Food Aggression

[Rissabeebee]

I recently got two FBTs and this is my first time owning frogs. I am not sure of the sex of either of them. I think they're both female because neither of them have nuptial pads or the "hooks" on their second fingers. Sometimes at night though I hear what I can only describe as like a chirping noise coming from their tank. A few times I have found them in what would be the mating position, but the smaller of the two, Peach, usually climbs out from underneath the larger one, Mario (I named them before I looked up how to sex them, lol).

The majority of the time they are fine together in the tank, only really bothering each other when what I described above happens. When it comes to feeding however, the larger one Mario is very aggressive towards Peach if he sees her get a cricket. The first time this happened he jumped at her, and the most recent time (yesterday) he actually attacked her - he had her leg in his mouth any everything! Needless to say it was very alarming. Like I mentioned they are fine together in the tank when I'm not feeding them, but as soon as I let the crickets out they go crazy.

I'm just looking for some advice on what to do. I don't want Peach to get hurt or end up dead but I also don't want to give either of them away.

[privet01]

The chirping might be a stray cricket. However if you could also consider it a croak or a barking sound then it's one or both of you FBT's and that would suggest one or both are male.

When you find one on the back of another, that may be posturing by the dominant male to restate his place in the "world". It's normal, so to is the aggression to an underling anytime they do anything the dominant one finds threatening to his status. It's all harmless and it's very unlikely to ever cause injury to either. Even if one is held underwater by the other for long periods, it's okay.

FBT's are going to do this. If you don't like it, then you'll have to have separate viv's for each <grin>.

[Rissabeebee]

The chirping might be a stray cricket. However if you could also consider it a croak or a barking sound then it's one or both of you FBT's and that would suggest one or both are male.

When you find one on the back of another, that may be posturing by the dominant male to restate his place in the "world". It's normal, so to is the aggression to an underling anytime they do anything the dominant one finds threatening to his status. It's all harmless and it's very unlikely to ever cause injury to either. Even if one is held underwater by the other for long periods, it's okay.

FBT's are going to do this. If you don't like it, then you'll have to have separate viv's for each <grin>.

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it. As long as Peach won't get hurt I guess I'll keep them together. I don't want her (him?) to be stressed out because of it, but at the same time I've spent a lot of money on making their tank and won't financially be able to put together another one for a while.
I was thinking maybe I should take one of them out of the tank and feed them separately so the other doesn't see, but I wasn't sure if that would stress either of them out...

[privet01]

FBT's (IMO) like being in groups. The status posturing is normal and they do it in nature.......... Mine are both males and have done it for well over two years. When I first added the new fbt to the tank, it seemed like every fifteen minutes they were going at it. And this didn't let up for months. Now there are days I don't notice it occurring, but sometimes there are periods when it seems to peak again.

As for feeding, my personal opinion is that it stresses them more when you handle them. I just put the crickets in the tank and let them get them on their own. Nor do they need to be fed every day. I feed mine three times a week roughly. Almost always dusted crickets.

[Rissabeebee]

FBT's (IMO) like being in groups. The status posturing is normal and they do it in nature.......... Mine are both males and have done it for well over two years. When I first added the new fbt to the tank, it seemed like every fifteen minutes they were going at it. And this didn't let up for months. Now there are days I don't notice it occurring, but sometimes there are periods when it seems to peak again.

As for feeding, my personal opinion is that it stresses them more when you handle them. I just put the crickets in the tank and let them get them on their own. Nor do they need to be fed every day. I feed mine three times a week roughly. Almost always dusted crickets.

Okay, that makes me feel better about the situation. I'll just leave them be then (:

[A3Sneezer]

You could try feeding them separately if peach starts to look skinny.

[Krispy]

We have 12 in a planted viv. Almost 3 years strong... They will fight from time to time... perhaps you need to up your feeding pattern... bombers dont really like being touched, and its not really recommended either.
Yes, they are right about social structure, or pecking order. So after a little while mario should calm down.

Also, males have a courser texture to their skin than females.