# How Often Do You Feed?



## dsaundry (Sep 29, 2011)

So my basic question to all you froggers out there is "How often do you feed"? Do you feed every day, every couple of days, or??
Just flies? flies and vitamins, if you use vitamins, how often do you use them? What else do you feed your critters with? 
Thanks in advance for all your replies!


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

The stickied thread will answer all your questions: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/157354-popular-helpful-food-feeding-threads.html


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## redfrogger (Nov 6, 2010)

I feed juvies and adults Mon Wed Fri. I feed froglets every day.

I dust with Repashy CA + every feeding.

I dust with Repashy Vit A supplement once every 2 weeks.

I dust with Repashy Superpig once every 2 weeks

I feed with melos ff ( I have mainly ranitomeya and pumilio) and springtails. Everyday I make sure froglets have enough springs.


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## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

I feed my adults maybe 3-4 times a week, froglets almost everyday. There are many foods used in the hobby but the majority feed fruit flies, springs, isopods, termites, and bean beatles. It depends on your species of frog and size. Every feeding is dusted with repashy calcium plus. Vit A is used 1-2 times per month. Hope this helps a little.


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## InvertaHerp (Mar 4, 2013)

Every other day hydei or melanogasters dusted with calcium plus


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## mfsidore (Oct 10, 2012)

Daily, fror everyone.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

I feed my adults an average of twice per week. Always dusted with cal plus. Ill add a third feeding if I want to give them vit a or if my cultures are coming to an end.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk


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## Tincman (Jan 18, 2013)

Im aware 99% of people know all of this and more, so apologies in advance for being redundant to those that are bored to death hearing feeding husbandry methods..(i just figure if one New person gets help from the detail in our thread then its beneficial to be a little wordy here)I feed adults every other day.. Young froglets benefit from daily feedings to ensure proper nutrition so I tend to feed small froglets daily or at least make sure there are still a few flies in their Temp/ Growout tanks daily.. If you go to feed the second day & there are still flies crawling around it may not be needed to add any in most cases. I supplement with fresh Refrigerated Supps each feeding & I also feed a variety of bugs when possible monthly around the time cultures are slowing before the new ones boom (Termites & 1/8 Crickets mainly) ( I do this because the other insects provide a different food source while also providing an insurance policy on my slowing cultures)..(wont get into supplement type bc this is not the thread for it, but I will mention it should have Calcium D3, Multivitamins with useable Vitamin A & be fresh far from expiration to have the greatest positive affect on Frog Metabolism) In the wild frogs are picking at food consistently throughout photo-periods & not getting a ton of food at one offering so if you have a small collection & can manage it theres no reason not to feed out daily, perhaps a little less then if you were feeding every other day, but if you have a ton of frogs its nice to have a day you dont need to feed & theres nothing wrong with feeding a little more every other day instead of every day.... In captivity I feel you should give them enough that they sustain a healthy size/weight, this is subjective to the individual frogs needs as a Terribilis full grown will need more then a Reticulatus or Small Oophaga..IF your flies are escaping that will be a factor that lessens the amount of flies actually being eaten, especially for shy frogs that are more ambush eating then actively/boldly pounding flies.. Monitor the individual sizes of all of your frogs & make sure theyre growing or maintaining size if already full gorwn and healthy... This is really all that matters more so then when you feed its how you monitor the food intake. Are the frogs obtaining the nutrition properly, consistently. Thats what matters.. Im sure there are some guys on here with super healthy frogs that feed twice a week & have a method for ensuring proper intake like using fruit pieces ect...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Tincman said:


> .(i just figure if one New person gets help from the detail in our thread then its beneficial to be a little wordy here)


I'll agree with this but people need to also be aware that the suggestions by the hobby are often in far excess of what the frogs actually should have or need. 



Tincman said:


> Young froglets benefit from daily feedings to ensure proper nutrition so I tend to feed small froglets daily or at least make sure there are still a few flies in their Temp/ Growout tanks daily..


I'm going to disagree with you here. This is a perception put forth by the hobby to try and maximize growth which however may backfire with respect to maximal adult size at reproduction. There is a surprising amount of anecdotal evidence that frogs in the hobby reach sexual maturity at a smaller size than the wild populations. This is directly related to the nutritional input and the environmental conditions in which the frogs are kept. This is a problem as it may mean that people are selecting for smaller size at sexual maturity (as has been documented in some fish stocks), and generally smaller size at sexual maturity may correlate with reduced life span in some taxa. 

Now it is fine for this as a recommendation for a beginner as it provides the risk of the fewest mistakes for the hobbyist but more experienced people may need to pay closer attention to the condition of the older frogs and make adjustments in the husbandry of those animals. 



Tincman said:


> In captivity I feel you should give them enough that they sustain a healthy size/weight, this is subjective to the individual frogs needs as a Terribilis full grown will need more then a Reticulatus or Small Oophaga..


Too often the picture use of what they perceive as a healthy weight are in fact obese to grossly obese when compared to wild populations. This puts the frogs at risk of problems like fatty livers and other complications. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Tincman (Jan 18, 2013)

Ed said:


> I'll agree with this but people need to also be aware that the suggestions by the hobby are often in far excess of what the frogs actually should have or need.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes youre right Ed, my advice was more geared towards someone new to the hobby to avoid malnourishment, also I guess I shouldve specified that I meant New morphs need more attention paid to their food intake & not froglets in general... IT is interesting what you brought up about the sizes of CB frogs vs WC with respect to sexual maturity.. Not to get off topic, but Ive been considering the various affects the "keeping of the lines" has on the frogs overall... Id imagine smaller adult size is just one of many ramifications of failing to diversify the gene pool?


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## The Mom (Jun 1, 2013)

I feed for 3-4 days daily, and then give them a day without. Bean beetles and fruit flies are the staple. They also get springtails and isopods. They received termites 3 times last year, once this year. They receive crickets about that often too.

I dust every feeding except termites and springtails.

I likely over do it. I tend to mother hen everything. I only have one really "fat" frog though. A female tarapota. Since she is feeding 5 large tads right now I make sure she has a constant supply of food, and if she isn't with her babies she is eating, mostly springtails.


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## Calivet (Aug 12, 2013)

Ed said:


> I'll agree with this but people need to also be aware that the suggestions by the hobby are often in far excess of what the frogs actually should have or need.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is there a good reference as to what the body conformation should look like for different species? Pictorial or written descriptions as to what is actually optimal body condition scoring vs obese vs underweight?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Tincman said:


> ... Id imagine smaller adult size is just one of many ramifications of failing to diversify the gene pool?


Eventually that would be true but genetics doesn't explain why it happens within a generation or two. We've had some long discussions on this topic but I think we can point the finger to how the frogs are kept and fed. 

This is seen across taxa.. the level of stored/available fat is linked to earlier sexual reproduction... In addition to this issue, there is the hypothetical possibility that other factors can change adult size. 

Captive animals do not have the periods of no reproduction due to various seasonal changes that would permit the allocation towards growth as opposed to reproduction. When you house the animals from metamorphosis under conditions that are appropriate for reproduction, and feed them large amounts of food for which they have to spend little energy in locating and consuming, you encourage rapid increases in the fat stores. Once reproductions starts the energetics normally use for growth are reallocated to reproduction as long as the conditions for reproduction remain present. People often fail to realize that these periods of active reproduction in the wild can be very short. For example, some tinctorius populations, the average length of reproduction is approximately 2 weeks before the animals are cycled out of the breeding population to reaccumulate the needed stores. So to point the finger at genetics is pretty much ignoring the elephant in the room. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Calivet said:


> Is there a good reference as to what the body conformation should look like for different species? Pictorial or written descriptions as to what is actually optimal body condition scoring vs obese vs underweight?


The picture of the animals in the field in the various books are probably your best bet. Too often people fail to realize that the main fat storage areas are in the abdomen in the form of fat pads so by the time a frog looks plump, it's probably obese to very obese.... and at risk of some of the problems of the obese like fatty livers. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

It always makes me nervous seeing frogs on the thinner side. But looking at pictures in the wild can help out. Check out the mother strawberry in the first shot. (a couple more proud mommas as well).

Strawberry poison frog photo - Oophaga pumilio - G136776 | ARKive

CalPhotos: Oophaga pumilio; Strawberry Poison Frog

CalPhotos: Oophaga pumilio; Strawberry Poison Frog


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Often people start telling others that they're frogs are too thin because the abdomen isn't bulging out at the sides... If you look at those frogs, it's clear they have a good weight but if those pictures were posted with the question what do you think of my frogs, I would be willing to bet that the respose would be that they could use some fattening up. 

There was a frogger who used to advertise the fattest frogs on the net as a purported positive selling point.. wasn't a positive in my book.... 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Ed: How do you go about putting frogs on a diet? 

Seems several options are possible.

1. Less calorie rich diet. I guess this depends on how well frogs can digest chitin but feeding animals with more chitin could help-more similar to diet in wild.

2. Decrease feeding frequency: 

3. Decrease feeding amount. The difficulties with these second 2 are that frogs frequently can graze a lot of microfauna in between feedings.


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## Dart girl (Sep 25, 2013)

I usually feed 3 days a week. Never more than 4. Froglets I feed 5 days a week and make sure there are plenty of springs. I supplement with the reccamended repashy calcium and vit a. I also monitor for uneaten flies in the tank. If I notice a lot of them I skip a feeding. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Dendrobait said:


> Ed: How do you go about putting frogs on a diet?
> 
> Seems several options are possible.
> 
> ...


The amount of chitin that isn't digested has historically been underestimated, some studies actually suggest in some cases by as much as 7 fold. The reason is because there is more accessible proteins than was previously thought. There is also a wide variation across taxa and can range from just a few percents to as much as 81%.. Given the wide variations and the variation in the assorted studies, using a species with a greater "percentage" of chitin is problematic.. One study demonstrated that Sceloperus actually grew better on mealworms than on crickets. See for example The effects of prey species on food conversion efficiency and growth of an insectivorous lizard - Rich - 2008 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library

Decreasing feeding frequency only works if you can reduce the total calories ingested by the animal. If the animal can graze, then it doesn't really do anything. The same problem can be seen as you noted with reducing amount. 

Now if you properly down cycle the enclosure to appropriately simulate a dry season, then the microfauna is going to forced out of the reach of the frogs which when combined with reduced added calories can make a difference as the frogs would also be forced to rely on fat stores to make up some of the required nutrition. However I don't see that as most of the hobby taking that as a feasible option as it would take a huge toll on the plants in the tank and people would have to be able to make decisions based on the behavior of the frogs and how the enclosure looks (getting away from the recipes for being successful). 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Dart girl said:


> I usually feed 3 days a week. Never more than 4. Froglets I feed 5 days a week and make sure there are plenty of springs. I supplement with the reccamended repashy calcium and vit a. I also monitor for uneaten flies in the tank. If I notice a lot of them I skip a feeding.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


For several years I fed my pumilio once a week and waited for several days after the flies are consumed before adding more. Oddly enough, the frogs that are in pairs have routinely produced froglets.. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Ed said:


> For several years I fed my pumilio once a week and waited for several days after the flies are consumed before adding more. Oddly enough, the frogs that are in pairs have routinely produced froglets..
> 
> Some comments
> 
> Ed


If you feed once a week, then add some more several days later doesn't that count as 2x per week?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

aspidites73 said:


> If you feed once a week, then add some more several days later doesn't that count as 2x per week?


Not if the fiies are persisting on the bait stations for 7-10 days. I've gone longer than seven days since I wait until the flies have been gone for several days. And oddly enough I saw a cauchero froglet the other night. 

Ed


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Ed said:


> Not if the fiies are persisting on the bait stations for 7-10 days. I've gone longer than seven days since I wait until the flies have been gone for several days. And oddly enough I saw a cauchero froglet the other night.
> 
> Ed


Ok, I now understand differently. Thank you.


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