How to feed Dwarf Frogs???

[happygirl65]

Hello,
I have 3 dwarf frogs in my 55 gal community aquarium. It is moderately planted and all the inhabitants seem to get along rather well. I have noticed an incrase in the snail population so I decreased the amount of food I was feeding in hopes of controlling the population a bit....

And then I witnessed one of the dwarf frogs grab a ramshorn snail and try to jerk it out of its shell. When a cherry barb came by, the frog swam away to hide and then the chery barb started taking bites of the snail.

This all happened the day after noticing the fish fighting over some kind of grey meat that I assumed was a fish that had died...but the next morning at feeding time I was able to account for all of the fish, no deaths....then I saw a frog trying to chomp the snail.

My son said he watched it happen again today. Of course I am not sure if the snail was alive prior to the attack or not. I am just wondering if anyone else has had this experience before. Or if this is an indication that they are not getting enough food, or perhaps it is just a natural predator sort of thing.

Currently I feed flakes 1-2 times per day, a supplement of frozen brine shrimp once per week, and sinking shrimp pellets every couple of days.

I tried to feed peas a while back but not one of the fish seemed interested.

When I feed the frozen brine shrimp I drop a chunk in and it floats for a couple of minutes and the angels and tetras pick at it and then it sinks down out of sight. I am only hoping that the frogs are getting some of it but since they hide all the time it is hard to direct anything specifically for them. I have also watched them eat flakes. None of them look skinny or unhealthy so I can only assume they are getting fed enough...at least until I saw one try to eat the snail.

Any thoughts???

 

[WaterPond]

never heard of frogs eating snails!

Anyways, Brine shrimp does not have ALOT of nutrients, can you replace it with frozen bloodworms. This can make up the entire diet of the frog if need be, just feed them every other day.

 

[Zagz]

I agree feed frozen bloodworms. I used a turkey baster to feed directly in front of the frog, that way the frog gets some food. Fish go crazy over frozen bloodworms.

 

[joannde]

Agree - frozen bloodworms via turkey baster to make sure that some get to the bottom for the frogs. Dwarf frogs do not see very well at all - so they spend alot of time hunting, which means the food needs to be moving just a an inch or so away from them so that they can detect it.
Another good food is Tadpole Bites - these are teeny little soft sinking pellets specifically meant for frogs and tadpoles.
Of course, none of this helps if the food doesn't last long enough for the frogs to get to it. Make sure your frogs get a little blump after feeding so that you can be sure they've eaten. Personally, I dont think the little guys belong in a community tank - they just can't compete with the fish for food unless one is very patient with making sure they get directly fed.

 

[hc8719]

frozen, not freeze dried is all i ever fed my frogs, daily

the frogs must have been really hungry to go after a snail, they do not eat flakes at all, and even if they do, theres not enough protein to sufice for them.

 

[lovemybarbs]

I had mine for three years. I did the turkey baster thing about once a week with the frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp. Most of the time at night mine would come up to the top and I would throw in a lot of finely crumbled up freeze-dried brine shrimp or krill. He would usually get a belly full out of the corner of the tank. He was not a fan of flakes at all.

They like peaceful water, so an airstone isn't a good idea, plus it keeps the food from floating around a lot.

They will stuff themselves sick, so make sure you don't feed it too much.

 

[happygirl65]

Thanks!

Know of a good place to get frozen blood worms online? My LFS nor petsmart had any last time I went to town.

I rarely see the frogs come out for very long but they do have one particular spot where they hide so I might be able to get the baster aimed right at that cave.

Would it be a good idea to feed the other fish flakes first and then feed the frogs since they will all be fat and happy?

As for not housing them in a community....I will probably get getting a 5-12 gal in my kitchen in the next couple of months and I may transfer them in there. If I cant get them fed easily with the tukey baster.

Thanks again for all the prompt advice. I saw one eating a shrimp pelet this morning and flakes, but I too thought that they must be starving to attack a snail.

 

[MarkP]

Mine eat shrimp pellets and frozen bloodworms. I also wonder if they get the occasional shrimp, but I've never seen who eats em, so I can't really blame em.

What mine REALLY go crazy for, though, is earthworms. I buy a bucket of em at the local gas station (The ones with Live Bait! in the windows), and slice the worms up real thin with a pair of scissors. I keep the worms refridgerated. Once got a new bucket before the old was finished, forgot about the old bucket- Worm was alive months later. Bit skinny, though.

Someone will mention this is a bad idea, and that I'm risking the introduction of pollution, pesticide, and desease into my tank by doing this. They will be right.

 

[squawkbert]

Anyone trying ACF pellets (really, a general frog pellet)?http://www.xenopus.com/ sells 'em by the pound, cheap. They sink pretty fast so you can just aim a few at a frog during a flake feeding frenzy...

FFF 3/32" Floating Frog Food - Adults and Juveniles (45 % Protein) 1 Lb. $3
FFF2 3/16" Floating Frog Food - Large Size Pellets for Adults (45 % Protein) 1 Lb. $3
SFF 3/32" Sinking Frog Food - Adults and Juveniles (52 % Protein) 1 Lb. $3
TP Tadpole Powder - Makes one Gallon (54 % Protein) $3

shipping starts at $4.65/lb

 

[happygirl65]

Good news! I tried the putting some food in a jar trick. I used a baby food jar and nestled it next to the cave they lke to hide in....I put some frozen brine shrimp in there and within a few minutes all of them had visited and eaten...they would leave and come back and eat more. The other fish seemed to smell it but could not find it as it was trapped in the jar.

I will contnue my search from live or frozen bloodworms but at least for now I know they are getting something.

Thanks to all!

 

[happygirl65]

Fed again with the jar. This time a couple of the fish went in too but when two tetras went in at the same time and chsed each other around it looked like a mini food processor in there... then they both swam out and the stirred up brine shrimp floated aout of the jar a bit where the frogs were waiting and they snatched the floating bits from in front of them. Then as more and more fish started coming over ai decided to throw in a small bit up top to distract them which worked pretty well and the frogs were able to eat in peace.

 

[pairustwo]

How, exactly does this 'jar trick' work?
You submerge the jar and then add food to it? Is it on its side?

Thanks for the details. I'm trying to get my frogs to eat as well.

pairustwo

 

[happygirl65]

How, exactly does this 'jar trick' work?
You submerge the jar and then add food to it? Is it on its side?

Thanks for the details. I'm trying to get my frogs to eat as well.

pairustwo

Happy to help! I put a baby food jar without the lid...on it's side, near the area that they like to hide in. And then I put some frozen brine shrimp (that's what I have, frozen bloodworms have been suggested as better for them) in the jar. I just tuck the frozen chunk through the mouth and all the way in. As it thaws it breaks apart and settles to the bottom but stays in the jar as long as the mouth of the jar is not in a major current.

After a few minutes one of them found it and then the others did too. Once they swim in it stirs up the shrimp and then they can "see" it moving and they suck it in and chow down.

It has worked pretty well. I just leave the jar in and keep putting food inside of it.
Some of the more adventurous lemon tetra and cherry barbs have ventured in but they dont seem to like it in there at all. The frogs do get most of the food that is in there.

It also helps to put some flakes in to distract all the other fish.
I hope this helps you out! It works for my little guys so far.

 

[happygirl65]

How, exactly does this 'jar trick' work?
You submerge the jar and then add food to it? Is it on its side?

Thanks for the details. I'm trying to get my frogs to eat as well.

pairustwo

Here is a pic

 

[gu2high]

I recently bought 3 African dwarf frogs and put in my 58 gal community aquarium first. Then I wondered how and what to feed them and I relocated them in a 10 gal breeding tank. After I found they catch and eat my platy fry, I remove and put them in a newly bought 1 gal fishbowl with substrate from the 58 gal tank and 1 plastic plant for their climbing.

For feeding, I gave them frozen bloodworm first. Then I tried frozen shrimp and it works. They love it. The frozen shrimp was bought initially for human consumption and you have to cut them to small pieces to feed the frogs. I used to feed my Oscar fish the same kind of shrimp and it worked very well too.

 

[joannde]

Three frogs in a 1 gallon bowl ? they need much more room than that - will you be getting them a bigger home ?

 

[MurfQ]

Then I tried frozen shrimp and it works. They love it. The frozen shrimp was bought initially for human consumption and you have to cut them to small pieces to feed the frogs. I used to feed my Oscar fish the same kind of shrimp and it worked very well too.

Is that like the frozen cooked shrimp or is it raw stuff? Do you thaw it out before you cut it up or after? Just curious, I'm planning on getting a couple of ADFs once I get my 10 gallon set up (waiting on substrate that I ordered over the internet since what I wanted wasn't available locally). So I've been looking into various feeding options.

 

[Musket]

Thawed frozen bloodworms. My 2 adf's would come up to the top of the tank at feeding time. Took a little while for them to learn, but once they figured it out, bam.. and tey didn't hide all the time anymore either.
Good advice above, they will gordge themselves, so be careful how much you feed.
I've never seem my frogs attack snails, and they lived with a lot of them, but I did see them attack and eat ghost shrimp much larger than them.
My frogs (at the time lived with 2 baby goldies) and would fight the goldfish for their share of the bloodworms. One actually sat on a pile of them once and bite at the goldfish as it swam near to snag some. Pretty funny site.