# Frog avoids dusted fruit flies



## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

Hello everyone, I stopped dusting FF's about last year since my frog apparently doesn't like the taste of it. I bought 3 different kinds and both the male and female(before she died) didn't like the taste of dusted meals. They would eat the flies then spit them right back up. I even tried not feeding them for 2 days then tried again. After several months I decided to try again last week and they've learned to avoid white dusted flies. They don't even have to take a bite of them anymore, they just know not to eat dusted flies.

I've been feeding them undusted D. hydei without any noticeable difference for about a year now but I'm starting to worry. I just remember years ago as a teen, my friend had 2 leopard geckos and he never dusted his crickets when he fed them and their limbs ended up just falling off.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

What kind of frog are you feeding?


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

I'm making some assumptions here but generally speaking that's a good way to malnourish your frogs. It's been said that a fruit fly diet is minimally nutritious and, in effect, mostly a transportation system for vitamin/mineral powder. I don't have any hard facts on hand here, but my suggestion would be to dust all future meals with one of the typical vitamin/mineral supplement programs. Frogs do seem to get use to the "mouthfeel" of specific bugs and I can see that extending to unpowdered flies, but they will get used to it.

The alternative is to give them the variety of insects/ants/etc that they get in the rainforest, but that's not really feasible.


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## LLLReptile (Jan 6, 2010)

You could also try using less dust - the flies don't necessarily have to be coated in the dust to the point that they are a different color. Try using significantly less dust; frogs are so small, they don't need a ton of supplement on their flies to get what they need to begin with. 

Lastly, what supplement are you using? Have you tried a different brand? Different brands stick differently, and I'm sure taste differently as well. I like the Repashy Calcium plus, personally, as you can use just a little to coat your flies without turning them into little cakey poofs of calcium. 

-Jen


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## InvertaHerp (Mar 4, 2013)

LLLReptile said:


> You could also try using less dust - the flies don't necessarily have to be coated in the dust to the point that they are a different color. Try using significantly less dust; frogs are so small, they don't need a ton of supplement on their flies to get what they need to begin with.
> 
> Lastly, what supplement are you using? Have you tried a different brand? Different brands stick differently, and I'm sure taste differently as well. I like the Repashy Calcium plus, personally, as you can use just a little to coat your flies without turning them into little cakey poofs of calcium.
> 
> -Jen


It also smells kinda fruity.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

It sounds like you've basically conditioned your frogs to not eat dusted flies. Any time a frog encounters a new or different prey item, there is likely to be some hesitancy, but if they are only exposed to it long enough to spit it out once, then not see it again often, it will likely be received as a negative trigger. You MUST use some form of supplementation if you want your frogs to live a relatively healthy life.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I'm going to be blunt...for your frog. Your frog is already dead if you don't train him to take dusted fruit flies. 

Dust them with as much dust as they will hold at every feeding. If he spits them out, that's ok. Have you ever tried to spit out a mouthful of dust? You can't. It sticks. Every time he tries to spit one out he gets a small dose. Eventually, dust wears off flies and he can start choosing flies with less dust.

My kids would rather eat potato chips and cupcakes than the well balanced meals that I give them instead. The well balance meal has to be on the plate at every feeding. 
YOU need to force the issue and eventually the little punks will eat their Brussels sprouts! 
Sorry, I mean their dusted flies.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

Where did you get your frogs from? Most likely any captive bred frog would already be plenty used to dusted flies. Another question is what supplements have you tried? Maybe you are using a larger particle supplement we are not used to and that is part of the problem.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

Now I`m no frog but Repashy Calcium Plus tastes pretty good to me.

There`s actually a thread here somewhere of me doing a taste test on different
supplements, minus the insects...what do think I`m crazy?!?


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## Broseph (Dec 5, 2011)

When I first got dart frogs, I was worried because they would always spit out the dusty flies. Like everyone else said- just keep dusting.

Also, don't provide too many flies at a time, as you'll end up a surplus of un-dusted flies in the tank. If there are cookies right next to the brussel sprouts on the same plate, those punks will eat the cookies.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

I'm feeding a Ranitomeya imitator. I had a female that didn't like them either but she eventually got hungry enough to start eating the dusted flies after 3 days and she continued to eat the dusted flies for a few more months until she died which is ironic because it was the male who didn't eat dusted flies but is still now alive. I've bought 3 different brands, ZooMed, Repashy and some cheap no name brand. I will continue to use the Repashy dust until he's hungry enough to eat them. I didn't know that I was conditioning him to refuse dusted flies. Now it's back to square one...

EDIT: UUGHH!!! It happened AGAIN! I lightly dusted them this time with Repashy and dumped them in a few seconds ago. He zealously chased after one, gulped it, spat it back up and is now hopping away from them like he's scared of them. This is very frustrating...


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Well the immediate thing that jumps out at me is that you are feeding too large of a fly. 

Thumbnails are better off with D. melanogastor, not Hydei. I would imagine this is the root of most of the problem.


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## Dlanigan (Nov 13, 2013)

I know that animals tend to imprint on food types so be vigilant in changing over to dusted before its too late. For my frog lets, I also lightly dust bug burger in a feeding station area so when they eat microfauana off the burger it inadvertently makes dust stick to their tongues.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

carola1155 said:


> Well the immediate thing that jumps out at me is that you are feeding too large of a fly.
> 
> Thumbnails are better off with D. melanogastor, not Hydei. I would imagine this is the root of most of the problem.


My adult thumbnails have always love both hydei and melanogaster. Other members have also used hydei for thumbs with no problems. I've been currently using D. melanogaster because I just ran out of hydei.

Well he finally started chomping down on dusted flies. I just kept using dusted flies only for 3 days straight and I guess he learned its either dusted flies or it's nothing. I'm so relieved!


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

SushiRice said:


> My adult thumbnails have always love both hydei and melanogaster. Other members have also used hydei for thumbs with no problems. I've been currently using D. melanogaster because I just ran out of hydei.
> 
> Well he finally started chomping down on dusted flies. I just kept using dusted flies only for 3 days straight and I guess he learned its either dusted flies or it's nothing. I'm so relieved!


If you do some searching, you'll see that it is a mixed bag at best. Some people say they have success with hydei and some say they don't. A lot of it may even depend on the size of the hydei coming out of the cultures. Just because "other members have also used hydei for thumbs" doesn't guarantee it will work with your frogs. A wide majority of the people that I trust here will recommend melanos for thumbnails.

Either way, if a frog is struggling with a larger food item, it is probably a good idea to try something smaller instead of sticking with "it worked for other people". Especially when that frog has now been malnourished for several months.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

carola1155 said:


> If you do some searching, you'll see that it is a mixed bag at best. Some people say they have success with hydei and some say they don't. A lot of it may even depend on the size of the hydei coming out of the cultures. Just because "other members have also used hydei for thumbs" doesn't guarantee it will work with your frogs. A wide majority of the people that I trust here will recommend melanos for thumbnails.
> 
> Either way, if a frog is struggling with a larger food item, it is probably a good idea to try something smaller instead of sticking with "it worked for other people". Especially when that frog has now been malnourished for several months.


Well I never said they were struggling with anything except they don't like dusted flies on either hydei or melanogaster, but that problem is solved now.

"A wide majority of the people that I trust here will recommend melanos for thumbnails."

That was also going off what other members said lol. I've read that they work for some and not for others. Anyways I personally haven't had any trouble with hydei's and they work fine for me and my thumbnails seem to love them. I use them when my melanogaster culture is running low and vice versa.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Well yea... I recognize that what I said was going off of what other people are saying. However, there are different consequences to it. Erring on the small side means that your frog will still be able to eat. Risking it with the larger flies means that you might be giving your frogs something they can't handle. 

Everyone will agree that they will eat the melanos, only some will say they have had success with hydei. So, its a sure thing vs anecdotal evidence. The only reason I said "wide majority" is because I know there is always going to be that one vocal person that has success with it on their own and then swears by it (you know, the same person that puts a bunch of female tincs together and says "Everyone should do it!")

In the end, I'm still going to recommend that you have melanos on hand for these guys at all times.


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## SushiRice (Jan 3, 2013)

carola1155 said:


> (you know, the same person that puts a bunch of female tincs together and says "Everyone should do it!")
> 
> In the end, I'm still going to recommend that you have melanos on hand for these guys at all times.


Hahaha! I know exactly what you mean and I understand. I'm just so happy to see him jumping around eating dusted flies now!


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