Feeding frogs and snakes

[von_z]

Not worth feeding wild caught prey. Hey Ryan, I'll take some of those roaches off your hands. PM me.

 

[Merfolk]

I'd have to strongly advise against feeding wild prey. While wild T's obviously will catch whatever wild prey they can get, in captivity we can grant them the luxury of being fed regular and SAFE meals.



Mushroom Spore is right on the money here. There are so many chemicals dumped in our environment that can hurt critters - especially inverts. MANY places treat for mosquitoes for instance, and the amphibians soak all that up. I can't imagine that pesticides like that would do your T any good...

I know several falconers, and one suffered from this sort of situation. Her Red Shouldered Hawk caught a frog/toad (they only saw the back legs going down) that got too close to its perch when he was out weathering. Shouldn't be a big deal - they are on the menu in the wild. However, the hawk died less than 8 hours later, after several hours of intensive care and therapy given to it when it started to droop shortly after its snack. It was determined that the amphibian introduced some toxicity to the system - likely absorbed poisons from all the mosquito and pest treatment in the local water. It was an absolutely heartbreaking situation, as this was her first bird, and he was an absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully trained young boy.

Point of that story - if a wild frog/toad in a relatively unsettled area (I don't want to even think about how much more toxins one from a more settled area would have!) can kill a hawk that fast, its probably not the best thing to feed to a T!

But then again - I'm sure there are people who have fed such things without a problem. So it comes down to the amount of risk you are willing to take with your pets. I'd avoid doing it though.

It's weird. Frogs are like a pollution barometer because they are so sensitive to water pollution that they are absent wherevever it's a tad dirty. I saw them disapear from my native area when a factory opened across the lake...

 

[betuana]

It's weird. Frogs are like a pollution barometer because they are so sensitive to water pollution that they are absent wherevever it's a tad dirty. I saw them disapear from my native area when a factory opened across the lake...

Yeah, we get various frogs locally in areas away from industrial plants, and none near there, even in similar habitiat. I've also noticed some seem to show up, but then vanish when they start 'treating' and area for pests and mosquitoes, but then a while later other varieties show up. Makes me think that some varieties are more resistant to certain toxins than others - and Maverick (my friend's hawk) was unlucky enough to grab the resistant sponge type.

Wonder if there are some that are becoming like the types of roaches who can take something greater than the human LD of some toxins and just keep on going like nothings wrong. Radioactive frogs!

 

[olablane]

All I feed out are male dubias or unsexed nymphs and have never had anyone reject one except when they were in pre molt.

And to the OP:
Feeding wild prey, especially frogs, is never a good idea. All frogs are toxic to varying degrees and, as stated previously, soak up any environmental pollution in their skin. I think there has been recent studies as well showing that garter snake saliva is mildly toxic as well. Why risk your pets?

What is OP

 

[betuana]

What is OP

OP = Original Poster