# Can I feed Hydei FF to my Thumbnails and Froglets or are they too Big? I am out of Me



## Dendro Boy (Oct 12, 2013)

Can I feed Hydei Fruit Flies to my Thumbnails and Froglets or are they too Big?

I am out of Meloganster (The Smaller Fruit Flies) that I always Feed Them.

I feed the Hydei to my Larger Frogs (Leucs, Auratus) no Problem but have never given them to my Small Thumbnails or Froglets.

What do you guys think?


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

For thumbnail adults, it will depend on how big the fly is. Older hydei cultures, that have smaller flies, I've been able to feed to my thumbs. However, I don't think a thumbnail froglet would be able to tackle them. Is their tank seeded with springtails? You should get some more melanogasters.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

All my thumbs have always loved hydei! Feed away!


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## oldlady25715 (Nov 17, 2007)

I think one of my female retics doesn't even eat melos. 

You can always try and see if they eat em'.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

It never hurts to try with a small feeding and see how they do!

I've fed thumbnails hydei in the past, usually because I'd feed them some of the melanos out of a mixed culture of melano/hydei and some hydei would be in there. If they are used to a variety of foods you'd be amazed what those guys tackle! As others mentioned though, it may depend on the species.

Froglet wise it depends on the species and size. I've had E. tricolor/anthonyi take hydei straight out of the water, while tincs wouldn't eat them until they got some size on them. Leucs and auratus tend to like larger foods so they'd eat them earlier, but it's hard for me to put an age range on that. Some people morph froglets big enough that even baby tincs will take them almost straight off! Other times if frogs have only been fed melano they may not go after hydei just because they've not really seen them before.

As for retics... they are just a whole different ballgame. They are mite eaters in the wild so melanos are large for them! Gah it's a pain to get them conditioned on them, but once you do you're golden. I have seen one go after a hydei and eat it, but I'd not assume they'd eat them regularly given the trouble to get them to eat anything other than springtails and fresh pinheads!

Would some of these frogs eat some FF larvae in the mean time? I usually wash some out of a culture and put them on a petri dish, many frogs like them.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Sometimes I feed some of my frogs (Banded intermedius, Varadero, Cristobal and Popa) with FF larvae on a toothpick. They are bold frogs! My Salt Creek and thumbnails do not eat hydei. But my epips and larger pums love them.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

My only thumbs are imitators and amazonica, and they both take hydei readily.


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## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

Yeah I think the thumbs may vary by species group and just the experiences of the frogs. I've had members of the same morph refuse and love them depending on the individual. Some I swear have just never seen them before and don't know what to do with them. Others just haven't figured out how to get them in their mouth in an easy to swallow way (Oooo... *nom* ACK! TOO BIG AND WIGGLY *drags tongue on ground*). For the record, I've had full grown tincs do the same thing  Usually I try over a period of time to introduce small amounts into the diet, or have one feeding a week be hydei (or whatever the new food is) just to get them used to the food and see if they really eat it. If they don't even attempt to eat them after 2 months with once a week feedings of them, I give up usually.

I've had the same experience with the Pums... smallest of the Panama ones are just too small and may have food preferences closer to retics, but larger ones (especially the Blue Jeans and El Dorados) mow through them if they are used to having them in the diet.


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