Some tips required with tong feeding

[Hypnotic]

I'm trying to change my frogs to worms and they are making clear, these do not taste great.
They keep refusing, holding out for over 15 minutes for 2 days in a row, and the second I switch to another prey item, it's like there isn't even tongs involved.
What can I do to make them stop refusing nightcrawlers? How many days can I make my little guys go without food in a row to sharpen the appetite?
I've even tryed feeding 2 waxworms, switching to nightcrawlers, but they just start swatting, headbutting, digging down and turning circles all over again. Stubborn little .....
I have one wich seems to take them after enough effort, but my two others will stay stubborn for a full 15 minutes each time.

[mpmackenna]

How old are your frogs?


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[Hypnotic]

I'm not sure about the age, but one is still a baby to young juvenile and my two others are juveniles, both recently developed nuptual pads, one is a bit more mature then the other, in terms of croaking and pads.
The youngest one especially is being really stubborn, the youngest two seem to have made up theyre minds about the poor taste and are refusing like rocks. The slightly older one ate 8 allready in a week, so I have high hopes for him. My adult ones also don't seem to mind the worms.
Could this be an age thing? Since my oldest ones eat nightcrawlers but my youngest are little pigheads.
They were raised on crickets, locusts, silkworms, waxworms, dubias and redrunners and occasional mice.
Edit: Exactly, I use waxworms as treats and attempted the pull the switcharoo, but it din'd fly. These frogs are smart.

[aGreenCup]

I have no experience with wax worms, but I do tong feed with earthworms. My frog loves them, I never had a problem with earthworms. Now if they do not want to eat just let them be, and just try the next day. Repeat, they will get hungry. Why are you using wax worms, earthworms are really beneficial.

[mpmackenna]

I have no experience with wax worms, but I do tong feed with earthworms. My frog loves them, I never had a problem with earthworms. Now if they do not want to eat just let them be, and just try the next day. Repeat, they will get hungry. Why are you using wax worms, earthworms are really beneficial.

I think they like the wax worms. He is getting them excited and then pulling the old switcharoo.


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[mpmackenna]

I'm not sure about the age, but one is still a baby to young juvenile and my two others are juveniles, both recently developed nuptual pads, one is a bit more mature then the other, in terms of croaking and pads.
The youngest one especially is being really stubborn, the youngest two seem to have made up theyre minds about the poor taste and are refusing like rocks. The slightly older one ate 8 allready in a week, so I have high hopes for him. My adult ones also don't seem to mind the worms.
Could this be an age thing? Since my oldest ones eat nightcrawlers but my youngest are little pigheads.
They were raised on crickets, locusts, silkworms, waxworms, dubias and redrunners and occasional mice.
Edit: Exactly, I use waxworms as treats and attempted the pull the switcharoo, but it din'd fly. These frogs are smart.

That seems to be a kind of consensus from what I've read. The young ones are tougher to get to eat crawlers once they are used to more mobile prey items. The mobile stuff seems to lead to higher prey drive response that the younger frogs seem to be more likely to require. They will probably come around. I would give it a rest for a few weeks and save your sanity. Do you use tongs with the insects? If not maybe try that. It might get them to start responding to the tongs in general and make the transfer a little less of a change for dinner time. Get them to see tongs and think food instead of looking so closely at the actual item. Just a thought not sure if it will help at all.

Good luck.


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[Hypnotic]

I actually really like this advice, and for the sake of my sanity and to reduce frog stress, I'l go with it. My most mature juvenile and baby are very used to tongs, the other one headbutts them every chance he gets, but he swoops in for the kill the second I drop the item, so spending a little more time on him should produce some results.

[Jeffww]

I had trouble getting mine to tong feed with worms. I basically just grab the worm by the tail and let the worm move around on the ground on its own while keeping half of it suspended. Only half the worm gets "dirty" and the frog takes him. He is however still tong trained when it comes to eating crickets and pacmanfood though. For some reason he doesn't like eating the worms from tongs.

[danfrog]

All I got to say is keep trying. My frogs love worms. It was hard to get them started eating worms I must admit. Try alternating food sources. Or you could hide the worm piece with the other prey item when offering with tongs.

[reptileszz]

For what it's worth I don't feed wax worms to any of my reptiles any longer. They like them too much. I think they are like reptile/amphibian crack. Once they get a taste of them it is hard to get them to eat anything else. And if you give in and feed them again every time you will never get them off of them. I simply stopped using them around here.

Carole

[mpmackenna]

For what it's worth I don't feed wax worms to any of my reptiles any longer. They like them too much. I think they are like reptile/amphibian crack. Once they get a taste of them it is hard to get them to eat anything else. And if you give in and feed them again every time you will never get them off of them. I simply stopped using them around here.

Carole

Reptile/amphib crack..... Lol


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[ChrissyBee]

I totally feel your pain. I've had a ton of trouble trying to get my young pacman to eat worms as well (have posted about it in previous threads). In fact, I struggle to feed him period. Unless a cricket walks by him, he doesn't eat. I put him in a smaller enclosure to try and increase the chances of him getting the crickets, which helped, but he still takes forever to get them!

I finally had success with a bit of earthworm this week. It was really wiggling and the movement enticed him. Then I tried a second piece and no dice! He seemed kind of perplexed about the piece he did eat, I'm afraid he didn't like it.

I'm going to keep trying, I really would love to get him on a steady diet of worms. Good to know I'm not the only one with this problem. Hopefully when they grow up a little they won't be a picky!