I have read that sight, smell, and the lateral line are all important. The reason I ask has to do with feeding my own frogs, Silurana tropicalis. They are in a large (350+ gallon) enclosure with plants and hiding spots. I seldom see the frogs, so hand feeding is not practical. If I simply drop earthworms in the water, is it likely that the frogs are finding them, even if they are not close enough to see them? They also get crickets and pellets.
Looking for input from experienced keepers.
Unsure of your total setup but there is no way I would ever throw food into a tank especially worms and not know if they were consumed, I think worms can survive up to 8hrs under water but they can swim and are adapted to hide quickly which means place's your frogs cannot reach,but then they will decay rapidly! ACF are supposed to be hunters but sometimes I wave the worm several time's on its nose before the bite then the frantic consume, If I were in your shoe's the size of tanks irrelevant all the need is 1 shelter and make it a large bridge instead of cavern so you can see them" remove all gravel and add live plants which my frogs love to hang on* will post link to plant types after* then starve them very very slowly, each time tap the corner your intended to feed with finger nails* will take lots of effort and weeks of patience but these guys will get the drift very very quickly* Its so funny all I have to do now is switch of my filter and there on an aggressive hunt when they see my hand with treats they know its good
Silurana tropicalis is one of my favorite species. Genetically, they are more closely related to the genera Pipa (South America) and Hymenochirus (dwarf clawed frogs, Afirica) than Xenopus. The genus Siluriana was resurrected a while ago. For the most part, the Pipids are both scavengers and hunters. Eyesight is poor and they rely on olfactory stimuli to detect food sources over far greater distances than other species of frogs and toads. The frog's lateral line system is very efficient in detecting waves in the water and will quickly orient itself in the direction of the source.
If you are interested in the frog's sensory perception, read Sensory Perception and the Lateral Line System in the Clawed Frog, by Andreas Elepfandt. He also wrote several articles on underwater acoustics. You can do a Google Scholar search for the articles.
Terry Gampper
Nebraska Herpetological Society
“If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion.”
--- Adrian Forsyth
Wow, that's really cool. I'll have to read that later myself!
1 Male Giant African Bullfrog
2 Woodhouse's Toads
11 Pacific Treefrogs
1 Dubia Roach Colony
2 Australian Green Treefrogs
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)