won't eat worms

[ChrissyBee]

I've mentioned before that my little frog Alphie won't eat worms. I just had one in front of him for at least 15 minutes and nothing. He did perk up a little, but made no attempt to eat it, even when it rubbed against his mouth.

Do you think maybe the worm looked too big to him? Do they tend to eat worms more willingly as adults? He voraciously eats crickets, so it's not an appetite issue.

I'd really like to feed a staple diet of nightcrawlers rather than crickets for various reasons (noise, nutrition, cost) but so far, no luck

[Mentat]

Worm (or piece) should be around same as frog's SVL. Can cut worms from pointy end and they should heal. If frog is not associating worm with food, feed 1 cricket or roach. Then take worm piece in tongs and approaching from face side, lightly rub it's mouth with it. Maybe that will elicit a hit. Once it eats one; the rest should be easy. Good luck !

[Truffs1178]

Sometimes when my pacman eats a roach I slip one end of a night crawler into his mouth when it opens and he will either eat it or spit it out. Don't push it all in though or he may choke or something. Just slip the tip of one in so he bites down on it.

[ChrissyBee]

Thanks for the tips

As for roaches, they aren't available in any of the local pet shops her unfortunately .

[CHUBBY]

Is Alphie a baby? I've noticed most of the little guys prefer crickets over worms. I'm assuming this is because crickets are generally more active than worms in terms of movement and the babies feeding response is usually triggered by such movement.


Most babies won't take worms. Either the worm is too big for them or the worm is chopped up to the point where the piece is dead and not wiggling, which won't trigger a response from the baby.


I suggest trying crawlers once or twice a week though and more as Alphie grows. Sometimes they grab it and spit it out after, but sometimes they'll take it. Associating food with tongs is generally successful. Tong feed crickets and switch it up with a worm at some point. Once Alphie is tong trained, he or she will eventually put two and two together and will start striking no matter whats dangling on the end of them.


You can also try leaving a piece of a fresh cut wiggling worm in front of Alphie for 5-10 minutes in a feeding tub. Usually after being chopped in half, the worm will go crazy and wiggle and dance everywhere (AND I wouldn't blame him LOL), eliciting a feeding response from the baby.


Cheers,


Adam

[ChrissyBee]

Thanks Adam, that was my question exactly....do they tend to go for worms more when they are larger. Alphie is a baby, I've had him about a month and he's grown a lot but is still small in pacman terms. It is the movement that entices him to eat right now. I'm going to try your suggestions for sure. Hopefully in time I can transition him over to worms.

[NialR35]

Sometimes when the prey is too small, frogs get turned off. Usually you have to feed them a piece as long as the distance between the eyes but with nightcrawlers you can go longer than that because they do not cause impaction since they do not have an exoskeleton.

My frogs love night crawlers and eat them like spaghetti lol, but most frogs also hate red worms because of the flavor their slime produces when in distress. You can also feed hornworms and waxworms as treats so your frog can like the worm texture better.

[Yarjammer]

My Pac wont accept worms either. I've tried rubbing it on his lips, dropping it in front of him, and dangling it in the air. If I don't get any success with them in the next day or my worms are going in my garden.


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[Hypnotic]

My girl doesn't like them one bit lol. I feed her an occasional one while I keep her staple as locusts It's really hard work to get her to accept one.
It's not the preffered diet, but she grew up this way and she's a very healthy girl, so I don't see harm in it.