Question about mice and frogs.

[Roman]

Thanks Frank,
I had pretty much decided to not feed a steady diet of mice, just roaches and worms. Now, Ill add in the fish you spoke of and see where that takes us. What kind of fish do you recommend?

Stay Thirsty

[onedge30]

Went out and bought some of Zoomeds jumbo Can o' Grasshoppers, to try. Nice size feeders. About 2 inches plus, but little can, only 1.2 oz or 16(?) grasshoppers. It lasted me two days with 3 juvenile frogs. I would need the bonus pounder pack to even get started!!

[Kevin1]

Did they like them Jeff? I thought about doing that with Chubbz. I remember John(Clare) saying something about them being less nutritious since they're cooked(in the can).

[onedge30]

Kevin, yea, they did like them. But again, unless I can get quantity - even cost is high. They are 'juicy' in the can!

Chubbz would eat the whole can for a snack!

[Leefrogs]

I'm going to try the fresh water fishes. I have to drive very far to get live crickets. But minnows, wax worms, and nightcrawlers are avalible year round since I live in a fishing vacation spot. I do drive 80 miles round trip to get 100 crix for month. Trying to breed them. We'll see bout that. But--these fish are bread for fishing purposes (but seem healthier that Petco's) and are clean of disease. So this article helped quite a bit-- I want my whites to be BIG

[onedge30]

I'm going to try the fresh water fishes. I have to drive very far to get live crickets. But minnows, wax worms, and nightcrawlers are avalible year round since I live in a fishing vacation spot. I do drive 80 miles round trip to get 100 crix for month. Trying to breed them. We'll see bout that. But--these fish are bread for fishing purposes (but seem healthier that Petco's) and are clean of disease. So this article helped quite a bit-- I want my whites to be BIG

Whites are tree frogs. Think what they would eat. I don't think fish would be very high on the list. I would think insects(roaches, crickets, mealworms) would be first. I would only use fish for less than 20% of the overall diet. What about ordering crickets or giant mealworms? They can be delivered to your door, cheaply. I can keep giant mealworms in a 5 gal bucket for months.

[Leefrogs]

all my friends want to buy my whites a pinkie. No way, too gross. If they wana see a rodent get eaten, they can buy my python a rat. And I worry bout impaction with the meal worms, looked at supperworms same thing. I wasn't going to go all fish. Most of all I was responding to franks comment. Whites were in his list of frogs he feeds fish. I think the bait shop as a great variety of sizes also, from 1/2 inch up to sturgeon size bait. I tried to get local bait distributer to order me some crix or roaches, but that's a southern fishing thing. He just looked at me funny and laughed. I wonder how much more he wouldve laughed if I told him what it's for.

[sflyingcow]

I'm going to try the fresh water fishes. I have to drive very far to get live crickets. But minnows, wax worms, and nightcrawlers are avalible year round since I live in a fishing vacation spot. I do drive 80 miles round trip to get 100 crix for month. Trying to breed them. We'll see bout that. But--these fish are bread for fishing purposes (but seem healthier that Petco's) and are clean of disease. So this article helped quite a bit-- I want my whites to be BIG

you can ordered crickets like 1thousand online for cheaper then it prolly would be to drive 80miles just fyi and easier to breed that amount

[Greg M]

With respect to hypervitaminosis A, my opinion is that this shouldn't be a problem if you are feeding mice as part of a well-balanced diet (as Cookie Monster says, a "sometimes food"). Ironically, I specifically include mice in the diet of my Woodhouse's toads because they tend to develop hypovitaminosis A ("short-tongue syndrome"/squamous epithelium). I don't think it is reasonable to feed a diet purely of mice. My thesis is simply that over-feeding/obesity are the real cuprits behind corneal opacities and other health issues often attributed to the feeding of mice. Frogs overfed insects develop these issues too.

With respect to feeder fish, as I mentioned in another thread, in one study, chytrid was detected in hatchery ponds (which are often frequented by amphibians) and the recommendation was to consider the fish (and water, etc.) as contaminated and therefore potential carriers of chytrid. My personal guess is that hatchery ponds in areas where chytrid is present are very likely to be contaminated. Fisheries don't test for chytrid because it doesn't affect fish. I would be cautious...

As a side issue, from my reading, it is likely that fish stocking (along with the concomitant transfer of contaminated water, fish and microbes) is a highly significant issue in the spread of chytrid... Will take this up in another thread...