June Beetles

[jelkins]

If you don't treat your lawn with pesticides and have an outside nightlight, June beetles, Phyllophaga sp. are a readlily available and eagerly consumed food source for these frogs.

These beetles and similar species are the primary reason for the cane toad introductions in Austrailia and other countries where their larval forms damaged sugar cane crops.

They're easy to collect.

[Eric Walker]

First off, what kind of frogs are you talking about? I would be VERY worried about the nasty pinchers that they have, not to mention that they have a VERY hard exoskeleton. I would never feed any of my frogs anything from outside. even if you dont use chemicals on you lawn there is the fear of introduceing other nasties like parasites to your frogs.

[clownonfire]

First off, what kind of frogs are you talking about? I would be VERY worried about the nasty pinchers that they have, not to mention that they have a VERY hard exoskeleton. I would never feed any of my frogs anything from outside. even if you dont use chemicals on you lawn there is the fear of introduceing other nasties like parasites to your frogs.

Hi Justin, I agree with Eric. Bugs from the outside can carry parasites, and you have no clue what they have been in contact with. That in itself for me is a no-go.

Funny enough, lately our cats have been bringing June beetles in the house and they have quite the exoskeleton as Eric mentioned... It would be hard for most frogs to digest...

Eric

[LilyPad]

I was thinking the same thing about the exoskeleton... My 12 y/o cat who is missing 3 teeth has trouble chomping them down, I can't imagine feeding them to a froggy.

[pac]

The cane toads couldn't even reach the cane beetle so they weren't no help I they said I wouldn't take nothing from outside they could kill your frog with there pinchers

[jelkins]

Obviously I'm refering to horned frogs considering I posted under this forum. I've currently been feeding them to my African Bullfrog without issue.

As far as parasites are concerned I've supplement the diets of many of my amphibians with purchased and wild collected food for years without issue and with great results. Collection location and knowledge of the species you're using as feeders is implied.

If you look up the species of beetle I'm referencing you'll see they have no large mandibles whatsoever. These frogs can easily handle them and much larger prey.

Additionally, I wasn't implying that the cane toads solved the issue, but stating that these types of beetles are a natural part of their diets.

[clownonfire]

Obviously I'm refering to horned frogs considering I posted under this forum. I've currently been feeding them to my African Bullfrog without issue.

As far as parasites are concerned I've supplement the diets of many of my amphibians with purchased and wild collected food for years without issue and with great results. Collection location and knowledge of the species you're using as feeders is implied.

If you look up the species of beetle I'm referencing you'll see they have no large mandibles whatsoever. These frogs can easily handle them and much larger prey.

Justin, our members own many species of frogs, from thumbnail frogs to larger species like horned frogs.

In my neck of the wood, in Montreal, June Beetles are large and with a harder shell. It would not make a great meal for an American green tree frog, for example. As for feeding outside bugs, I know a very well known US breeder who decided to leave the hobby because of the threat of chytrid carried by some bugs... So there's definitely a risk factor, which readers should be aware of.

Eric

[jelkins]

Once again. I posted under this forum refering to these types of frogs as is clearly stated in my second reply, not in the forum regarding general feeding and whatnot.

[clownonfire]

Once again. I posted under this forum refering to these types of frogs as is clearly stated in my second reply, not in the forum regarding general feeding and whatnot.

Justin, you're absolutely right. My apologies.

Eric

[DVirginiana]

I'm sure something as big as a horned frog or a pyxie or something certainly COULD eat a june beetle, but it's not even recommended to feed meal worms as a staple (that's pretty universal) because they have harder parts on their exoskeleton that can cause issues over time, and june beetles have much harder exoskeletons than meal worms...

[frogmike]

When I was 13, I fed a June beetle to one of my albino pacs, and it caused a 3 month impaction! Justin, I am sorry for your unfortunate and terrible discovery! Everyone please disregard this post! Its not "OK" to feed your pacman frogs June beetles, sticks, or rocks! What is the difference between picking up a baby and a rock? You can't pick up a rock with a pitch fork!

[SethD]

I pretty much agree with the OP, I have fed june beetles seasonally to species large enough to consume them for at least the past 15 years. Never had a single problem surface due to it either. June beetles are greatly relished by many toads and larger frogs and are abundant at certain times of the year. If you think a given frog will have trouble with them you can always break off the wing covers, but I have never found that necessary. After all beetles of varying sizes make up a significant portion of the diet of many frog and toad species in the wild.

[Baelari]

Wild pacman frogs also live significantly shorter lives than captive ones.

[SethD]

Wild pacman frogs also live significantly shorter lives than captive ones.

No doubt, but if they are anything like most other amphibian species the reason for that is primarily mortality due to predation not their diet. Ever found wild frogs dead from eating to many hard shelled beetles? I haven't and I have observed the same toads night after night gorging themselves on june beetles under street lights till they can hardly move. It isn't a serious concern. If it were I expect I would have lost some captive individuals due to beetle impaction as I have literally fed out thousands of them to dozens of amphibians over the years. Sometimes I think people worry so much about hypothetical feeding issues that their frogs end up missing out on a varied diet. Just pointing that out. To each his own though.

[Baelari]

They are occasionally found dead due to having tried to eat things bigger than they are. Doesn't seem like they're too picky about what they put in their mouths. If even mealworms carry a risk of impaction, I'd rather give mine a varied diet of softer shelled foods.

[SethD]

If even mealworms carry a risk of impaction, I'd rather give mine a varied diet of softer shelled foods.

The issue with mealworms is not only are they somewhat hard shelled you can compact a whole lot of them in a small area creating almost a solid mass. Mealworm beetles would actually be a little safer even though they are harder. Even with mealworms though issues are the exception rather than common and are generally the result of feeding far far to many at one time. That can be avoided by a little common sense. Just because your toad or frog might be willing to eat half his body weight in mealworms in one sitting that doesn't mean you should feed him that many. A complete avoidance of anything hard shelled in the diet of amphibians out of fear of impaction would the equivalent of of a human avoiding pretzels because George W. Bush choked on one and almost passed out once. Yes, there is a small theoretical risk there but in practice it is so small as to not be worth worrying about as long as a little common sense is used.

[lnaminneci]

I agree. Beetles, June Bugs (which do NOT have pinchers by the way, look it up...lol), Bean Weevils are all OK to feed to frogs and they eat them in the wild as well, but not as the Staple diet. All in moderation, just like we eat popcorn, peanuts and toffee, all crunchy but not as our main meal. At least not everyday anyway! A varied diet is good.

~Lesley

[DVirginiana]

Agreed. It's one of those things that is probably fine to do in moderation, when people know what they're doing. I personally wouldn't do it with my frog as he has a history of impaction (he was impacted on substrate when I got him from the petstore and barely made it) and because of that I'm paranoid about what I give him. It's possible to give the frogs a varied diet without risking wc prey or using prey with a risk of impaction, but it's probably just as possible to feed them things like june beetles and end up with a perfectly healthy frog.

[Kurt]

When I was 13, I fed a June beetle to one of my albino pacs, and it caused a 3 month impaction! Justin, I am sorry for your unfortunate and terrible discovery! Everyone please disregard this post! Its not "OK" to feed your pacman frogs June beetles, sticks, or rocks! What is the difference between picking up a baby and a rock? You can't pick up a rock with a pitch fork!

I disagree, June bugs are fine for larger frogs in moderation.

[Kurt]

They are occasionally found dead due to having tried to eat things bigger than they are. Doesn't seem like they're too picky about what they put in their mouths. If even mealworms carry a risk of impaction, I'd rather give mine a varied diet of softer shelled foods.

I have never found a single frog that choked to death on its meal, well except that clawed frog that choked on a Corydoras.