Wild Caught Questions

[COOCOpUcHoo]

Thanks to all for the information. I KNOW that my yard has no pesticides. The last time we used any fertilizers was probably 2 years ago. I do no know if i can do that 1-2 week cleansing cycle, I will stick with crickets store bought. But is it possible that my frog will develop an immune system from feeding him/her wild caught grasshoppers?

[DVirginiana]

Thanks to all for the information. I KNOW that my yard has no pesticides. The last time we used any fertilizers was probably 2 years ago. I do no know if i can do that 1-2 week cleansing cycle, I will stick with crickets store bought. But is it possible that my frog will develop an immune system from feeding him/her wild caught grasshoppers?

The thing is, you don't know if the BUGS in your yard have no pesticides. They could have come from down the street, or chemicals could have washed into your yard from somewhere else when it rains.

No, pesticides have nothing to do with an immune system. It's not like a virus where you develop antibodies, it's like eating rat poison. The more poison you eat, the more damage is done. There's no 'getting used to it'.

Stick with feeding him store-bought. Just because they look healthy does NOT mean they are pesticide free! Insects are often not affected by pesticides like they were intended. Just to clarify, this is NOT immunity; a single animal can't develop immunity to poisons. It is because over hundreds of thousands of generations, genes that allow an insect to function around the poison are naturally selected for, and those few insects pass on their genes much more than those that can't handle the pesticides.

Bottom line is, when you feed anything wild caught there is a risk it will harm your frog no matter how certain you think you are that it is safe, because you don't know where it's been. You can spend just a few dollars a month to buy feeders you know are safe.

[Namio]

I second what DVirgina had said. Frogs will not develop immunity to herbicide or pesticide. What they do is to withstand those toxins until their immunity compromises and eventually they'll die if you kept feeding it food with harmful chemical. Since there's no way we can know for sure whether wild caught insects are chemical free or not, by doing so you are taking a risk on your pet frog's life. Personally (and i believe many others feel the same way), it is not a risk that I'm willing to take.

[Samalander]

FWIW I have fed my pacman wild caught worms, insects, and small animals my cats killed (birds, mice and even baby rats). I have had this frog for over 22 years now

[poison]

FWIW I have fed my pacman wild caught worms, insects, and small animals my cats killed (birds, mice and even baby rats). I have had this frog for over 22 years now

Please tell me what the benefits of doing that is. And how many specimens have you worked with?

[DVirginiana]

FWIW I have fed my pacman wild caught worms, insects, and small animals my cats killed (birds, mice and even baby rats). I have had this frog for over 22 years now

I have a garter snake that has exceeded the captive life expectancy of his species by 50% (average is 8, he's 12) that I unknowingly fed feeders that have been PROVEN as toxic for the first ten years I had him. He's doing great, so clearly a LOT of what I was doing was correct, but I'm not going to recommend what are unquestionably risky feeders to a kid who's just getting into reptiles because it worked for me.
And they are, unquestionably, risky. It's never something I would recommend to a young kid without the resources to really find out what the local pesticide use patterns are.

[COOCOpUcHoo]

I wasn't talking about toxins that he would be immune to, I was talking about disease.

[Hypnotic]

I'm going to hop on the bandwagon and say don't do it, it's like playing russian roulette with your frogs life. There is a good reason we keep the animals that some of us eat in farms. Would you eat a cow that has been grazing behind a highway, inhaling toxic fumes and eating the trash besides the road? Remember, animals travel, be it by jumping, running or flying, you have no idea where they have been.
The only reason to feed stuff from the wild is because you either can't afford food or are a cheapskate. I think that neither of the forementioned people, should own pets.
The entire reason of keeping pets, is providing the best care for your animal and watching them thrive in the unnatural enviroment we create. So don't mess with the basics. That's my two cents

[demon amphibians]

[QUOTE=Hypnotic;189780]I'm going to hop on the bandwagon and say don't do it, it's like playing russian roulette with your frogs life. There is a good reason we keep the animals that some of us eat in farms. Would you eat a cow that has been grazing behind a highway, inhaling toxic fumes and eating the trash besides the road? Remember, animals travel, be it by jumping, running or flying, you have no idea where they have been.

I could not disagree more with this statement.

Wild animals are 10 times safer to eat then farm raised animals. In fact the farming of animals produce several times the amount of polution as all motor vehichles in the world. I can show you info that will turn anyone who see it into vegitarians. look up on youtube how hotdogs are made, just for starts. cattle that are allowed to rome free ranges are much safer and healthier to eat. wild birds are also much safer then farm raised chickens. Cows, chickens, and pigs are all feed there own droppings, a simple chemical everyone knows about that is found in animal dung is ammonia that is just one of several. just that alone makes the quailty of the meat worse then a wild animal. cows are very smart and picky eaters they wouldnt just walk up and eat a piece of trash on the road. however it would eat anything if it was given unfavorable living environment such as on your average farm. Also breathing car exhust is much cleaner then the air the average cow is breathing on a farm. I know this is off topic and i apologise if i am coming across rude. But i really want to inform you of the truth because this is the leading cause of polution in the world and one of the reasons many species of frogs are extinct.

true, you dont know where the insects have been but that doesnt mean they are anymore dangerous then a captive breed insect. you just have to be selective of where you catch them from. be smart.

[demon amphibians]

I wasn't talking about toxins that he would be immune to, I was talking about disease.

(When it comes to disease a frogs immune system is very different from ours. We can build an immunity against many different diseases by contracting it. But in many cases frogs are unable to do that. It may take several generations of a spieces to gain immunities to a diseases introduced to the area. Cytrid is a very dangerous disease that is devastating the frog world. It is spread in water.. You can encounter just as many dieases and parasites from store bought food too. I have heard of several cases of this.)
Pesticides can be an issue but unless you live in a farming community where large amounts of pestesides are used the chances of you encountering this are very low. Like i said before it is ok to be overly cautious and there are dangers everywhere but you will encounter just has many hazard feeding store bought food items. Think about people who culture there own feeders? Crickets, roaches, you name it all, eat veggies. Think about it. What do you feed your cultured insects? Store bought veggies right? even organic veggies can have pesticides on them. And i will promise you this the large scale cricket breeders where pet stores get there crickets from do not feed organic veggies to there crickets before they sell them. What i am saying is that your attempts to prevent feeding pesticide riden insects to your frogs may result in you feeding more of it to them through your captive breed insects. You can rinse your store bought veggies with water all day long and it still wont remove all the pesticides. Thats why you have to use a special rinse to soak your veggies in and that stuff is 60 bucks for 20oz. It is really the only way to have 100% pesticide free food for your feeders which your frogs will be eating.