# How do you feed hiding frogs?



## IronHenry (Sep 6, 2018)

I did look at old posts but found nothing that was really helpful. I have six 3 mo old Leucs in a large tank with lots of leaf litter and nooks and crannies. They mostly are hidden away although I see one hopping around once in a while. So when it comes to feeding time, I dump in some dusted fly's near a frog I can see and he does eat. But what about all the other frogs in the tank? 
I have no way to know who is eating what and how much. For all I know, there is a frog hidden somewhere who is getting nothing.

I thought about removing all the leaf litter so I could see them much better and will have more control, but then they will have fewer hiding places. Does anyone have any tips for me on this?


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

I would try a feeding station and see if that helps. Just drop a piece of fruit into a central location and the flies you put in there should really stick around in that spot. The frogs will get used to that and come there to feed so you can see them better. Also, make sure you aren't feeding so many flies that they are in there constantly and walking around. The frogs will never be hungry that way and won't show up for dinner when it is time. I only feed my frogs every other day, at the most. If you are feeding a ton of flies and you are feeding every day, the frogs will just sit there and wait for food to come by 

Just some ideas, anyway.

Mark


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Encyclia said:


> I would try a feeding station and see if that helps. Just drop a piece of fruit into a central location and the flies you put in there should really stick around in that spot. The frogs will get used to that and come there to feed so you can see them better. Also, make sure you aren't feeding so many flies that they are in there constantly and walking around. The frogs will never be hungry that way and won't show up for dinner when it is time. I only feed my frogs every other day, at the most. If you are feeding a ton of flies and you are feeding every day, the frogs will just sit there and wait for food to come by
> 
> Just some ideas, anyway.
> 
> Mark


This is what I would do, only I would set up several feeding stations to reduce the risk of one or two of the dominant frogs intimidating the others. You may not observe outright aggression, but make no mistake,there is a hierarchy that exists whenever multiple animals are kept within the same tank. Observe, and remove any animals that seem to be losing weight or lag behind in growth, as that is usually a clear sign the animal is suffering from aggression.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

varanoid said:


> This is what I would do, only I would set up several feeding stations to reduce the risk of one or two of the dominant frogs intimidating the others. You may not observe outright aggression, but make no mistake,there is a hierarchy that exists whenever multiple animals are kept within the same tank. Observe, and remove any animals that seem to be losing weight or lag behind in growth, as that is usually a clear sign the animal is suffering from aggression.


This is a good point, but he said they were three months old and I don't usually see that kind of aggression in froglets that young. I was also assuming they were siblings and raised together, though that may not be the case. Yours is a good point, nonetheless.

Mark


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## IronHenry (Sep 6, 2018)

Thanks for the advice, I will try the feeding station idea. It sounds like I need to have faith that they will all eventually find some fly's to eat, but whether they are eating enough or not will be another matter. Is there a way to tell if a frog is starving beyond it just looking skinny? Do they behave differently? Do they go searching for food much more aggressively or do they just sit there under a leaf and wither away?


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

If we are talking about frogs that looked nice and chubby when they went in, it should be a fairly long process to lose enough weight to be dangerous. They won't immediately be so weak that they just hang out in one spot all day. They should be plenty active that you will see them eventually, especially when you establish feeding stations and space out the feedings. From the top, I look for some nice roundness of the belly to stick out beyond the back (from above). Also, if a frog is skinny, you will see it in the front legs and the bones in the back may look to be pushing the skin up a bit more because there is less fat/muscle around the bones underneath the skin. It's much easier when you have other, healthy frogs in the tank to compare against. My guess is everybody is just fine, they are just getting used to their enclosure.

Mark


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

Encyclia said:


> This is a good point, but he said they were three months old and I don't usually see that kind of aggression in froglets that young. I was also assuming they were siblings and raised together, though that may not be the case. Yours is a good point, nonetheless.
> 
> Mark


I actually have seen this several times with luecs. And it wasn't aggression so much as it was intimidation I believe. I also have observed it regularly with tincs in more tightly cramped raise out containers. Not super common, but frequent enough for me to know that it can be an issue.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

I have a couple imitators kept singly in grow out tanks, and they hide nearly always. When I do dig around and find them, they're always nice and plump, so I assume they're eating the FFs that crawl under their hides.

Frogs have distinct patterns of daily activity; often mine peak in the early morning and again in the evening, so I do try to feed during those times. The frogs will often hide when I come stomping into the room, so I also try to feed them and then leave them to their meal.


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## IronHenry (Sep 6, 2018)

Yes, mine are in a prominent place in the house and I have two young stomping boys running through the house all day. I would hide too if I was a frog. Do they ever acclimate to that kind of environment or will they always hide when people are active around the tank?


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

How long ago did you drop them in?

A couple of feeding stations is what would do. They're going to be a little timid at first but will start to come around to you.


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## IronHenry (Sep 6, 2018)

Since I got the suggestions, I created 2 feeding stations with slices of fruit to attract the flies. I dropped these guys in only 3 days ago, so still don't have a feel for what is normal. Didn't want one of the little frogs to starve which is what prompted the post. 

I'll see how the feeding stations go when I try again tomorrow. But I suspect the hiding frogs will continue to hide and the flies will mostly disperse all over the tank. I did remove some leaf litter so it is easier to see them and monitor how they eat. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll have a pleasant surprise after a few days of being consistent with it.


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

IronHenry said:


> Since I got the suggestions, I created 2 feeding stations with slices of fruit to attract the flies. I dropped these guys in only 3 days ago, so still don't have a feel for what is normal. Didn't want one of the little frogs to starve which is what prompted the post.
> 
> I'll see how the feeding stations go when I try again tomorrow. But I suspect the hiding frogs will continue to hide and the flies will mostly disperse all over the tank. I did remove some leaf litter so it is easier to see them and monitor how they eat. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll have a pleasant surprise after a few days of being consistent with it.


3 days isn't that long. I find banana works the best. They're going to be skittish when small but they'll acclimate to everything with time. 

This is why small growout tanks are recommended, but I'm sure they'll be fine in a regular tank. It's just nerve racking to the keeper. I just released 5 leuc froglets thursday myself and going through the same thing. I can only see 1-3 at any given time but they were in such great shape going in I'm not worried. Next week I'm going to place a banana slice in the front and back like above.


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## S2G (Jul 5, 2016)

IronHenry said:


> Yes, mine are in a prominent place in the house and I have two young stomping boys running through the house all day. I would hide too if I was a frog. Do they ever acclimate to that kind of environment or will they always hide when people are active around the tank?


That's the best area to have them in. Its really a none issue with leucs. They're extremely bold. Froglets are just timid they'll get more bold as they get used to you. I'm raising a bunch of recently morphed azureus right now. Soon as they see me they duck under a plant clipping the parents will jump on my hand. I wouldn't expect much until around 6m out of water.

Try early morning when the lights are coming on. Move slowly with no quick movements or some other relatively quiet time.


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## IronHenry (Sep 6, 2018)

Yes, I should mention I have 2 azureus froglets as well, they seem to be more skittish than the leucs. I will be patient as you and everyone else is suggesting and just be consistent. I saw all of them hopping around today which was nice and they all look fine, not thin and they looked alert and unstressed. 

The interesting thing is I DID remove a lot of leaf litter and hiding spots. I noticed they have been much more active since I did that, something I didn't really expect. They still have leaves and places to hide, but before I had the entire bottom layer with leaves and now there are just a couple of leaf clusters here and there. Big difference in behavior.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

IronHenry said:


> Yes, I should mention I have 2 azureus froglets as well, they seem to be more skittish than the leucs. I will be patient as you and everyone else is suggesting and just be consistent. I saw all of them hopping around today which was nice and they all look fine, not thin and they looked alert and unstressed.
> 
> The interesting thing is I DID remove a lot of leaf litter and hiding spots. I noticed they have been much more active since I did that, something I didn't really expect. They still have leaves and places to hide, but before I had the entire bottom layer with leaves and now there are just a couple of leaf clusters here and there. Big difference in behavior.


Glad removing leaf litter seems to have improved the situation. Personally, I have had opposite observations with regards to leaf litter. It may seem counter intuitive, but the more hiding spots there are, the more comfortable your frogs will become and the more you will see them out in the open, at least in my experience.


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## DrakonicKnight (Aug 24, 2018)

i just put a piece of banana in a little lid top and watch how many flies are in there


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