Bugs and fruit juice

[HornedFairy]

I've been gutloading my cricket bugs with a variety of foods such as oats, raisens, carrot and fish food. Just before I feed my frog I dip them in a mixture of calcium dust vitamins.
I'm wondering if it's safe to dip them into a little orange juice or other fruit juice before feeding or would the sugar content be too high?

Also, I've picked up some Morio worms to try him with but I notice they have a really solid body and are quite agressive. Are they safe food?

[JeffreH]

Zophobas morio are perfectly safe to feed; though they do have stronger mandibles than mealworms and care should be taken not to overwhelm the animal with them or leave them unattended without a means of escape (just as you would for crickets). What species are you feeding?

As for the fruit juice: Avoid high citrus fruits, or anying with added sugars (or High-Fructose Corn Syrup). Most herps have some difficulty metabolizing sucrose. I've always been a fan of POM wonderful Pomegranate mixed fruit juices for reptiles that tolerate fruit well. Makes for a nice mix in with oral medications as well.

BUT - in reality. Your frog is probably a strict insectivore, and it would be best to leave the bugs to eat the fruits and gutload incrediants, leaving the frog to reap the benefits after they have gotten a start on the digestion. I'd just stick with what you are doing, gutload the bugs beforehand and dust the insects just before feeding. = )

[HornedFairy]

Ah great thanks Jeff!
I have an Ornate Pacman, he's a teenager at the moment so his eatings good, but not as greedy as some! Yea, i'll carry on with feeding the bugs fruits, that seems well, and the dusting too.
I tried to give him a Morio a few days ago but it was nasty and started to scratch at my frogs head. I was quite suprised by how aggressive they are! I see what you mean about overwhelming the frog, I supervise my pets eatings as he shovelled a load of bedding in his mouth one time and I had to quickly remove bits of bark from his face! So when I give him the small worms I put a plain takeaway tub in is tank (That way he's still in his house, but it's cleaner and safer for him to eat), but the morio was on tweezers and it was squiggling like mad!

[JeffreH]

Yeah, superworms are pretty fiesty little dudes. You could try clipping the legs with fingernail clippers or scissors before feeding - I know sometimes if they are caught by the abdomen they will try desperately to pull themselves out of the mouth until swallowed as you said. That, or if your frog has a strong feeding response, you could cut off the heads if you are concerned about it scratching your frog. I've really only fed these guys to larger geckos and bearded dragons, so I'm not sure how easy it is to damage the skin of a frog... but the removal of the head is only a precaution to prevent biting or scratching of the face (I know there is that old wives tale that they are dangerous when consumed: very false).

Freshly molted are always good too = )

[HornedFairy]

ah excellent, thanks again, this is helping loads.

Erghh.. gruesome tho! I'm beggining to wish I didn't pick them now, would have just been easier to give him an Earthworm or similar from a fishing bait shop!!

yuck, my waste bin is already filled with Decapitated corpses and severed limbs!! oh the joys of creepy crawlies