# Long term effects of feeding bean beatles



## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Wanted to hear from those (if any) who feed exclusively (or majority of the time) bean beatles and how long you have been feeding these. My concern is long term effects of the shells causing impaction or other digestive tract problems.

Thanks,
Robb


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Ed was just saying another post that chitin is perhaps 7 times more digestible than earlier believed. I would imagine that its probably fine


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

rmelancon said:


> Wanted to hear from those (if any) who feed exclusively (or majority of the time) bean beatles and how long you have been feeding these. My concern is long term effects of the shells causing impaction or other digestive tract problems.
> 
> Thanks,
> Robb


 
Hi Robb,

I've been feeding D. ebraccata a diet of more than 90% bean beetles for more than a year now without issues. If you look at the diets of various dendrobatids in the wild tends to be very high in a number of species that are considered to be high in chitin such as ants and other small beetles. 

Ed


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## Suzanne (Dec 28, 2008)

I've had problems with feeding bean beetles to Ph. bicolor. One of my females repeatedly had a rectal prolaps, only after feeding bean beetles. Now of course this is not scientific evidence but it did scare me off a little and I stopped feeding bean beetles altogether. No prolapses since.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Here are a couple of the reference articles Robb,

http://vsites.unb.br/ib/zoo/grcolli/publicacoes_pdf/Biavatietal2004.pdf

http://200.31.31.2/Recursos/publicaciones/Cientifica/Toft1981.pdf

JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie



I couldn't locate a free copy of this one 
SpringerLink - Oecologia, Volume 45, Number 1


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks to all for the good info.


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## John J M (Jul 30, 2021)

Unfortunately, these links seem to be outdated. Now after a decade of experience, what's the latest verdict regarding BBs and how often they can be safely fed to dart frogs? From personal experience, the frogs seem to "fatten" up on them easily. And from what chameleon breeders observe, growth rates in hatchlings seem to increase over feeding with Hydei FFs. Are they safe and what's the maximum feeding frequency?


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## Chris S (Apr 12, 2016)

I think it is generally accepted that Bean Beetles should not be a staple food source for your dart frogs.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

susandudley224 said:


> I'm also facing problems with feeding bean beetles


Could you elaborate, please?


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