Feeding frogs frogs

[Ahtu]

Hey guys, can I feed my captive bred pacman frog wild american green tree frogs? They are only $1 each. Thanks.

[demeteraurion]

I don't see a problem with it as long as you know they are safe, have no parasites or diseases or illness of any kind.

[pac]

Yea i feed my female pac wild caught toads

[Baelari]

I would say no. They could have just wandered through a fresh spraying of pesticides, have parasites, or carry a disease your pacman isn't immune to.

[Iratus ranunculus]

No. Well, you can, but you should not for a number of reasons. The first has already been mentioned. Disease, and no, freezing wont help because parasites can encyst and survive freezing. You also cannot get rid of pesticides.

The second is that you really should not be supporting commercial collection of animals.

[jelkins]

Absolutely...If you have a safe source of frogs, such as raising your own from eggs bought from a biological supply company, I'd highly recomend it. You will be providing your frog with a diet that better mirrors it's natural one. 70% of their diet in the wild consists of other anurans.

Most users on this site ignore this fact and feed their pac-mans insects and worms purchased from stores; there are no guarantees these are parasite free sources. And freezing does eliminate the majority of parasites that could infect your frog.

You can raise your own sources to feel more comfortable or if your know a safe source collect your own and provide your frog with a varied and fantastic diet. Lots of healthy frogs have parasites, but succomb to them only if they are improperly cared for as a result of constant stress.

Additionally, this warning regarding parasites is a legit one, but WAY overstated on this forum; constantly thrown out without consideration of the keepers experience or knowledge. Nor have many people come forth and said, 'Yeah, my frog got sick and died from parasites due to me feeding it wild caught frogs/insects.' This would require a fecal examination to prove or dissecting the animal.

IT CAN HAPPEN, but this warning is thrown out by laymen who appear to want to reread their own posts and sound like they know something.

[Ahtu]

Okay. so the green tree frogs are "field collected" which leads me to believe that they may have pesticides/parasites. So if i freeze them does it kill parasites? Pesticides? Thanks in advance.

[UncleChester]

Okay. so the green tree frogs are "field collected" which leads me to believe that they may have pesticides/parasites. So if i freeze them does it kill parasites? Pesticides? Thanks in advance.

See the post by Iratus ranunculus above.

[Tony]

My #1 concern with feeding off wild frogs is chytrid, My suggestion would be to quarantine and treat the feeder frogs just like any other new arrival.

[DVirginiana]

Feeding your frog wc frogs is not a good idea. Freezing doesn't get rid of pesticides at all, and certain harmful bacteria/fungus/parasites could survive as well. Crickets go for about $1.00 for a little over a week's worth at most places, and pinky mice are less expensive than these frogs. And if they are born and bred in a petstore or pet supply company, which most are, that is just about as good a guarantee as you can find that they haven't come into contact with pesticides. Also, I'm guessing these frogs are shipped? Pinkies/crickets just seems like it'd be more cost-effective
My main concern with this is that people raid wild populations of frogs for feeders, which is a bad idea from an ecological standpoint.

Also, yes Justin, these frogs do eat hard-shelled bugs, other frogs, and a multitude of other things in the wild. They also have a much shorter life expectancy.

[Ahtu]

Worms and roaches it is!