# Vacation Feeding



## airplanenut (May 18, 2009)

I'm headed out for a 6 day trip next week, and would like your suggestions about the best way to go about feeding my auratus (if they can't take a 6 day reprieve--they're a good weight and ~5-6 months old). My top thoughts are to:

-Put in a ton of fruit flies right before I go and figure they should last for some extra time

-Put in a producing culture of fruit flies, with the top replaced with mesh so the flies can get out, but the frogs can't jump in

Two ideas I'm not as sure about:

-Put a few feedings of flies into separate cups, and have a friend dump them in (how long will the flies live in an empty container?)

-Try to do the same as the above with termites


The lights are on a timer, and the tank is always very humid with the waterfall, so those aren't problems. 

Your thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,

Jeremy


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## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

I would feed them a little more on the days leading up to the trip and then just put a producing culture with a few small holes in it large enough for the flies to get out. I don't think you'd want to dump a ton in due to the potential stress, and where you are only looking at 5 days they should be fine without your friends help. If you do have a friend help, make it as easy as possible. I had my wife watch my tank early on, and her attempt at dusting flies gave the viv a nice wintertime look.


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## airplanenut (May 18, 2009)

Marty71 said:


> I had my wife watch my tank early on, and her attempt at dusting flies gave the viv a nice wintertime look.


I would not be instructing a friend to dust the flies


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## amphibianfreak (Jul 21, 2004)

IME, feed a bit heavier the feeding leading up to the trip, feed the day you leave/day before you leave...they'll be fine. I am leaving wednesday for thanksgiving and will return saturday, i am feeding today and tomorrow...


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

If you have leaflitter, chances are flies will be in the tank for 6 days, the frogs will just need to work for them. I just add extra springtails and feed ff just before leaving. The problem with adding a producing culture, is you have no controal on how many exit it. Frogs could get stressed.

Jeremy


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Put a slice of fruit in each viv and some extra flies the day you leave. I'm going away for 5 days soon and that's all I'll be doing.


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## qwertkb2d (Aug 14, 2007)

While all these suggestions are great, may I enquire as to how large of a tank they are in? Is there a times misting system that will be on when you leave?

I agree with everyone to feed them a few more times a day then usual leading up to vacation.

If your tank is large (18X18X24 or so) then I agree that you would be ok with putting in either a recently started culture or one starting to die off. You don't want to put a culture in there that will be going through bumper crop. If you have a mister on then I wouldn't put a culture in there, but follow Corpus suggestion of dumping in a bunch of flies then putting in a piece of fruit on a petri dish so that they congregate there.

In any case your frogs should be fine no issues. I'm leaving tomorrow for 5 days and will only be feeding just before I leave with fruit flies/springtails for the thumbnails, and a small jar culture (baby food jars)....for my tincs.

John


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

The thing you want to keep in mind is that if you put a culture in the tank, the only food that the frogs will be able to feed on is the flies that hatch out of the culture. So you'd want to start the culture a few days in advance so flies are hatching out while the culture is in the viv. With placing a fruit slice in the viv, the frogs get to pick maggots off of it within a few days.

The size of your viv was a good point also, larger enclosures with established microfauna may not need to be worried about as much.


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## boricorso (Feb 19, 2008)

This is what I do (has worked great on trips I've taken of up to 10 days).

1. Feed every other day prior to the trip.....I usually do this anyways, but the week before a trip I throw in extra flies. 100+ per serving. I also make sure to feed the day before I leave.

2. 2 days before the trip I also water my enclosures a bit more than usual. By the time my traveling day arrives I mist again heavily and usually have a few puddles or pools by then.

Humidity is not a problem for you so no worries there.

3. A few hours before leaving for my trip I dump my last group of flies, 300+ (no idea to really know how many, but I dump a lot in the enclosure).

I havnt had any problems since doing this. Honestly I cant really trust my frogs to anyone and even if I did I would rather they didnt, unless t was an emergency.

Hope this helps.


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## iljjlm (Mar 5, 2006)

I make a culture in a 16oz deli cup(the lid is the same as these 32 oz Insect cup and lid (Placon Cup) - 500 Pack - Cups, Lids, and Excelsior - Josh's Frogs) about 10 days before. When I leave I poke a couple of holes in the top and place them in the tanks. I also put a slice of orange in the tanks. For me this fruit seems to last the longest. By having the culture started already you have flies constantly being produced plus already existing flies. My frogs are always fat and happy when I get back. Usually sitting on top of the cultures ambushing the flies when they come out. I have done this with tanks as small as 10g quarantine set ups to as big as 90gal.
Dave


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## airplanenut (May 18, 2009)

Thanks for the replies, everyone! To answer some questions, I have an 18x18x24, and plenty of leaf litter and other growth (it's getting time to trim it back). 

I do have some new producing cultures, but I also like the idea of just putting some more flies in than usual, along with some fruit to keep them in one spot. I'll also dump in a good number of springtails; hopefully enough that they can do some janitorial work before getting picked off 

Thanks!

Jeremy


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Keep in mind that cultures are active producers of CO2 and if you don't have well ventilated terrarium the buildup of CO2 could be a problem for frogs that are active in the low areas of the tank. There are a couple of reports on the board where people have put active cultures into thier enclosures and returned to find a number of frogs deceased (see Index)

Ed


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## happy dart (Nov 22, 2009)

So in general, how many days could you leave a frog without any culture cups in the tank? This would be in a 10 gallon vivarium housing 1 D. leuc. I am worried about the CO2 build-up Ed was talking about, as my viv has a solid glass top.

Thanks


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

I currently have an office viv with a trio of pumilio and was away for approx. 10 days last month. All I did was toss a few pieces of banana in the tank on the leaf litter and upon returning there were both ample numbers of flies and maggots in the tank.


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## airplanenut (May 18, 2009)

Thinking about the fruit, would an apple work as well as a banana? I have a few apples at home, but finished off the bananas earlier this week (I know, how dare I eat when the food could go to the frogs/flies!)


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I use a piece of orange.. 

Ed


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