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Daft question

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crof

Guest
I know this is probably a stupid question but I was wanting to keep a whites tree frog. However, my mum would never let me keep live waxworms, crickets etc in the house. Is there any dead food at all that they would eat?
 
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coen

Guest
Live food is always preferred over frozen/dead food.

Not being able to give a frog proper food, I personally wouldn't take one. Just wait untill you can decide for yourself, or maybe educate your mom about the live food, and that it won't eat her house and crawl in her sleeping room if taken care of properly ;)
 
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edward

Guest
I'm not sure I would want to make the blanket statement that live is always better than fresh frozen food items as food items that have been frozen for 2 weeks or more have a significant number of parasites killed via the freezing process.

Ed
 
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coen

Guest
Ed,

I didn't say it was better, I just said it was preferred above dead food.
 
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edward

Guest
Hi Coen,
It may be a language thing. I would have passed it over if the phrasing was preferred instead of "always preferred".

Ed
 
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coen

Guest
Hey Ed,

I guess so, sorry if I made it seem otherwise!

However, if you can provide a frog with the same food he would get in nature (without parasites), wouldn't this be the best way to take care of one? Plus, can a frog be trained to take dead food?
 
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alberto

Guest
Hello Coen
I have seen toads eating dog food from a dog food dish and my red efts and Chinese fire belly newts morphs eating dead crickets and pieces chopped worms that were not moving.
That is one of the things about keeping newts that I love. You are always learning some thing new about them!
 
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edward

Guest
Hi Coen,

Yes frogs can be trained to take dead food. It does depend on species and to a lesser extent individuals. For example American Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana)have been trained to take a pelleted food in commercial rearing facilities. Whites Treefrogs can be readily trained to take food off of tweezers (live or dead) and this can be readily achieved for many other anurans.

I would normally prefer feeding live foods as this causes the frog to engage in normal feeding behaviors but at this time (even if you rear it yourself) any live foods that cannot be guaranteed to be 100% parasite free. Many insects can act as vectors for parasites like coccidia and to prevent the infection of a animal would require that everything even small flies/roaches/spiders etc be excluded from not only the insect cultures but the enclosures in which the animals live. This is not a practical solution as it would also eliminate the ability to use natural furnishings such as wood and live plants...

Ed
 
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coen

Guest
That seems a bit unrealistic indeed. If your animal gets a parasite and you did everything like you should, it's more a case of bad luck right? Are the odds of getting a harmful parasite high?
 
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edward

Guest
Hi Coen,

My job is a Zookeeper with a fair amphibian collection. We routinely screen fecals from all of the animals twice a year and it is not uncommon for me to have amphibians come up positive for one or more parasites (mainly nematodes and coccidia) even after several years of clean fecals. This occurs even in animals that are captive bred and have only been fed cultured food item (like fruit flies).
I would say that it isn't uncommon and that the parasites picked up can be very harmful.

Ed
 
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coen

Guest
That must be a nice job Ed!

Should I be worried about my own fruitfly culture? Is there a way of telling they have parasites?
 
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edward

Guest
If you have something fine enough to keep the flies in the culture then they should be okay (unless you are using flies you caught yourself). The problem comes when you put them in the enclosure or use other insects for feeders.

Ed
 
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coen

Guest
Oh thats fine, I close my cultures with paper towels.

There is one problem, in my fruitfly mix (applesauce, oatmeal, yeast and some water) there is a development of mould. I think I might have used to little yeast, could this be the problem?
 
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alex

Guest
wow, i wish i could be a zookeeper, a bit of a dream job really...
 
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