Cricket bowl. . .smorgasbord?

[mrk]

I have 5 new juvenile Whites T.Fs. I loved the forum discussion about the cricket bowl feeding trick so I tried it tonight and it worked very well--for just one of the frogs! He jumped right down and into the bowl and proceeded to eat about 10 or 12 of the crickets. I realized what was happening and gently tilted the frog and few remaining crickets out and removed the bowl. Everyone seems to rave about this method. Did I do something wrong or did I misunderstand and this method isn't meant for multiple frogs? Since Whites are prone to gorging, I'm afraid this method just encourages it. Yet without the bowl, there seems to be too many crickets not getting eaten and just hiding in the cage. This makes me think my babies aren't getting enough. Any suggestions?

[bshmerlie]

You can try multiple bowls with less crickets in them. Once the others figure out the crickets are in the bowl they will be quicker to come down. With five frogs you would definately need more than one bowl. But hopefully you see the advantage of the bowl you just need to figure out the right size or quantity for your setup. You'll find you'll go through less crickets this way plus you'll know exactly how many they are eating. Often I'll have one frog who comes down earlier then the others so I'll feed him a few crickets then he leaves to go soak or something and then along comes someone else and I put in more crickets. I've even nugged him along if he's being lazy and wont leave. Don't give up....you'll train them or they'll train you.

[mrk]

That makes sense--don't know why I didn't think of it. As you said, we are still training each other, plus its harder as they are in a small (10g) tank right now with little open space for more bowls. For now, I'll watch and dole out the crickets selectively. Their new 100g terrarium should be ready very soon so I bet more bowls will work better in that (I just hope they aren't too young to move yet!). Being a frog-mom is harder than I thought--I worry about every detail! Thanks for your help!

[bshmerlie]

The biggest concern about baby frogs in a huge tank is the food issue. Its harder to make sure they are all eating their fair share and that is so vital with babies. If you have them bowl trained by the time they go into the big tank you shouldn't have that worry.

[BG]

I use a 8 inch salad bowl for my 4 adult whits and 1 white lip frogs they go to war on dubia males lol

[mrk]

Its good to know the bowl trick works for so many people! The bigger bowl for more frogs sounds like a good idea plus I will use more than 1 bowl in the larger habitat. But it may take awhile to train them. I placed my tiniest frog in the bowl this evening in the midst of a bunch of crickets. He just stared at them for a couple minutes and then climbed out of the bowl and went back to where I had picked him up from. I guess that was his way of saying, "Leave me alone! I'll eat when I want to!" . . . typical teenager!

[DonLisk]

Its good to know the bowl trick works for so many people! The bigger bowl for more frogs sounds like a good idea plus I will use more than 1 bowl in the larger habitat. But it may take awhile to train them. I placed my tiniest frog in the bowl this evening in the midst of a bunch of crickets. He just stared at them for a couple minutes and then climbed out of the bowl and went back to where I had picked him up from. I guess that was his way of saying, "Leave me alone! I'll eat when I want to!" . . . typical teenager!

LOL

Yeah, they will figure it out too quickly anyway. I used a cricket bowl with my 4 Whites and one would dive in and send anything that didn't hit its mouth flying out of the bowl.

Soon after, the crickets made their way back to the bowl, fall in, and another frog would start the cycle over.

My Red Eyes learned fast and would just pick them off from the bowls edge one at a time.

[mrk]

That gives me hope! With juveniles, is it a case of "they'll eat when they're hungry?" It seems that some of mine will skip a day of eating sometimes. I can't be sure what happens overnight of course, but they seem to stay in the exact same place for 24, even 48 hours. IYet 've had them less than a week and they seem to have grown a bit. Could they still be adjusting?

[DogRetepCow]

What exactly is the "bowl trick"?

[LilyPad]

What exactly is the "bowl trick"?

Put your crickets in a shallow bowl, they can't escape and hide around your tank, frogs can eat them easier!

I haven't tried this yet in Paddy's tank, she gets 3 crickets a day and snaps them up much faster than they can hide. In my new tank though with the 3 new froggies, I might have to try this, seems the big one is snatching up more than his/her share and I have no clue if the little ones are eating anything at all!