Sooo... How much DO I feed my clawed frogs?

[vallio86]

Okay, I have two male clawed frogs. Their both males, they have nuptual pads, but not quite full grown yet. I'm very confused about how much and how often to feed them. Most sites recommend feeding what they can eat in under 15 minutes, but these guys could seriously eat 50 baby pellets plus in that amount of time! I've been feeding them every day (which I guess is too much?) about 20-25 baby pellets (reptomin). I think I'm overdoing it! My albino is a good slim size with a gently rounded belly but my other one is a complete PIG and gets a larger share, and I've noticed he looks SERIOUSLY fat after feeding, and the next day back to normal. Of course, then I feed them again, and he blows up again. Like I said, reptomin baby pellets... So, how many pellets, how often? Thanks guys!

[mpmistr]

Feed them until they're gently round but not obese. Feed them every day until they are about 1 year old.

I feed my frogs daily since they're all under 1 year. Since they ate all their baby reptomin I feed mine adult Reptomin now.. they get about 5 sticks each (hand fed).

[vallio86]

So I want to feed based on their stomach size as their eating? How can I keep the piggy from hogging the food? He finds it immediately, it takes the albino a couple minutes. Is that because albinos don't have as good eyesight? Also, I'm not sure of their age, they are amplexing (is that right?) but they are only 2" not counting legs. I thought males got up to 3-4"? So I've been assuming their not quite fully grown. Thanks a lot for your help!

[mpmistr]

So I want to feed based on their stomach size as their eating? How can I keep the piggy from hogging the food? He finds it immediately, it takes the albino a couple minutes. Is that because albinos don't have as good eyesight? Also, I'm not sure of their age, they are amplexing (is that right?) but they are only 2" not counting legs. I thought males got up to 3-4"? So I've been assuming their not quite fully grown. Thanks a lot for your help!

I think they reach most of their size by 1 year but probably don't hit maximum size until almost 2, they just grow much slower after the first year. They can hit 3-4" I think size varies a lot though. I think most males should eventually hit 3 inches. I have not measured my frogs but I have an albino that is almost 3" and I bought him in May when he was a tiny froglet and I am pretty sure my other frog is female, purchased as a small froglet in June but they are roughly the same size. A few months ago I picked up a third frog as a froglet but he's only 2 inches and doesn't seem to be growing as fast as the other two so I don't know.. it seems random.

I don't know if albino or not makes much of a difference. I have an albino male and he is all over food and is rather keen at stealing food from the other frogs. I heard albinos tend not to get as big as pigmented frogs, so maybe 3" is the best you can expect from an albino male. I think diet plays a huge part in how fast they grow too. Frogs raised on tubifex/blackworms in one study showed to grow the fastest vs pellets.. but the pellet raised frogs lived longer. I'd have to find the article, it was an interesting read. I believe in frogs that faster growth+metabolism may lead to shorter lifespan, I know this is true with aquatic snails. Apple snails raised in cold water live longer than snails lived in warm water. Weird eh?

Anyways, best way to make sure they're all eating is to hand feed. I hand feed my frogs earthworms. I think hand feeding is way better than dumping food in the tank cause it's a LOT less waste and you know for sure that both frogs are getting the food they need to grow. Watch out though, I've hand fed and still had frogs make a successful steal time to time lol.

If your frogs are ~2" buy some bait shop nightcrawlers that are pet safe and cut them in half and feed your frogs 1/2 an earthworm each, I imagine half an earthworm every other day is probably perfect. Fill in their diet with reptomin here and there, my frogs eat reptomin and earthworms and not much else.

I don't know if my way is the best way but I've had good results.