# Which species of ant



## kj (Jan 15, 2006)

What species of ant could i use to feed to dartfrogs (im in the UK). 
Does anyone use ants ??


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

just out of curiosity why woudl you want to feed them ants? 

This is a very delicate thing, i personally would not do it as the ants can quickly establish a colony in the terrarium and do some harm to your frogs.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Since your in the UK, you can check out Tetramorium as a feeder ant. However don't dump a bunch of these into the terraria when they are upset as they might attack the frog. 

Ed


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## Brock (Jun 29, 2007)

I'm not sure on the species, but I tried ants this summer (common black ant here in Western Canada) and I noticed that the frogs would spit them out and drag their tongue on the ground. I found out this was from the secretions the ants emit after being attacked, it's some sort of pungent, acidic defense mechanism. 

That said, once they got over the taste and their tongue recovered, the frogs went for the ants and gobbled them all up.

So of the species people suggest you use, make sure to do some research to see which of the ants has the least 'offensive' taste.


Also, they won't establish a colony without a queen, so don't worry about that, but ants are greater escape artists than fruit flies, so don't use too many or they'll be all over your house.

Goodluck.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

I used to use Harvester Ants in Ohio, small and brown the frogs relished them. I believe they are the same ants you get when you mail away to fill the ant farms sold in stores.


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## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

When I lived in the Chicago area, I used to use the ants that I would catch with good 'ol Cheese Doritos. Any other food and I would get the wrong ant. These were little black or dark brown ants that apparently are "sugar" or "sidewalk" ants.

I had the tongue dragging thing happen when using other ants but with these, no hesitation. I also dusted them first and fed them out in a small tiny glass bowl like people on cooking shows use to hold ingredients in before dumping into the food. I also only fed 5 or 6 at a time to make sure I didn't have any escape artists.

Good luck with it. Its always nice to mix up the diet every now and again.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

These were probably the introduced Tetramorium (black pavement ant). 

Ed 




Frogtofall said:


> When I lived in the Chicago area, I used to use the ants that I would catch with good 'ol Cheese Doritos. Any other food and I would get the wrong ant. These were little black or dark brown ants that apparently are "sugar" or "sidewalk" ants.
> 
> I had the tongue dragging thing happen when using other ants but with these, no hesitation. I also dusted them first and fed them out in a small tiny glass bowl like people on cooking shows use to hold ingredients in before dumping into the food. I also only fed 5 or 6 at a time to make sure I didn't have any escape artists.
> 
> Good luck with it. Its always nice to mix up the diet every now and again.


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## tzen (Nov 22, 2007)

In Ben's "composterium" thread, he intentionally introduced ghost ants to colonize his viv.

Here is the original thread:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/3995-new-set-up.html

Here are some of his relevant comments/ answers:



> ok to answer a few of the questions here, i dont think the ant colony is instrumental at all and i see other arthropods climbing around much more often than the ants....i am not worried about the ants taking over, because this species is not very aggressive and seems to like the fruit the best, but time will tell...it would be interesting to see a switch from top predator of frog to ant colony...


Most of the discussion about ants is on the first 3-4 pages or so.


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