View Full Version : Fish food for frogs?
I have been setting up a tank to house 2 firebelly toads, which I intend to get in October. I was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of their feeding habits - I have done a lot of research and found that in the wild they eat shrimp as an important part of their diet. I know that they are usually fed on live insects, and this is not a problem, but would I be able to use frozen shrimp such as krill and mysis as a large part of their food (the only live shrimps available at my lfs are amanos, bumblebees and Cameroon shrimp, which are all expensive). If feeding these shrimps isn't a good idea, I can easily get phoenix worms, earthworms etc as a staple. Any help is greatly appreciated :)
Well, I feed my firebellied newts on freeze dried tubifex worms by moistening them and sticking them on the end of a chop stick. The movement of me holding it in front of them is enough to make them go after it. I don't know if something like that would work for the toads or not though, worth a try...
(I also feed my newts flightless fruit flies powdered with calcium and vitamin suppliments)
IME, a lot of them won't eat foods that aren't alive. I've never kept mine in a 100% aquatic environment either. I've always feed them gut loaded crickets along with occasional roach, termite etc. They'll eat what ever bug culture you have going at the time ,"well as long as they aren't too small".
Thanks for the help, guys. I'll try feeding them some frozen food. Otherwise, a mixture of live phoenix worms, earthworms, woodlice etc would be ok, right? If crickets are absolutely necessary, i can get them as well, but I'm a little worried about them escaping all over the place.
fishman1979
09-09-2006, 6:02 PM
we have them at work and feed them crickets.
fishcatch22
09-10-2006, 9:58 PM
all the things mentioned are fine except for the krill. as you probably know, there are no species of amphibian adapted to fully SW enviroment (there are a few species that can stand BW, including the infamous cane toad) and feeding them krill will introduce salt into their bodies, which can be detrimental to their health in the long run. and IMO a varied diet is best, though they can survive on just one thing. I feed mine earthworms and crix, but I also include a high preportion of wild, random inverts including roaches, centipedes, slugs, daddy longlegs, flies, large ants, and spiders for variety and enrichment. don't forget to either gut load or once weekly dust your crix if you intend to use them.
plah831
09-10-2006, 10:44 PM
hey, speaking of salt introduced with marine-based food. I was wondering about that for my dwarf puffers. I want to feed them fresh clams and mussels (both probably marine) that I could buy from the grocery store, but was wondering if the salt from them would hurt my little babies. I asked this on another forum, but wasn't able to get an answer. Whaddya think?
I mean, most fish meal in fish food is marine-origin, but it's processed so most of the salt has probably been cooked out.
fishcatch22
09-10-2006, 10:46 PM
hmmmm.... i wouldn't risk it, plah.
plah831
09-10-2006, 10:57 PM
not even if i soak them in fresh water first? I would think that would diffuse most of the salt out.
fishcatch22
09-10-2006, 11:16 PM
MOST. chances are it won't hurt them, but do you really want to find out?
plah831
09-11-2006, 1:52 AM
hmm, well I AM a scientist. No, just kidding. I'll just spring the horrible shipping rates to get some frozen Hikari clams for fish. Funny, I'll spend $13 to ship a $3 package of clams for two tiny fish that cost me $2.49 each :D