ACFs big enough to handle worms?

[elliotulysses]

Don't bother with midge larvae (bloodworms), I think clawed frogs outgrow these foods as adults anyways. Live fish should be avoided entirely because of the risk of introducing disease or parasites. In the wild clawed frogs do not eat fish very often, in fact they would seek out waters without fish entirely because if there are small fish.. there are probably large fish -- predators of clawed frogs. They like shallow waters and will avoid moving to larger bodies of water if they can because of this!

Here's what I feed my frogs if it helps. They get nightcrawlers (one each) once or twice a week. When they don't get earthworms they eat Reptomin. Reptomin is not the best pellet on the market by any stretch but clawed frogs universally will eat them and they're not terrible, the protein content is quite high and that is good. The Calcium to Phosphorus ratio on Reptomin is not GREAT but many many many experienced keepers feed their clawed frogs Reptomin alone and they are very healthy and long lived. Keeping that in mind, nightcrawlers have a very good Cal:Phos ratio so that will make up any deficiency in Reptomin, in my mind. Above all, Reptomin is fairly inexpensive and EASY to find unlike many other pellets which must be purchased online for a lot of us.

The one treat I give my frogs are crickets. Now yes crickets are not aquatic but in the wild clawed frogs absolutely will hang out near land and snatch terrestrial insects or eat ones that fall into the water. I treat my frogs crickets once a month and I literally buy 12 large crickets and dump them into the tank and let them have at it.. I like to feed them in this way because it allows them to hunt rather than be fed. it is good stimulation for them. They will continue to 'hunt' the crickets long after they've eaten them all too. It seems to really bring out their instincts to locate food.

Now the last thing I do for my frogs diet which is a bit unorthodox is I make fortified 'reptomin-balls'. What that means in essence is I will take frozen foods, like Hikari Vitamin-Fortified Daphnia or PE Mysis Shrimp and allow the cubes to thaw in a small bowl. I will then add Reptomin to the thawed cube and then allow it to soak in the Daphnia/Shrimp and then roll it up into a ball or something close to that and just hand feed it to my frogs. I mostly do this because I have a lot of frozen aquatic food because I feed a lot of frozen food to my fish and since clawed frogs in the wild do eat a LOT of aquatic arthropods, it's again a natural food for them (though in nature they'd be eating small crustaceans larger than Daphnia).

I think what I do gives my frogs a very well rounded diet. Obviously it is impossible to recreate their wild diet in an aquarium but variety is best. Also in the wild clawed frogs eat a lot of tadpoles and other (smaller) clawed frogs, but I do not suggest you recreate that at home. : )

I have actually found some freeze dried crickets. Would those be a good idea for varying the diet? Or should I stick to live ones and let them sink? I also saw the freeze dried crickets next to freeze dried mealworms, but I am not so sure those are intended for ACFs. Also do you suggest gutloading? Or any other things about crickets I may be unaware of?
Right now I want to experiment a bit because they are growing and I think they have passed the stage that it is suggested "pellets only!"

Also I'm sure they would be happy to get worms. I've seen plenty of videos of overjoyed frogs gobbling them up.

And wax worms; are they a waste of time?

[mpmistr]

I have actually found some freeze dried crickets. Would those be a good idea for varying the diet? Or should I stick to live ones and let them sink? I also saw the freeze dried crickets next to freeze dried mealworms, but I am not so sure those are intended for ACFs. Also do you suggest gutloading? Or any other things about crickets I may be unaware of?
Right now I want to experiment a bit because they are growing and I think they have passed the stage that it is suggested "pellets only!"

Also I'm sure they would be happy to get worms. I've seen plenty of videos of overjoyed frogs gobbling them up.

And wax worms; are they a waste of time?

Freeze dried = bad/useless/somewhat dangerous due to intestinal issues if fed too often, completely devoid of nutrition .. a complete waste of money. The bulk of your frogs diet should be pellets and nightcrawlers.

I was speaking of live feeder crickets, almost all pet stores carry them. The crickets provide stimulation, not so much nutrition. Could you gut load them? Sure. Do I? No, because my frogs diet is varied enough to where I do not need to. Crickets are just a fun treat for them.

Wax worms? I don't know. I've never fed them to clawed frogs. They are moth larvae and like most larvae I am sure they're mostly fat and chitin. I don't think a clawed frog would digest them well but as a treat I doubt it would hurt. I am sure they are very high in fat though, so go easy if you ever treat them.

[elliotulysses]

Freeze dried = bad/useless/somewhat dangerous due to intestinal issues if fed too often, completely devoid of nutrition .. a complete waste of money. The bulk of your frogs diet should be pellets and nightcrawlers.

I was speaking of live feeder crickets, almost all pet stores carry them. The crickets provide stimulation, not so much nutrition. Could you gut load them? Sure. Do I? No, because my frogs diet is varied enough to where I do not need to. Crickets are just a fun treat for them.

Wax worms? I don't know. I've never fed them to clawed frogs. They are moth larvae and like most larvae I am sure they're mostly fat and chitin. I don't think a clawed frog would digest them well but as a treat I doubt it would hurt. I am sure they are very high in fat though, so go easy if you ever treat them.

Sounds like a good nutritional plan to me.
When feeding the crickets should I tear off their back legs? I've heard this can cause impaction

[mpmistr]

Sounds like a good nutritional plan to me.
When feeding the crickets should I tear off their back legs? I've heard this can cause impaction

My frogs have eaten many many crickets and they are perfectly fine.

[Tongue Flicker]

They normally eat insects with more hairy legs, longer antennae and flappy wings in the wild so i guess long legs is not an issue. I usually allow my frogs to slim down a little before giving them a fatty treat. I'd love to give them earthworms but it seems the worms here grow too large for a 2.5" frog lol.

[elliotulysses]

They normally eat insects with more hairy legs, longer antennae and flappy wings in the wild so i guess long legs is not an issue. I usually allow my frogs to slim down a little before giving them a fatty treat. I'd love to give them earthworms but it seems the worms here grow too large for a 2.5" frog lol.

Same here! Which is why you have to put the squeamish aside and just rip them apart. They usually will live in two separate halves. I'm not sure if you've ever fished before, but I'm thinking it's kind of the same solution

[elliotulysses]

My frogs have eaten many many crickets and they are perfectly fine.

Good! Because I had read some care with *other* frogs than ACFs and they all said to remove the back legs. I think this was mainly regarding pacmans. However, it could be because different animal, different enzymes/G.I track.

[mpmistr]

Good! Because I had read some care with *other* frogs than ACFs and they all said to remove the back legs. I think this was mainly regarding pacmans. However, it could be because different animal, different enzymes/G.I track.

Well I can see that being true with pacman frogs for one reason. Crickets are a *staple* for a lot of frog owners. As in, they are fed over and over and over to these animals. Feeding any frog the same thing continually is not 'good'. That is why people gut load and calcium dust their crickets, to make up for the lack of variety in their diet and artificially make the crickets more nutritious.

Having cake once won't give you diabetes but eating cake 7 days a week will. So once a month having crickets won't cause any harm.

[elliotulysses]

Well I can see that being true with pacman frogs for one reason. Crickets are a *staple* for a lot of frog owners. As in, they are fed over and over and over to these animals. Feeding any frog the same thing continually is not 'good'. That is why people gut load and calcium dust their crickets, to make up for the lack of variety in their diet and artificially make the crickets more nutritious.

Having cake once won't give you diabetes but eating cake 7 days a week will. So once a month having crickets won't cause any harm.

Exactly. While they aren't really tired of reptomin and their occasional shrimp pellet treat, I would like to get them more vitamins and minerals as they are growing.
Do you know anything about feeding cockroaches to ACFs? I'd imagine they would at least have a very nice protein count.