Wild insect feeding

[jaguilar15]

Does anyone feed there frogs wild insects/animals(such as wild frogs)? I fed one of my frogs a praying mantis before. But would earthworms be fine? What about any other insects?

Also people that feed frogs other frogs, where do you get your feeder frogs?

[pixiefrogman]

The problem with feeding wild insects is that most likely they have come across insecticide and you might have a chance of passing the poisons onto your frog. As far as feeding frogs, you can buy bullfrogs from bait shops.

[jaguilar15]

Oh okay thanks for the information. You think even earthworms can send them some type of insectcide too? Okay and thanks for the information for the feeder frog

[pixiefrogman]

Yea earthworms could possibly have insecticides in or on them. But you can just buy nightcrawlers at Walmart for like 2 bucks by the fishing and hunting supplies.

[jjmorton13]

Not only do you have to worry about pesticides, but also herbicides, pathogenic bacteria, and internal parasites.

About buying frogs at bait stores....I would imagine most are wild-caught, which would greatly increase the chances of passing on internal and external parasites. Anyone have any ideas on the source of bait-shop bullfrogs?

[pixiefrogman]

Not only do you have to worry about pesticides, but also herbicides, pathogenic bacteria, and internal parasites.

About buying frogs at bait stores....I would imagine most are wild-caught, which would greatly increase the chances of passing on internal and external parasites. Anyone have any ideas on the source of bait-shop bullfrogs?

I wouldn't recommend feeding bullfrogs. And I doubt bait shop employees go into a lake and catch wild bullfrogs. Most likely they order them from a bullfrog farm.

[SethD]

Does anyone feed there frogs wild insects/animals(such as wild frogs)? I fed one of my frogs a praying mantis before. But would earthworms be fine? What about any other insects?

Also people that feed frogs other frogs, where do you get your feeder frogs?

I feed wild caught insects during the summer months, I do not feel there is much risk involved and it increases the variety in the diet. I think the positives outweigh the very small chance of problems. Never had a problem with it and never known anyone that did either. As a general rule I would avoid feeding frogs to other frogs though, it is considerably more likely to cause a serious issue than feeding wc insects is in my opinion although the odds are still fairly low. About the only exception I would make is if dealing with wc frog eating specialists like the Suriname horned frog which sometimes will go for a live frog when they will refuse anything else.

[jjmorton13]

I wouldn't recommend feeding bullfrogs. And I doubt bait shop employees go into a lake and catch wild bullfrogs. Most likely they order them from a bullfrog farm.

I too would not feed frogs to my Pyxie. I was just curious about the source of the baitshop bullfrogs.

I know no bait shop employee is out in the ponds at night catching bullfrogs, I just assumed that wherever they order them from, the source may be wild caught. I have no idea how a bullfrog farm works, whether they are raised inside or outside, etc.

As a general rule I would avoid feeding frogs to other frogs though, it is considerably more likely to cause a serious issue than feeding wc insects is in my opinion although the odds are still fairly low. About the only exception I would make is if dealing with wc frog eating specialists like the Suriname horned frog which sometimes will go for a live frog when they will refuse anything else.

I agree that feeding frogs to other frogs could be more hazardous that feeding wild caught insects to captive born/raised frogs. If you are dealing with an originally wild-caught animal, I would be even less worried about wild caught insects. In fact, I have a WC Veiled Chameleon that I regularly feed WC insects to.

[pixiefrogman]

It really all depends on where you live.

[jaguilar15]

I feed wild caught insects during the summer months, I do not feel there is much risk involved and it increases the variety in the diet. I think the positives outweigh the very small chance of problems. Never had a problem with it and never known anyone that did either. As a general rule I would avoid feeding frogs to other frogs though, it is considerably more likely to cause a serious issue than feeding wc insects is in my opinion although the odds are still fairly low. About the only exception I would make is if dealing with wc frog eating specialists like the Suriname horned frog which sometimes will go for a live frog when they will refuse anything else.

Have you fed WC earthworms? The main reason why i'm asking is because during the raining days, i see alot of earthworms on the sidewalk and i was thinking of picking them up to feed to my pixies.

[jaguilar15]

Thanks everyone for the information all of these replies are coming in handy

[poison beauties]

Collecting earthworms on the sidewalk or road after rain is the worst place to collect. That is where most of the pollution flows when it rains. I have used wc insect and when my dart frog colection was in great numbers I was filed sweeping every other day up in a rural area. I would avoid farmlands, the city's and any commercially mantained areas, I used private pasturelands and areas in the state park to colect other micro fauna.

Michael

[jaguilar15]

Collecting earthworms on the sidewalk or road after rain is the worst place to collect. That is where most of the pollution flows when it rains. I have used wc insect and when my dart frog colection was in great numbers I was filed sweeping every other day up in a rural area. I would avoid farmlands, the city's and any commercially mantained areas, I used private pasturelands and areas in the state park to colect other micro fauna.

Michael

Okay thanks, that makes perfect sense now

[pacmanfr0g13]

I fed one of my frogs a praying mantis before.

:O What?! I think all of us Mantis breeders on www.mantidforum.net hate you for that! Me too!!! How would you like it if I told you how in the wild, scientists have found praying mantids eating white's tree frogs? Well it's not a fib, it's true!! So there, you mantis-killer! I wish that poor mantis would have shown your frog what praying mantids can really do!!!!

[Tyson]

to pacmanfrog13, it is inappropriate for you to wish his frog harm, or to get upset at him for feeding his frog a certain type of insect. Please be kind and respectfull, thank you.

[Jenste]

:O What?! I think all of us Mantis breeders on www.mantidforum.net hate you for that! Me too!!! How would you like it if I told you how in the wild, scientists have found praying mantids eating white's tree frogs? Well it's not a fib, it's true!! So there, you mantis-killer! I wish that poor mantis would have shown your frog what praying mantids can really do!!!!

You will discover a lot of threads on here of live insects and critters being fed - if you disagree with the practice then leave the thread or comment on another part of the discussion. Interventions in such postings are only done if there are photos that are graphic/cruel in nature. This kind of reaction is not contributing to the forum as a whole.