Feeding T's Frogs

[abstract]

Alright experts - what kind of insight do you have on this?

I've got a creek that runs behind my apartment complex, and a bunch of little frogs scatter around there, and even up to my porch sometimes. Most look small enough for my 4"+ rosie to handle, but i have some concerns.

1> Pesticides - the frogs could eat pesticidic (word?) crix or whatever, or hop through pesticide laden, and therefore become contaminated. >>>>Can this be remedied by capturing / feeding them for a while, so they could rid their body of toxins?

2> Frogs have strong legs <for hopping!> So could they do damage to a large(r) T? I'd think the T would avoid it should it feel threatened.

Okay - so say I got a BIG L. Parahybana - could that take a frog down? Does anybody do this? Am I crazy?

NOTE: Another thread was already started on this subject - but I'm wondering if anyone has done it yet?
( http://www.arachnopets.com/arachnoboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9195&highlight=frogs):?

 

[atmosphere]

Have you ever fed your T a anole lizard ? I wouldn't feed a frog IMO. Be cause I respect them they control insect population and we need all we can get. With the WNV going the way it has.

 

[Vys]

If you feel fairly certain the frogs in question have not been exposed to any pesticides, I guess you can try it. I think little froggies would be great food, and here they are all protected. Every single reptile and amphibian. All 25, or so

 

[Mendi]

I read about this before somewhere and from that article, it was fairly sure that wild Ts do occassionally eat frogs. But like any WC prey items you need to worry about the chemicals it might have been exposed to. Another thing to think about is the size of the frogs mouth is from one corner to the other, they can eat amazingly large creatures compared to their 'head' size. Their mouths often open much larger than their own heads, and frogs have been known to catch and swallow some small birds and turtles. Myself, mice and rat pups are a better idea than chancing my beloved pets

 

[willywonka]

Some frogs secrete toxins to protect them from preditors which can be harmful to your tarantulas. I would always be wary of feeding prey items caught outside where there is a possiblity of contamination. I would rather error on the side of caution than lose a tarantula by feeding it something I am not sure about.

 

[Longbord1]

i saw a site forgot the site where they show a frog being eaten by a l. prahybana it was like before and after which was cool and im sure it would be find if u suspect pesticides find the smallest frog that could be a meal for ur g rosea cause the younger it is probably the less pesticides it containes.

 

[TheSpiderHouse]

If I remember correctly Rick Wests site has a couple of pictures of frogs (and a couple of bats) being eaten by T's. Also, I can't remember if its Champions of the Wild or Profiles of Nature (both done by Rick West I think) shows a couple of T's eating frogs. If I remember correctly in the video it was A avics that were shown eating the frogs.

 

[abstract]

It sounds like most everyone is saying not a good idea, for chemical reasons. But would keeping / feeding these frogs in captivity for a while reduce the toxins in its system to a safe level, if any at all?

I wonder if an attacked frog would retaliate, or just try and escape....

 

[crash769]

Hi I feed my T's frogs quite often. There is a stream that I can find small tree frogs by in the summer. I have never had a problem with feeding them to my T's and it's a nice change of food for them. My red knee will not hesitate for a second to take down a frog. In the winter I usually buy the green tree frogs from the local pet shop to feed. I like frogs over pinkies cuz the T's seem to eat the frogs faster and it doesn’t smell. Oh and never feed them toads they do have toxins. Frogs where I live don't but I know some of the more exotic tree frogs do. I only feed my T's frogs that are about an inch and no bigger.

 

[Jeff_C]

I guess you'd have to figure that in the wild rainforest a frog or two has become T food.

So here's a related situation/question: my buddy picked up some red-spotted newts for me on a camping trip in upstate NY. No chance for fertilizer or other man-made toxins. Now, except for the fact they are now pets would they make good T food because he can get them by the bucket load for me?

fyi, they also secrete some foul tasting slime when attacked but Ts dont 'taste' do they.

Jeff

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by jcohen9999
I guess you'd have to figure that in the wild rainforest a frog or two has become T food.

So here's a related situation/question: my buddy picked up some red-spotted newts for me on a camping trip in upstate NY. No chance for fertilizer or other man-made toxins. Now, except for the fact they are now pets would they make good T food because he can get them by the bucket load for me?

fyi, they also secrete some foul tasting slime when attacked but Ts dont 'taste' do they.

Jeff

I am no expert by any means, but I would not use newts or salamanders, many of them if not all can be toxic (ever see one go into a defensive display? they curl up so their brightly colored undersides are visible which warns predators they are toxic). I would also have a problem feeding WC frogs to any of my t's because of the decline in the frogs numbers in the wild, also because of possible pathogens from WC frogs and well.......just because I like frogs!
if you want a larger meal for your t's I would recommend you use pink mice or even rat pups.
Ed

 

[skadiwolf]

well...if you aren't positive the stream is a clean source without pesticides or toxins, i wouldn't risk it.

perhaps if you could get frogs commercially available?

another thing to think about is many people don't feed frogs to reptiles because some of them have parasites that can be harmful to snakes.

i'm not sure about what kind they are or if they'd harm Ts, but it's something to consider.

 

[skadiwolf]

...after more thought...

for what it's worth, there are VERY few streams in this country that i would dare to drink from because of stuff being dumped into them at some point.

that might be a very real consideration for you. i assume that most captive bred Ts have less resistance to outside influences, diseases, parasites, etc. than some WC Ts might have.

perhaps you could research the safety of the water quality from that stream and go from there...

 

[LPacker79]

I would never feed my T's a frog or any other amphibian. For one, there has been a steady decline of amphibians due to loss of habitat and pollution. They also eat a great deal of insects including those dreaded mosquitos.
I also happen to have 7 frogs as pets, so I'm kind of fond of them.

 

[minax]

Bad idea..........

Do not feed the red-spotted newts to your T's............They are VERY toxic, and have been known to kill many differant animals which have eaten them. I even saw a documentary once that featured a story about a pathologist who investigated and had to solve a situation where the cause of death of some campers was in question. He found out the two campers had put their coffee pot into a clear creek, to get water for their morning coffee.

After drinking the coffee, they died. Eventually.......it was solved by finding that a newt had gotten into their pot, and they were similar to the red-spotted.......if not the same. And I know it was in the same area as you mentioned. It was found that these newts are in fact one of the most toxic in the world, as far as the level of potency. Seems they had a bit of a evolutionary struggle going on to protect themselves from being preyed upon by garter snakes, hence the high toxin levels.

And I do not think frogs are such a great idea for captive T's. I know they are commonly consumed in the wild........but w.c. frogs are almost always heavily parasitized, and this could be very unhealthy for your T's, to say the least. And there has been very little research done on treatment of parasites from prey, when it comes to tarantulas.

 

[luther]

I'll just throw in another concern. The major pollution of rivers in developed countries is not pesticides but fertilisers. There's a huge amount of contamination from nitrates in agricultural run-off. I wouldn't feed anything from a river in an agricultural area.

 

[Buspirone]

What about frog legs meant for human consumption. I have a friend who works in a small meat market/butcher shop that sells exotic meats and can get me frog legs or even alligator meat at cost. Could you give those to Ts like you would feed a sling a cricket leg for variety?

 

[Bry]

Just adding another insight here. Frogs have very porous skin, and easily absorb the water and whatever chemicals are in it, which would quite easily kill the frogs exposed in a certain area. I would think that frogs that aren't naturally toxic which are collected in the wild would be a safe bet. By wild areas, I'm talking about areas that aren't heavily populated by people. Just a thought.

Bry

 

[abstract]

Sounds like a good idea to avoid

I think w/the skepticism that everyone has shown, I'll definitely avoid feeding WC frogs to them. - I definitely don't live in the country, so i'm sure there's plenty of vile human byproducts in the non-potable water supply here.

As far as a store bought small frog? If it was cheap, I might try it... works for Crash769.....

 

[Longbord1]

get tree frogs that are green without bright colors those should have very little or no poison also avoid toads all toads are posinous