Night crawler questions

[imetazoa]

I am going to switch Morbo's mainly cricket diet to mainly night crawlers and I have a few questions:

1. Can I buy the ones from Walmart? Brand DMF Bait Co.
2. Do you have to rinse them prior to feeding?
3. Do you have to dust them in calcium?
4. How many should I feed (and how often) to a frog that is 3.5" SVL?
5. How long do they last in the fridge?

And, to tack on a random question, how often should my frog be pooping? I don't think he has pooped in over a week.

Thanks in advance!

[Burra]

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can answer some.
1. Yes, you can buy ones from Walmart as long as there are no additives like scents.
2. I rinse them, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary. I just like to minimize the amount of dirt my frog consumes.
3. Yes, they should still be dusted with calcium.
4. Not sure about how many or how often, it depends on how big they are. You can cut them in bite sized pieces as well.
5. They can last for weeks in the fridge, I've had them last well over a month.

The pooping question depends on a few things. How often he is eating, how much, and your frog in general. Do you see a lump on his side? That is usually an indicator they have to poop. I'll let the experts chime in here.

[Lija]

1. you can buy for any bait store as long as it is additive free,
2. yes you need tor rinse it with dechlorinated tap water
3. you should dust them Ca every second feeding and multivitamins once a week, but don't do both together.
4. as much as it can eat in 15 min, it depends on a frog, some eat more, some less, at 3.5" size no need to cut, feed whole nightcrawler, at that size I'm guessing it might eat 2-5 per feeding. sometimes they eat more one day and less the next feeding, at that size you should feed every 2-3 days.
5. they can last for 8 months, if you are getting small amount from a store, i think normally they sell 24 per container, the worms will be gone in 2 weeks or less. you just need to watch the worms, they should have enough of slightly moist dirt.

they poop when they need, it can be every week, or a bit sooner or later, it depends on a lot of things - how much they ate, what they ate, no need to worry if conditions are good, the frog looks happy and eating well.

[GrifTheGreat]

Wal-Mart worms are fine. Lija has you covered on everything else.

I will add that if you feel its been too long since the frog has pooped just prepare a luke warm bath of de-chlorinated water about chin deep and no deeper. Disolve 3 drops of honey in the bath and soak the frog for 15 minutes. If it needs to poop then it should do so in the bath or soon after.

[imetazoa]

Thanks!!! What is a good type of vitamin powder to get? All I currently have is calcium w/ D3

[GrifTheGreat]

Thanks!!! What is a good type of vitamin powder to get? All I currently have is calcium w/ D3

Herptivite is a good multivitamin. So is Repashy.

[arielgasca420]

rinse them in very cold water. warm water will cause the worm to evacuate their bowels and they will become very limp and almost lifeless. even lukewarm water will make them go berzerk.

[MatthewM1]

The worms going berserk isn't necessarily a bad thing, when they are flailing around the trigger a much more aggressive response than one that's just slowly moving around.

[arielgasca420]

for most frogs i think the response would be good but with my pyxi he gets confused on where to strike and typically misses. i just notice that the worms are better in colder water and dont go into shock