# Phyllobates Terribilis is not able to aim well..



## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I am having a pair of Phyllobates Terribilis but i notice that they don't seem to aim well when feeding with pinhead or crickets..They will strike 
6-9 times on the same cricket before eating them...is there any problem with them or they are lack of vitamins that prevents them from having a good aim ...but they are active and fat nw...

thanks


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Do they aim well at fruit flies?


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

nope.... havn't got my fruit files culture....


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

How old are they, and they eventually eat the crix?


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

They are adult frog..how old i am not sure as i just got them awhile ago... after a few aim,it manage to eat it prey..


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I would feed FF - melas or Hydei, instead of crix.....at least to see if that changes anything.

What was the original owner feeding?


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

This is where I say you shoud be doing some research on proper feeding and care. You should have had your feeders ready to go before getting the frogs. A variety in their diet is beneficial. Even if you get ff's in they will likely die out in a month or so and it is very helpfull to have culturing experience as they frogs can end up with nothing to eat if it go's bad.
How big are the actuall frogs? If they are adult Teribillis than pin head crickets will likely be easy for them to eat and pricey to keep supplying them with. They could actually thrive on Hydei ff and 1/8 crickets, Iso's and Pheonix worms.

Michael


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## JoshK (Jan 5, 2009)

I've had my terribilis for about 18 months and have always thought they had terrible aim. While all my other frogs seem to eat like stealth ninjas, they eat more like cavemen. Just an observation.

As long as they are fat and eating, I wouldn't worry too much. . .bu that's just me.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

JoshK said:


> I've had my terribilis for about 18 months and have always thought they had terrible aim. While all my other frogs seem to eat like stealth ninjas, they eat more like cavemen. Just an observation.
> 
> As long as they are fat and eating, I wouldn't worry too much. . .bu that's just me.


Depending on the definition of "bad aim", Ive observed the same thing with my bicolors. They don't so much sneak up and take a "sniper" shot at the fly...they lunge their entire bodies at it and try to smash into their mouths.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If they are taking that many tongue shots at the feeders, then you may have a problem with insufficient vitamin A in the diet as this can show up as a lack of stickiness of the tongue. One of the main symptoms of this is the appearence of an inability to capture food items easily... look up short tongue syndrome... 

I would suggest adding supplements that contains vitamin A in the form of retinyl palmitate instead of beta carotene as your dusting supplement. If the problem appears to be continuing, you may want to consider using a human dry vitamin A supplement once to twice a month. 

Ed


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

Thks... i am currently feeding on a new supplement called REPASHY superfoods (calcium Plus ICB) from joshs frog which in imported in.. 

Analysis of products of vitamin A is 400000IU/kilo and beta carotene min 1000mg/kg.is that enough?

i am also trying to ship in some cultures of wingless fruit files and spring tails at the moment cause in my country there is no FF or spring tail for sale but only crickets. So i have got no choice but to feed them pinhead for now. Anyway would anyone know of any company or website that ship them into asia... as i check with joshs frog they don't ship live stocks out of usa...


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

IME with phyllobates (limited to bicolor and vittatus), although I am a fan of a varied diet, I really don't see a diet of strictly crickets (with proper supplementation) as being an issue. Heck, the bicolor I work with take 1/4 crickets without a problem, and breed more frequently (and with a higher egg to healthy froglet ratio) when fed primarily crickets. Also, Phyllobates seem to be a much more uncoordinated eater when compared with many other darts - much more inclined to 'grab and gulp'. 
When I do feed hydei to the bicolors, they often take many attempts to eat the flies, while they easily gulp down 1/4 inch crickets. Depending on the size of the crickets you are providing, it might be worth trying some larger ones.
The Repashy ICB does contain vit A. How often are you using it, and for how long?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

What country? There are a lot of hobbyists around the world that post here...

Can you try a biological department at your local college? They may be able to get you wingless fruit fly cultures....


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

zBrinks said:


> IME with phyllobates (limited to bicolor and vittatus), although I am a fan of a varied diet, I really don't see a diet of strictly crickets (with proper supplementation) as being an issue. Heck, the bicolor I work with take 1/4 crickets without a problem, and breed more frequently (and with a higher egg to healthy froglet ratio) when fed primarily crickets. Also, Phyllobates seem to be a much more uncoordinated eater when compared with many other darts - much more inclined to 'grab and gulp'.
> When I do feed hydei to the bicolors, they often take many attempts to eat the flies, while they easily gulp down 1/4 inch crickets. Depending on the size of the crickets you are providing, it might be worth trying some larger ones.
> The Repashy ICB does contain vit A. How often are you using it, and for how long?


I am using Repashy ICB daily and about a week ago...one of the reason I am looking for spring tail and wingless FF is that I also keep some thumbnail frogs and in the country that I am living in ,the pinhead crickets are expensive and $20 of them would only last me a week.


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

Philsuma said:


> What country? There are a lot of hobbyists around the world that post here...
> 
> Can you try a biological department at your local college? They may be able to get you wingless fruit fly cultures....


I called and check with a local company that supply to my local colleges here but the price is too expensive like $300 for 4 culture of wingless FF...crazy!


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Are you only feeding pinhead crickets? The larger Phyllobates can take larger crickets, no problem.


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## goku (Nov 11, 2009)

zBrinks said:


> Are you only feeding pinhead crickets? The larger Phyllobates can take larger crickets, no problem.


I have a trio of terribilis about 7-8 months, and only one of them is hunting FF's and pinhead crickets (and not very enthusiastically..). 
The other two almost only eat small/medium size crickets, big flies, woodloses and whatever is bigger than the average PDF food. I had problems when they where younger because they didn't eat so well..when I tried with bigger stuff, they just went crazy!


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## Crazy frog (Aug 8, 2010)

goku said:


> I have a trio of terribilis about 7-8 months, and only one of them is hunting FF's and pinhead crickets (and not very enthusiastically..).
> The other two almost only eat small/medium size crickets, big flies, woodloses and whatever is bigger than the average PDF food. I had problems when they where younger because they didn't eat so well..when I tried with bigger stuff, they just went crazy!



I am thinking of trying small mealworm for my bio and terribilis..what do you guys think?


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I have fed small, freshly molted mealworms to frogs before, but never as a staple. If the mealworms were not white and soft, the frogs did not seem to have any interest in them.

I did it once every few weeks, and never had any problems, but can't comment to doing it more often.


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