Pond-caught live food?

There's a small pond beside my new apartment, I'm sure there are some small fish in there. Would there be any reasons that these fish would not be safe to feed to an axolotl? I know there are frogs that live in there as they all hopped in when I walked up. I have tossed a minnow trap in with a little bit of bread inside to see what will come out, I will probably just release anything that I catch for the time being, wanting to see what's in there. The idea of free food for my axolotls is a nice one though, so any input would be great!

Feed the frogs to the axolotl to see if the axolotl becomes poisonous.

On a serious note, I don't know the answer. But is it any worse than feeding them wild worms? I know some people don't even do that, though. You can always quarantine the fish if you want to be safe.

Well, i would ***** the condition of the pond If it looks clean and healthy, than that's a good thing ( obviously ). Secondly, if you did feed your axolotl some of the fish, i would definitely quarantine them first. Also, there might be some salamanders in there, so if you catch some that'd be cool.

But i personally wouldn't risk it since you already have a feeder fish colony. Why not just feed those? -Seth

In theory, wouldn't the presence of a number of frogs suggest the pond is not toxic? I thought frogs were very sensitive to environmental toxins so would not be living in a polluted pond. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that anything you take out of the pond won't be carrying parasites. I wouldn't risk introducing anything from a suspect source like a roadside pond to my axolotl tank, but as Seth says, if you do, quarantine first for at least a month.

Sweetie said:

In theory, wouldn't the presence of a number of frogs suggest the pond is not toxic? I thought frogs were very sensitive to environmental toxins so would not be living in a polluted pond. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that anything you take out of the pond won't be carrying parasites. I wouldn't risk introducing anything from a suspect source like a roadside pond to my axolotl tank, but as Seth says, if you do, quarantine first for at least a month.

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Amphibians are pretty sensitive but then again we've had everything from frogs, toads, as treefrogs all try breeding in our still chlorinated pool. Our small pond was always infested with bull frogs and leopard frogs and a few goldfish survived but the filter was broken for two years and we had to constantly add chemicals to kill any mosquito larva. The frogs still lived there.


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I would be more worried about amphibians carrying contagious diseases and parasites than toxic ponds. It is pretty common for wild animals to host parasites, bacterial and viral diseases, and other nasties that could be transmitted to your pets. Just because the frogs look healthy doesn't mean they're parasite free. The fish should be fine after quarantine, but I would proceed with caution. Parasitic infections are frequently intensified in a closed captive setting, because multiple generations keep re-infesting the same few animals.

sde said:

Well, i would ***** the condition of the pond If it looks clean and healthy, than that's a good thing ( obviously ). Secondly, if you did feed your axolotl some of the fish, i would definitely quarantine them first. Also, there might be some salamanders in there, so if you catch some that'd be cool.

But i personally wouldn't risk it since you already have a feeder fish colony. Why not just feed those? -Seth

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Why did it censor when I said a$$es? Ohhhh, oops, I meant to say assess, not a$$es, lol, my bad

In theory, wouldn't the presence of a number of frogs suggest the pond is not toxic? I thought frogs were very sensitive to environmental toxins so would not be living in a polluted pond. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that anything you take out of the pond won't be carrying parasites. I wouldn't risk introducing anything from a suspect source like a roadside pond to my axolotl tank, but as Seth says, if you do, quarantine first for at least a month.

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I have found Bullfrogs, for instance, in ponds that have food bags/trash, tennis balls, nerf bullets, and...wait for it....prescription drug bottles! Plus its loaded with koi, which are invasive...then again, so are the frogs.......
Anyway, I wouldn't trust any pond unless I assessed () it first, even if it did have frogs.

I would be more worried about amphibians carrying contagious diseases and parasites than toxic ponds. It is pretty common for wild animals to host parasites, bacterial and viral diseases, and other nasties that could be transmitted to your pets. Just because the frogs look healthy doesn't mean they're parasite free. The fish should be fine after quarantine, but I would proceed with caution. Parasitic infections are frequently intensified in a closed captive setting, because multiple generations keep re-infesting the same few animals.

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I agree, the Bullfrogs in the pond with drug bottles look fine and healthy, but I highly doubt they are.