Favorite food for frogs

[Hoppity100]

Just wondered how many owners schedule feeding and how often they feed their frogs? Because I have 1 fat frog and 1 skinny who is a slightly darker color but he is alert and waiting to eat. I got wax worms out of fridge and am waiting for them to move. Is it ok to feed them 1 worm a day? Mine eat anytime, maybe they did not have enough food during shipping and how do these critters survive during stressful shipping? I guess by luck. And I read last night to add slice of apple or potato to mealworm container and to add no food for wax worms. The wax worms take forever to warm up! And, I took sand out of my tank and have hermit moss dry substrate on land part, they actually like sitting on it. Store was again out of turtle docks, but that's ok, I don't need one now. And, do these frogs survive without a water heater? I can't put mine in tank especially in winter without a heater, they would probably die here without one. It creates humid environment a bit as I have part of my tank covered with clear covering over screen lid to create the humidity. I noticed they love being in water which makes me think of them more as frogs instead of toads, but maybe they really are considered toads?

[JeffreH]

You'll definitely have better luck getting all of your questions answered if you break them up into the appropriate forums = ) I know it can be confusing if you are new to using forums. Because we are in the feeder forum, your questions regarding specific husbandry about Fire-Bellied Toads will likely be overlooked as we are banking on a fellow FBT owner to read through all of these posts and respond. Try posting FBT specific questions in the Bombina forum where plenty of FBT owners will be browsing the new topics eager to help you out in any way. Here is a link to the Fire Belly forum:
Fire Belly Toads (Bombina)


I do not actually keep FBT's... I'm just very familiar with feeder insects and insects in general so I primarily stay confined to this forum. Working in an entomology lab does that, lol ;P

So I'll try to address some of your questions from the previous postings regarding feeders:

The snails will likely be a no go. Snails and slugs have the capacity to act as feeders if you can ensure they are raised in captivity (and the snail's shells have been removed) but this isn't a very common practice to my knowledge. The issue is what they can get into in nature if you collect from the yard. It would not be difficult for either of them to get into some kind of nasty chemical -cide which would make them potentially toxic. Furthermore, gastropods like snails and slugs are notorious for being parasitized by a plethora of potential pathogens, so feeding them may introduce a parasitic pathogen to your frog.

Mealworms should indeed receive some sort of moisture source - apple slices, greens...virtually any kind of vegetable or fruit can work. Try to avoid fruits that are very moisture rich though, as too much moisture settling on the gutload/substrate that the mealworms are living in can result in bacteria and mold growth. Waxworms will not eat anything unique that you try to offer to them. In nature, they are specialists that feed on beeswax and derivatives and are a pest species to bee keepers.

All of your other questions regarding the FBT's specifically will likely be best addressed in the Fire Belly Forum I linked to at the beginning of the post = )

[Hoppity100]

You'll definitely have better luck getting all of your questions answered if you break them up into the appropriate forums = ) I know it can be confusing if you are new to using forums. Because we are in the feeder forum, your questions regarding specific husbandry about Fire-Bellied Toads will likely be overlooked as we are banking on a fellow FBT owner to read through all of these posts and respond. Try posting FBT specific questions in the Bombina forum where plenty of FBT owners will be browsing the new topics eager to help you out in any way. Here is a link to the Fire Belly forum:
Fire Belly Toads (Bombina)


I do not actually keep FBT's... I'm just very familiar with feeder insects and insects in general so I primarily stay confined to this forum. Working in an entomology lab does that, lol ;P

So I'll try to address some of your questions from the previous postings regarding feeders:

The snails will likely be a no go. Snails and slugs have the capacity to act as feeders if you can ensure they are raised in captivity (and the snail's shells have been removed) but this isn't a very common practice to my knowledge. The issue is what they can get into in nature if you collect from the yard. It would not be difficult for either of them to get into some kind of nasty chemical -cide which would make them potentially toxic. Furthermore, gastropods like snails and slugs are notorious for being parasitized by a plethora of potential pathogens, so feeding them may introduce a parasitic pathogen to your frog.

Mealworms should indeed receive some sort of moisture source - apple slices, greens...virtually any kind of vegetable or fruit can work. Try to avoid fruits that are very moisture rich though, as too much moisture settling on the gutload/substrate that the mealworms are living in can result in bacteria and mold growth. Waxworms will not eat anything unique that you try to offer to them. In nature, they are specialists that feed on beeswax and derivatives and are a pest species to bee keepers.

All of your other questions regarding the FBT's specifically will likely be best addressed in the Fire Belly Forum I linked to at the beginning of the post = )

Thank you, I was going to break down my questions, haven't gotten to that yet, have a dog that became ill and am waiting to hear from vet tomorrow, am worried. I was not going to get snails: even though someone wrote about it, its silly for me to try and get a snail out of its shell. I have mealworms with an apple, just got back from getting crickets and had a very hard time with the pet store, now I see why their ratings are so low. I also have wax worms. So, the frogs will be fine, I need to get calcium dust ready to apply. Just too busy to keep up today, but thanks for writing.

[Hoppity100]

I have a new silly but critical question about food: can a fire belly handle eating and digesting a cricket that is a little larger size than the pet store gave me before? Both of mine just ate a cricket, both crickets are a little larger than before. They get crickets into bag quickly because they jump, but I happened to get ones that are larger this time. Has anyone had this experience before? Just checking.....thanks.