(Litoria Caerulea)
What do frogs eat?
Unfortunately for the beginner,
"frogs" can't be generalized quite like that. Frogs eat
a variety of things. Most of them eat insects and small animals,
but according to their size and other physiological traits, eat
different kinds of them. There are three primary dietic types of
animals. There are the carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Some
animals fit this description to the bill, whilst others are
classified as such but only really lean in that direction. The
Skunk for instance, is classified as a carnivore. This is mainly
due to it's mammilian relatives, the Mustilidae which include
weasels, ferrets, otter, mink etc. It will however eat
vegetables, fruits, insects and grains. It is just the technical
classification.
Now there are subcategories too. Like Frugivores, which feed primarily on fruits, or in the frogs case, Insectivores, which feed primarily on insects. Frogs have been known to eat small birds, other frogs, salamanders, lizards and much more in the wild, however they are still classified as insectivores, and should be fed accordingly. Why I picked a skunk for an example, I am still trying to figure out...
So, insects... thats
established, now what kinds of insects?
This used to actually be debated.
Sometimes, it still is, but very rarely. The bottom line as we
now know, is that the key to good health in living organisms is a
varied diet. Some animals however specialize in particular food
items as previously described, and therefore this law doesn't
necessarily apply. We have determined that the highest
nutritional value in insects accomponied by the lowest crude fat
content is in that of the House Cricket Acheta Domesticus
(sp). These small insects are available wherever reptiles are
sold. With the White's Tree Frog, we need to feed high nutrition,
low fat and therefore House Crickets are the ideal food item.
To vary the diet, you can feed the occasional mealworm, superworm, waxworm, butterworm or even more occasionally, pinky mice.
Are the crickets ready to eat right out of the bag?
No. You should place them in a relatively deep container ( to prevent escape ) and feed them on dark leefy greens and brightly colored vegetables. If you have any on had, cat food, dog food or Fluker's Cricket Feed is another good thing to add. Feed them for atleast 24 hours before adding them to your enclosure. They will get water from the food, so don't add any water unless you are trying to drown them ;)
You should also dust the crickets just prior to feeding. Purchase a vitamin dust from your local pet store or order some online and dust at every meal. Once a week, you should dust with a phosphorus free Calcium with VD3 supplement. This is particularly important in growing frogs, to ensure proper bone growth.
How many crickets will they eat?
An adult should be eating 2-4 crickets
every other night. Tadpoles, froglets and sub-adults will vary,
just watch their intake and you will get the hang of it.
Generally speaking, you will want to feed whatever they can eat
in a 15 minute period.
Size the crickets according to the width of the frogs mouth. You should not use crickets that are longer than the frogs mouth is wide. Crickets usually come in these sizes; Pinhead, 1/16 1/8 1/4 1/2 1 and adult. These fractions are fractions of an inch. Pinheads are the smallest crickets and are fed to very young froglets.