GABF Refusing Worms

[SwimminSteve]

About 3 weeks ago I ran out of Maasai's nightcrawlers (his staple food). I went to Walmart and they were totally sold out! I struck out at Petco for crickets too! Ugh! So I ended up giving him red worms (also from walmart) for a few days in a row. The red worms (I assume red wigglers) are definitely not his favorite but he ate them. One night he ate 7 wigglers (not unusual for him, he can easily eat 8 large Canadian nightcrawlers in one sitting).
Since the 7 wigglers he has refused all food! I wonder if they upset his stomach? I know they can be irritating to the frog's mouth, but this is the first time he seems really put off by them.
I tried giving him wigglers and a frozen/thawed mouse over the following two weeks, but he refused everything. He also burrowed down (not completely, head was still out) and ignored his water dish. I let him be for a week without disturbing him, but yesterday I brought home 30 large crickets. I dug him out and soaked him in water for 10 minutes and then gave the crickets. He went nuts and devoured them within 2 minutes!
So then I offered a nightcrawler (used to be his fav!) and he wouldn't even look at it. In fact he would turn away from it.
So now I'm worried that he is afraid to eat worms again. And it figures cause I just bought 6 cups of nightcrawlers from Walmart. If crickets weren't so expensive I wouldn't mind, but this dude can easily eat 60+ large crickets 3 times a week and I can't afford to buy that many. The worms were much more practical and affordable.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there anything I can do to encourage him to eat worms again? I would prefer not to deprive him of food since he's still growing and I don't want him to be stunted. I don't really have the space to start a roach colony (plus they creep me out a bit).

Thanks!
Sam + Picky Frog

[Thevacantface]

My frog has done something similar. Used to love worms, ended up with a different brand than normal from Walmart once, and their bedding looked like a lot of it was paper. She gobbled down a couple of them but then started acting funny, kind of walking around the terrarium a lot and not wanting any more food. A while later burried in and didn't go anywhere for like a week. Must have not sat well with the frog because she has refused any worm since and deliberately turning her back to them. I've tricked her into eating a few of the original brand over the nearly year since it happened, but I get the death stare when she realizes what she's eating, and because of this, refuses to tong feed any more, she wants to really see what she is eating. I just switched to feeding Dubias, once they are going, they take less work, make less mess, hardly have any smell, and provide for a much better diet than crickets. I spent about the same amount on my self sustaining colony that is feeding 3 pacmans and 1 Pyxie, than I was buying crickets for just the Pyxie every month. I did try raising my own crickets, but the quality of hatchings was spotty and they always stunk. Lastly, there haven't been escapees.

I hope your frog gets over it's hate for worms, I sure wish mine would, they seem like such a good food source.

[Lija]

Yeah it is pretty common, red wigglers secrete sticky smelly substance that frogs hate, he remembers on that smell and taste and associate nightcrawlers with red wigglers, just carry on whatever he eats and try to convince him for nightcrawlers. Mine loves his worms served in his water, try it might work for you too

[Mentat]

Feeding Red Wrigglers to any frog usually ends in frog rejecting all similar looking worms and mistrust you as a food source . My recommendation is also to start a Dubia or similar roach colony. Good luck !

[SwimminSteve]

Well damn. I wish I knew this about red wigglers ahead of time. I'm going to buy some more crickets and throw pieces of chopped nightcrawler in with the crickets in the hopes that he will eat one in the heat of the moment lol. I used to feed him worms in his water dish, but he's so over that now- seriously, who knew a frog could give you such a dirty look!
I did some reading on starting a roach colony and it's just not feasible for me for the time being. I have no where to store the bin and I'm not ready to invest that much money when it will take 6-8 months to start feeding them off.
At least my African Clawed Frogs still go nuts for nightcrawlers, but at this rate it will be several months before they go through the supply that I just bought.

[Thevacantface]

SwimminSteve, if you have enough room to house a Pyxie, you have enough room for a sustainable Dubia colony. I have mine in a large sterelite container, but they could easily fit in a 10 gallon tank. Their food is some rolled oats and my veggie scraps, avoiding anything likely to have pesticides. A heat lamp to keep the temps up and I spray the tub sides about as often as I mist my frog. Started somewhere in the 600 to 800 large nymph range and fed out of it immediately. I avoid feeding out any adult females, mostly use adult males, and after 5 months I have several hundred adult females, maybe 60 adult males left, and a few thousand small to medium nymphs. No, the second generation hasn't hit adulthood yet, but I'm feeding out 30 per week now and my numbers are still growing. At an initial investment of around 100 dollars, and a very low maintenance cost I think the investment was wise.

[SwimminSteve]

It's a miracle!!!
I returned last night from a weekend away to find Maasai sitting in his water dish looking hungry. He's been burrowed out of sight the last few weeks so I was excited to see him looking perkier. It was very late at night too, which may be why he was more active. Anyway, despite being exhausted at 1am from the drive home I grabbed some nightcrawlers from the fridge and low and behold he went for it! He ate four worms. I'm not sure what came over him, but I am sooo happy that he changed his mind about worms being evil. Hopefully I can get him back on a more regular feeding schedule now.
Thank you everyone for the info on Dubias! It seems more feasible than I originally thought. I'm putting that plan on the back burner for now and will reconsider starting a colony if I end up getting the bearded dragon I've always wanted. For now, I'm just thrilled that I have a happy frog again.