can I feed to my frog wildcaught frogs?

[EmJay]

Jason, wild animals develop immunity or tolerance to a lot of bacteria, illnesses, and environmental toxins as they grow. Animals bred in captivity never develop this tolerance, and even wild-caught animals can lose most of it as time passes. The wild frog could also have something like a fungal or parasite disease, which is slow-acting and/or invisible to the naked eye, and could infect not just your frog, but your enclosure as well. It's really better not to risk it.

(I don't know a lot about frogs yet, but I do know a wee bit about immunology in general... )

[DVirginiana]

Also, frogs from different parts of the world can be poisonous to one another even if they aren't poisonous to people or even animals living in their natural habitat. Most all amphibians produce some sort of toxin from their skin, but most of the 'non-toxic' ones aren't harmful to other animals that evolved alongside them.

[jelkins]

I've heard this repsonse from members hundreds of times, but never have heard anyone post about losing and animal from feeding it wild-caught foods? Especially taking the time to discern that the wild-caught animal had parasites, what type of parasites and that they were the same parasites that killed their captive animal? You'd have to disect the animal the do this.

I've been feeding my ornata wild caught frogs for years during the spring and summer months when they're available...never had any issues. Just make sure they are grass frogs (Pseudacris ocularis) , woods frogs (Rana sylvatica) or leopard frogs (Rana pipens). If you're worried about parasites you can also order and raise your own eggs from biological supply companies...I've done this serveral times as well.

This is the primary food for this species of frogs in the wild, close to 80% of their natural diet is other anurans.

[parathalyn]

Thanks for posting this, Justin! I have been wondering what frogs are preyed on by horned frogs and what could be used as feeders for horned frogs (mostly the Surinam horned frog). Have you seen/read anything on what specific species horned frogs prey on in the wild? Does your C. ornata seem to prefer any particular species of feeder frog? Are any of them (grass frogs, wood frogs, leopard frogs, etc.) easier to raise than the others?

I've been feeding my ornata wild caught frogs for years during the spring and summer months when they're available...never had any issues. Just make sure they are grass frogs (Pseudacris ocularis) , woods frogs (Rana sylvatica) or leopard frogs (Rana pipens). If you're worried about parasites you can also order and raise your own eggs from biological supply companies...I've done this serveral times as well.

This is the primary food for this species of frogs in the wild, close to 80% of their natural diet is other anurans.

[Namio]

Why risk your frog's life? Does chytrid fungus ring a bell? I am certain that many of you are aware of it, but for those who aren't, chytrid is a microscopic fungus that can cause a lethal disease in amphibian called "chytridiomycosis." Chytrid is spread among frogs through physical contact and while some frogs are resistant to chytridiomycosis (i.e. Pseudacris spp.), they act as carriers (disease vectors). So if you happened to catch an infected frog and offered it to your beloved pacman, chances are you will eventually kill your own frog via chytrid infection. I strongly recommend everyone to NEVER offer any amphibians to your pet frogs. There are many healthy alternative food options on the market.

Ceratophrys species are NOT resistant to chytrid infection (multiple scientific papers have documented this). They will die once being infected and not treated in time.