be metabolically weird, and the chance that a diet of dog food or fish pellets will lack some essential nutrient that frogs need and dogs or fish don't is extremely high.

Oh, and dog food is bad for iguanas, too. It's too high in the wrong kinds of protein (remember, adult wild iguanas eat almost exclusively leaves, and their digestive systems are tuned accordingly). Among other things, it can result in visceral gout. Sure, they'll eat it and they love it -- iguanas are like little kids, they'll eat all kinds of stuff that's bad for them. Their owners only find out when they get the vet bill.

I can't say whether dog food is good for dogs or not, but it's not a proper food for bullfrogs or iguanas.

Okay I'm not even going to read this stuff because there isn't any help here.

For 1 I'm not stupid and I will be feeding him natural food along with pellets. SO save all the crap about good nutrition for farmers market next Sunday. You guys should work on you communication skills of you want people to ask you guys for help.
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The greatest challenge with Bullfrogs is in feeding them.

TRAINING TO EAT

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Frogs instinctively eat living creatures. These creatures attempt to avoid being caught and try to escape while being eaten.

Unless the food is in the frog’s mouth moves or wiggles then frogs will spit it out. This happens so that if a blowing leaf or a small dirt clod is caught by the frog, it will not swallow the leaf or the dirt clod but spit it out.

To overcome this instinctive behavior, frogs must be taught to eat an inert (non-living) food during and shortly after metamorphosis. The foods that frogs have been taught to eat include pelletized food, dropping food and crawfish heads.

When going through metamorphosis small pieces of crawfish bodies are wiggled in front of the frogs. They grab if with their tongue and sometimes eat it and sometimes spit it out. Worms can also be fed at this time. This allows the frogs to associate the inert crawfish bodies with food and they become accustomed to the crawfish.

Frogs can also be trained to eat pelletized food at this stage of development. Small pellets can be dropped in the vicinity of the frogs and they will grab the food with their tongue.

If you already knew the answer you wanted, why did you bother asking anyone else?

Since you asked the forum, why are you disregarding the answers you got, and then insulting the people who took their time to try to help you?

You're not doing us a favor by asking us for help. We're doing you a favor by answering your questions. Even if you don't like the answers, the least you can do is be civil about it.

Feeding an iguana dog food will lead it to a slow, painful death. Rather than believe the crap you read on certain internet sites (where anyone can say anything without any regard to accuracy or truth), why not pick up a book and get real quality information?

You obviously don't know much about reptile and amphibian nutrition and are looking for a convenient way to feed your pets, rather than providing them with a healthy diet.

Tim

>>I have a new froglet who is absorbing is tail. I've read on a site that I can't seem to find anymore that Bullfrogs can be trained to eat dog or cat kibble. The closest thing i've found is this site: http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Rana_catesbeiana>>

Frogs and toads in general are carnivores; they eat meat. Dogs are carnivores too. Frogs and toads hunt by sight. Anything that moves will attract their attention, and they will try to eat it if it is smaller than they are. Frogs and toads also taste their food. So, they may reject potential food items that do not taste good. There are exceptions of course. Marine toads or cane toads are known to eat dog food, apparently by detecting the smell, even though dog food does not move. If you want to feed a frog non-living things, then the best thing to do is to use meat. Use a pair of forceps to move the meat around slowly and the frog will snap at it. Move it too quickly and you may scare the frog. Another way to get them to eat meat is to use a stainless steel wire (don't use galvanized or copper wires as they are toxic) and poke it through a small piece of meat. Then move the wire around slowly in front of the frog. Sometimes touching the snout of the frog with the moving meat will get it to feed. Growing frogs need calcium but meat does not have any. So, you can either include a piece of bone or dust the meat with calcium powder. Do not feed raw pork to frogs or other amphibians. Feed them only raw beef, chicken, fish or beef liver.

>>On that site they say they feed them protein pellets. What I want to know is what is the best way to go about getting the frog eating kibble?>>

You may be able to get your frog to eat dry dog food or cat food by moving it around slowly but dry dog or cat food is harder because it will be difficult to dangle it with a piece of wire. Canned dog or cat food may work if it is chunky. In any case do not forget the calcium supplement even if you feed them insects and other live food. Growing frogs need calcium, not just protein.

All of the above is true, but still a very poor choice in feeod fro frogs. If you are going to feed them meat, then I would suggest whole prey items like chic peeps and pinky mice. Frogs however do not do real well with alot of mammal protiens, thus the reason they should only be fed those items sparingly.
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www.frogfreaks.com

>>All of the above is true, but still a very poor choice in feeod fro frogs. If you are going to feed them meat, then I would suggest whole prey items like chic peeps and pinky mice. Frogs however do not do real well with alot of mammal protiens, thus the reason they should only be fed those items sparingly.
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>>www.frogfreaks.com

Pinkies are high in fat content, so it may not be very good. Protein is protein, whether it comes from mammals, insects or plants. The protein will be digested and turned into amino acids by the frog's stomach so I won't worry about feeding meat to frogs. Pet foods often are in part made from plant material, but the protein content is high so dogs and cats can thrive on these. The main concern is lack of calcium. There isn't any calcium in meat, and not much of it in insects either. Pinky mice is a good source of calcium, but it may be too high in fat content to be given as a steady diet.

Yes protien is all the same, but mammals have a much higher content, and they are not so good for frogs, which eat mostly insects. It is very hard on the kidneys. Thus the reason for only feeding rodents occasionally.
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www.frogfreaks.com