alternative to crickets

[Trout hunter]

I forgot to mention the Red-Backed Salamanders that inhabit the compound and the area surrounding it. Our land here supports a very healthy array of wildlife which is a solid observation on which to confidently wild source my Gray Tree Frogs 3-season diet together with commercial crickets, spotted roaches and waxworms. Variety will greatly benefit your Toads.

It sounds like a great place for amphibians populations to thrive!

[KP]

It is. And I've been doing what I can to encourage it for a long time with great success. You can see photos of it in my albums here on Frog Forum and videos of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEIu...8f46gZXD7Bq3FD

[KP]

Here's a quote from a good article about American Toad husbandry and the link to the full article which should give you some useful guidance: "Toads should not be fussy eaters. Healthy toads are usually actually quite pudgy! If you are housing them correctly within the suggested temperature range, then they will accept crickets, mealworms, waxworms, earthworms or superworms of appropriate size. They usually consume anything that they can fit in their mouth. Gut-loaded crickets can make up the majority of the diet; however, variety is the spice of life, and the more you can vary a toad’s diet, the better off it will be. During warm months, catching local insects (nontoxic, of course) can provide added variety. Moths seem to be particularly relished by most toads. In the wild, they eat grubs, spiders, worms, insects, slugs, snails and other invertebrates. If your toads are wild-caught, try offering them what they eat in the wild."

Link: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Frog...ding-And-Care/

[Larry Wardog]

Here's a quote from a good article about American Toad husbandry and the link to the full article which should give you some useful guidance: "Toads should not be fussy eaters. Healthy toads are usually actually quite pudgy! If you are housing them correctly within the suggested temperature range, then they will accept crickets, mealworms, waxworms, earthworms or superworms of appropriate size. They usually consume anything that they can fit in their mouth. Gut-loaded crickets can make up the majority of the diet; however, variety is the spice of life, and the more you can vary a toad’s diet, the better off it will be. During warm months, catching local insects (nontoxic, of course) can provide added variety. Moths seem to be particularly relished by most toads. In the wild, they eat grubs, spiders, worms, insects, slugs, snails and other invertebrates. If your toads are wild-caught, try offering them what they eat in the wild."

Link: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Frog...ding-And-Care/

I do not understand what you mean by it is?

Anyways yes reptiles magazine wrote that but that's the person's preference for keeping them. Wild insects can bring parasites and shorten lifespans for frogs and toads. The benefit of using captive feeders is no parasites.

As I said before I do not suggest using wild caught as a staple it's risky and unnecessary with how much variety is on the market for these animals. There is no real need to use wild caught. I will culture wild caught with the hopes of making them captive feeders at some point like grasshoppers but even they are unnecessary. I say this to bring caution to the person asking the question. Dan and myself have been on here for a long time and have seen many sick toads and offered help so you read where we stand. If you choose to use wild caught it's up to you. I wish you luck with whatever you decide.

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[KP]

The "It is." was in reply to Trout Hunter saying this in reply to one of my responses: "It sounds like a great place for amphibians populations to thrive!".

With regard to experience, I've got over 50 years of studying Reptiles and Amphibians academically, long-term observation and husbandry of mostly American and Fowler's Toads but also Turtles, Tortoises, Newts, Salamanders, Anoles, one Spectacled Cayman and more recently, for the past 10 years, Gray Tree Frogs (H.versicolor and H.chrysoscelis). Never had any problem with diseases, parasites, or the prey doing harm to the Toads. Their robust health and long lives were due to them having conditions and diet as close to what they would experience in the wild as can be simulated in a closed, artificial habitat minus drastic weather changes and predators and the stress they experience from living under the threat of predation.

The only individuals (Gray Tree Frogs) I now have in captivity are mal-formed and ones of otherwise diminished survivability. The perfectly functional ones will do their kind and the environment, and by extension the human population the most good by being encouraged to propagate and expand their communities which I do with my compound, and left to be wild and occupy their ecological niche in the immediate and surrounding acreage.

When I began practicing Toad husbandry as a child, I started by feeding them mealworms almost exclusively as that was the only feeder insect available at that time in my local pet store. They started to lose interest in them after some time so I began to use a wide variety of wild-harvested insects and spiders all small enough to be food for Toads their size of course. I never hand-fed them and they had to stalk their prey so after ten years I let them go in the same acreage where I now have my compound and kept a record of their survival thereafter. They lived another 3 to 5 years depending on which one was being documented and after that I didn't see them around.

Diseases and parasites among Reptile/Amphibian populations has everything to do with environmental stressors of human origin which weaken the animals resistence to all such problems, destruction of habitat, and the tragic increase in commercial trade in baby or juvenile individuals, not feeding them a variety of wild-harvested prey.

[Larry Wardog]

The "It is." was in reply to Trout Hunter saying this in reply to one of my responses: "It sounds like a great place for amphibians populations to thrive!".

With regard to experience, I've got over 50 years of studying Reptiles and Amphibians academically, long-term observation and husbandry of mostly American and Fowler's Toads but also Turtles, Tortoises, Newts, Salamanders, Anoles, one Spectacled Cayman and more recently, for the past 10 years, Gray Tree Frogs (H.versicolor and H.chrysoscelis). Never had any problem with diseases, parasites, or the prey doing harm to the Toads. Their robust health and long lives were due to them having conditions and diet as close to what they would experience in the wild as can be simulated in a closed, artificial habitat minus drastic weather changes and predators and the stress they experience from living under the threat of predation.

The only individuals (Gray Tree Frogs) I now have in captivity are mal-formed and ones of otherwise diminished survivability. The perfectly functional ones will do their kind and the environment, and by extension the human population the most good by being encouraged to propagate and expand their communities which I do with my compound, and left to be wild and occupy their ecological niche in the immediate and surrounding acreage.

When I began practicing Toad husbandry as a child, I started by feeding them mealworms almost exclusively as that was the only feeder insect available at that time in my local pet store. They started to lose interest in them after some time so I began to use a wide variety of wild-harvested insects and spiders all small enough to be food for Toads their size of course. I never hand-fed them and they had to stalk their prey so after ten years I let them go in the same acreage where I now have my compound and kept a record of their survival thereafter. They lived another 3 to 5 years depending on which one was being documented and after that I didn't see them around.

Diseases and parasites among Reptile/Amphibian populations has everything to do with environmental stressors of human origin which weaken the animals resistence to all such problems, destruction of habitat, and the tragic increase in commercial trade in baby or juvenile individuals, not feeding them a variety of wild-harvested prey.

Do you have anything published?

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[KP]

No, my academic studies have been elective at the university level and independent.
Academic study of nature in general is interesting and rewarding and very informative but as any field biologist will tell you there's no substitute for observation in the wild for extended periods of time especially when the specie being observed is primarilly nocturnal. At my compound I've had the benefit of what amounts to years of field observation of the many species that live here and have learned things that one wouldn't find out by academic study alone.

I don't tend to want to keep animals captive as I did as a kid and into my 30's but moving back to the compound got me back to my root studies in the local wildlife and seeing an occasional mal-formed Gray Tree Frog out of several hundred froglets made me decide to take them in and see how well they could do when they'd otherwise be snacks for a variety of predators if left to strike out with their siblings. It's been great so far and since I began upgrading the compound to maximize the initial crop of all the Amphibians here I've hand-counted over 10,000 Toadlets or as I like to call them "Microtoads" and over 1,000 Gray Tree Froglets or as I call them "Micromints" successfully launched into the area in and around the compound. Over the last few years the local population of Gray Tree Frogs that participate in the yearly spawning chorus has increased beyond what I would have though the immediate acreage could support but they have also increased in areas as far as half a mile from the compound and beyond, so they have plenty of room to expand and the rainy years have been kind to them as well.

[DanDrobates]

KP, you have to understand that your situation is an exception though and that few of us live within walking distance of a pristine biome. I live in a heavily polluted neighborhood within the New York metro area and that is why I caution people about the risks of feeding wild prey. I’m sure that your feeding methods are sound, given your situation, and I am pleased that they have brought you success. However, I cannot in good conscience recommend wild prey as being generally acceptable to a novice.

[Trout hunter]

Thanks to everybody who contributed replies to this thread. I will continue to feed with a diet comprising of crickets and and alternating feeder of either meal, horn or butter worms. I appreciate all answers that were provided as I have learned a lot from it. I also just want to say that i did not mean to start any sort of forum beef amongst the members I just solely wanted to know the opinions from others who have amphibians as pets.

[KP]

Thanks to everybody who contributed replies to this thread. I will continue to feed with a diet comprising of crickets and and alternating feeder of either meal, horn or butter worms. I appreciate all answers that were provided as I have learned a lot from it. I also just want to say that i did not mean to start any sort of forum beef amongst the members I just solely wanted to know the opinions from others who have amphibians as pets.

You asked a great and important question to which we each offered responses.
No beef was started, I'm not known to anyone here and I may respond with information based upon my experience and education which may rub up against what others believe and ilicit a threat response from them. I don't fault anyone for that, least of all you for initiating a perfectly civil disagreement amongst people who all are agreed, love the critters in question.

Take what you gleaned from it and make a beautiful, long life for your sweet Toads.

[KP]

I haven't disagreed with that reasoning.
My responses have been with Trout Hunter in mind and their situation from what I get from their description of it is much more similar to mine than to yours.

[KP]

If you read back through my posts you'll see I believe, where I referred to my circumstances as "extremely ideal" so that has already been established.
In your situation the very air you and your animals breathe is far more polluted than it is here let alone the level of toxicity in the insects you might encounter so of course you should never even consider a local harvest of Amphibian prey. If it was you who had asked the original question, and you had explained your circumstances as Trout Hunter did my reply would have been specific to your needs as it was to Trout Hunter's.

[KP]

The other thing you might want to keep in mind is that both my and Trout Hunter's species are indigenous to our regions while yours are from several thousand miles outside of your region. That makes a world of difference in the survivability of any specie and what must be done for it in captivity.