Safe list for frogs and toads?

[lokai99]

Hey all. So it's tadpole season here in AL and there are thousands and thousands of little toadlets. Would this be a food source for a tiny lil garter neonate? I know adults toads are often distasteful for animals. i wasn't sure if these newly emerged toadlets are already capable of producing those compounds. I also have a little koi pond that is home to tons of woodfrogs...are those safe snake food? Do i need to worry about these tiny toadlets and wood frogs carrying intestinal parasites? Would a freeze in the freezer for a week or two solve this problem?

[ConcinusMan]

Is your snake wild caught? I mean if it's from the area you are talking about and it's already been out there eating that stuff, then go for it. I believe that toad larvae do not secrete toxins. Wood frog tadpoles would be excellent garter food. Heck, they are easy and cheap to raise them up to little froglets too. I used to do that all the time with bullfrog and chorus frog larvae.

If your snake was captive born I'd say stay away from wild food but I've never had any health issues with wild snakes and I fed a pair of concinnus on wild frogs, larvae, and fish for nearly 20 years and never had a problem. If they had parasites they weren't doing any harm.

[guidofatherof5]

Is your snake wild caught? I mean if it's from the area you are talking about and it's already been out there eating that stuff, then go for it. I believe that toad larvae do not secrete toxins. Wood frog tadpoles would be excellent garter food. Heck, they are easy and cheap to raise them up to little froglets too. I used to do that all the time with bullfrog and chorus frog larvae.

If your snake was captive born I'd say stay away from wild food but I've never had any health issues with wild snakes and I fed a pair of concinnus on wild frogs, larvae, and fish for nearly 20 years and never had a problem. If they had parasites they weren't doing any harm.

Whether your snakes showed any signs of parasite damage or not I wouldn't recommend feeding wild frogs or toads.
A wild caught animal might eat them in the wild but when we are given responsibility of their food sources it only make sense not to re-introduce a parasite load.
There are too many safe food sources to choose from.

[lokai99]

As always good advice from my two favorite guys. As usual it makes perfect sense...it's just so darn tempting to use some of these food sources all around me. Lol if I had never gotten in to snakes i'd look at the world another way...I just walk around my property and thing ooh man there's some snake food.

[guidofatherof5]

As always good advice from my two favorite guys. As usual it makes perfect sense...it's just so darn tempting to use some of these food sources all around me. Lol if I had never gotten in to snakes i'd look at the world another way...I just walk around my property and thing ooh man there's some snake food.

I to have been tempted. I do think there is a high parasite load in the wild food stock and this is something to avoid if possible. The uses of wild food is always a gamble. I understand that sometimes certain snake won't eat anything but a wild food and given the choice between losing the snake to starvation or having to treat for parasites. I to would feed the wild food.
With that being said I feel those situations are far and few in between.
Most garter snakes have a garbage gut and aren't too picky.