Fantasy Frog (C. cranwelli x C. cornuta) Feeding?

[mdurks17]

Hey guys. I have been looking for a college pet and was stuck between a turtle and a pacman frog and finally decided a pacman was the way to go. I ordered a red "fantasy frog" from a local reptile store and he should be here by Friday. Anyway, while I'm up in college I'm not sure what the availability I'll have to mice and crickets is, so I was wondering if (since I was told by an employee who is usually pretty knowledgable about anything someone needs that it was fine) there were various things I could do to give my frog his meals? The employee recommended dog food, and I know I'll have access to various chicken/leafy veg in the campus dining hall but is this alright? I know they are voracious and will take anything, but I want to know what is best. Are there any pelleted food that you know that are good alternatives? Thank you!

Matt

[SethD]

No dog food would not be a good diet even if you could get him to eat it. The employee that recommended that sounds rather ignorant to me. Whole animals are pretty much the only option. Large insects should make up the majority of the diet with an occasional mouse or fish from time to time.

[mdurks17]

Yes, I knew as much. Just figured I'd mention it for the sake of dispelling any hint of agreement I may have been inclined to have. Are there really no other suitable pelleted food for these frogs?

[SethD]

No, not in the states at least. Xenopus are about the only readily available frog species where a pellet diet is an option. If you need something that can have pellets as the basis of its diet the turtle you were thinking about would have been a better choice.

[mdurks17]

It's actually rather difficult to obtain the turtles, and my first choice was a Fantasy so I defaulted back, especially after seeing one in person today at the rep. shop. Pellets aren't necessary, however they would be easier. I have a question however. Different sources say that mice should be given every few days, some say every few weeks and some say very sparingly, monce a month or less. What is the general consensus here?

[zeppsmomma]

Mice are not a good idea at all. You can give them every once in a while as treats, but I'd say no more than one frozen/thawed pink every 5-6 months. If you're anywhere near a Wal Mart you can purchase earthworms from the bait section, my frogs love them and they're much cheaper than buying worms from a pet store.

[pacsack]

I have actually seen supplemented food made especially for horned frogs, it was made by a Japanese company. I couldn't tell you the name as it was in Japanese. But, I do know of its existence. I saw a video of it on youtube, it comes as a powder you add water and then mead into a ball. The frogs on the video were all to eager to eat it. Do a little research and maybe you can find out more about it. I am not sure if it was intended to be a main diet though.. again it was in Japanese.

[mdurks17]

Really? I thought the calcium from the bones was good for them? Also two questions. How much do the worms as bait usually cost and also how many to a pack/are they live?

[pacsack]

Really? I thought the calcium from the bones was good for them? Also two questions. How much do the worms as bait usually cost and also how many to a pack/are they live?

It is different depending on the store you go to and how many you buy, I get mine from a bait shop normally about 50 to a container and about 3-5 dollars I believe. Also a little tip; when you buy earthworms/nightcrawlers whatever they are sold as, they will normally come in a very small container, I always take mine out of the container and put them into a larger container with some coco fiber in it(DO NOT use soil from outside as it could contain parasites, fungus, or a disease)if you don't put them in a larger container they will end up dieing within a few days.

[mdurks17]

Interesting. How many do you feed at a time?

[pacsack]

It really depends on the size of your frog, the food item and the personality of your frog as well, I have heard the common rule of thumb is as much as it can eat within 10-15 minutes. I feed mine mostly by tongs so I know when he is done, he begins to back away a little when I present food to him. As far as personality goes you have to be careful not to over feed as well, some horned frogs will readily accept another food item before they even get the first one down and will just eat till the pop. so just give them about a minute or so between each food item and you should be ok. Also, consider the size of the items, you wouldn't want to give your frog the same amount of mice as you would crickets in a feeding would you?(No its just a metaphor don't do that hehe!)

[mdurks17]

Wow, after some reading Earthworms really seem the way to go. Just to be sure, are they really nutritionally balanced enough for my frog? I think this may be the best "pellet" type food I can get my hands on (literally the ideal thing I was looking for was ease of containment and affordability. I believe I'm going to go out tomorrow and try to set up a small tank of worms in the hopes of breeding (since supposedly they are easy breeders))

[zeppsmomma]

Wow, after some reading Earthworms really seem the way to go. Just to be sure, are they really nutritionally balanced enough for my frog? I think this may be the best "pellet" type food I can get my hands on (literally the ideal thing I was looking for was ease of containment and affordability. I believe I'm going to go out tomorrow and try to set up a small tank of worms in the hopes of breeding (since supposedly they are easy breeders))

Pinkies are very high in fat and not good for your frog. The earthworms should be fine, just make sure you dust the worms once or twice a week with a good calcium (with D3) supplement. You might also want to mix it up a bit and get him/her crickets or other feeders when possible.

[RikoAustria]

Wow, after some reading Earthworms really seem the way to go. Just to be sure, are they really nutritionally balanced enough for my frog? I think this may be the best "pellet" type food I can get my hands on (literally the ideal thing I was looking for was ease of containment and affordability. I believe I'm going to go out tomorrow and try to set up a small tank of worms in the hopes of breeding (since supposedly they are easy breeders))

Hey there. ZooMed has a "Can O" line of food items. Can o Worms, Cano Pillars, Can O Crickets... these should all suffice if you're unable to get live food. Make sure you let your frog settle for a few days to a week when you acquire it. After that start off small by gently moving the food item in front of it with feeding tongs. They won't eat inaminate objects so you'll have to move it as if it were a prey item.

Also, where are you gonna be located during college? You may want to research if there are any petstores in the area that carry live food.

Good luck and remember to post some pics when you get your frog.

*eidt*
Here's a link to the ZooMed site for the food I was talking about:
http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/Se...tCategory=Food

[spec]

If you're unable to get any kind of food or you want variety, there is http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/ I can't personaly say what kind of service they provide or quality but, I'll be trying them out when I run low on the stuff I've got now. I've been using crickets and canadian night crawlers. I live in Tx and wal-mart happens to sell them for 1.70 for 20. My frog wouldn't go for the mealworms at first. Now we've got a system where he comes out about 11:30ish pm and goes in his waterbowl. He chows down pretty hardcore and then he goes and burrows back down. I read in a post above that you should let them settle for a week but, my frog snatched a cricket the first 5 minutes I put him in his first home. There is an ok video on youtube from a 90 million year old herp on how to set up a terrarium for pac's. Good luck, you'll probably be catering to your frog like a sevant for some reason, even tho he doesn't even come out till he want something lol.