Frogs/Toads

[channa]

Does anybody feed frogs and or toads? Are toads poisonous to them as i know toads have poison glands behind the head. Im fine with keeping mine off of them just interesting to know if anybody does/dosen't/views on it.

[d_virginiana]

It's better not to. In the wild they would eat frogs and toads, but most frogs/toads you would catch have parasites.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

It's unnecessary as they get all they need from Fish,worms,slugs and rodents and problem feeders can be convinced to start eating again by a live fish or worm.

[Steveo]

I would if I had a safe, inexpensive source, but that'll never happen.

[ConcinusMan]

It's better not to. In the wild they would eat frogs and toads, but most frogs/toads you would catch have parasites.

Not only that but garters are generally only immune to newt/toad toxins if the snakes and the newts/toads are from the same area and evolved together. A snake population that exists in a location without newts and toads often has no, or limited immunity. Immunity and toxicity of the animals will vary from location to location too.

Just consider that if you're talking about toxic food, it should only come from the same place your snake is from and wild amphibians are the intermediate host for a myriad of harmful parasites. With that said, freezing them at very cold temperatures (0-10 F) will kill most, if not all of the parasites. However, WC amphibians can also a source of heavy metals and other pollutants, particularly large frogs (such as pollution tolerant American Bullfrogs) that feed on other vertebrates.

I have collected tree frog eggs before and raised them indoors and used the captive hatched and raised tadpoles and froglets though. They're great for getting non-feeding babies to start eating and they're easy to raise on flake fish food. I would say if you captive hatch the eggs and raise them up they're safe. Bullfrogs can go from tiny egg to 2-inch tadpole in as little as 50 days. They'll get even bigger if you keep them cool and oxygenate the water well. That also delays their transformation into adults for up to 3 years. Way easier than trying to raise fish if you ask me, so if you find egg masses in early spring, give it a try. All you need is basically a bucket of water and flake food.

[d_virginiana]

I have firsthand experience with that. I fed Houdini a mouse that I had just offered to my frog once. Even rinsed it off first. Only time he's ever regurgitated anything.
The frog is a pacman frog from South America. They aren't known to be toxic, but if they're eaten by a snake that didn't evolve alongside them they can be.

[chris-uk]

If you're thinking about collecting wild amphibians in the UK just check whether they are a protected species. I'm not an expert, but when I mentioned the principle of collecting wild tadpoles to an amphib keeper he told me that all our frogs are protected.

Raising them from spawn should mitigate the risk of parasites.

[Selkielass]

Listened to a podcast (Alabama hero radio )I interview with the lady who is Guardian reptile. She breeds eastern hognose snakes that are fussy frog and toad eaters. She said she feeds frozen and thawed frogs, but she didn't say anything about her supplier.

Does anyone here know her well enough to ask?

[Ruth]

If you're thinking about collecting wild amphibians in the UK just check whether they are a protected species. I'm not an expert, but when I mentioned the principle of collecting wild tadpoles to an amphib keeper he told me that

all our frogs are protected.

Raising them from spawn should mitigate the risk of parasites.

Really, I had no idea and go out to catch frog spawn most years for the kids to watch grow.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

temporaria are protected against killing and trade of WC animals.You can collect and breed and sell the offspring but you have to prove they are CB. Same goes for every Uk native herp besides Smooth snake,Natterjack toad and one of the newt sp but I can't remember it's name.