My Adf Won't Eat!

[Oscar Betta]

One of my two ADF have already died this week because both of them have stopped eating. The one still alive is not looking that good and won't eat any bloodworms I put in front of his face. Any help?

 

[Jenste]

are bloodworms the main part of the diet?

it is actually a myth that these are appropriate for frogs - - they are fine for a treat, but not as a staple diet.

problem could be malnutrition - -try picking up HBH frog and tadpole bites - - small sinking pellets that my frogs go nuts for.

what type of tank set up is? size? tank mates?

 

[raptorrex]

are bloodworms the main part of the diet?

it is actually a myth that these are appropriate for frogs - - they are fine for a treat, but not as a staple diet.

problem could be malnutrition - -try picking up HBH frog and tadpole bites - - small sinking pellets that my frogs go nuts for.

what type of tank set up is? size? tank mates?

thats interesting. i have never heard that said before. blood worm is usually stated as a staple. could you point me to your sources?
but i know from experience that the will take most frozen fish foods. even flake can go down well.
thing seems to be, getting the food to the frogs, they are lazy eaters. often needing the food placed in front of them, just to get them to eat. i use a syringe and extension tube. though i read a lot of people use turkey basters.

 

[Jenste]

are bloodworms the main part of the diet?

it is actually a myth that these are appropriate for frogs - - they are fine for a treat, but not as a staple diet.

problem could be malnutrition - -try picking up HBH frog and tadpole bites - - small sinking pellets that my frogs go nuts for.

what type of tank set up is? size? tank mates?

thats interesting. i have never heard that said before. blood worm is usually stated as a staple. could you point me to your sources?
but i know from experience that the will take most frozen fish foods. even flake can go down well.
thing seems to be, getting the food to the frogs, they are lazy eaters. often needing the food placed in front of them, just to get them to eat. i use a syringe and extension tube. though i read a lot of people use turkey basters.

I am also a member of a dedicated frog forum - - for carnivore fish, bloodworms are acceptable to be more frequently used, but the frogs absorb nothing but fat from them. breeders will add more bloodworms into the diet right before mating to plump up the females for a better shot at eggs, but other thank that bloodworms are used as a treat only.

a specially formulated pelleted diet is much healthier for them. HBH frog and tadpole bites or ReptoMin sticks are a well rounded vitamin fortified diet for them.

I have noticed the difference in my own frogs - - from feeding heavily on bloodworms to feeding heavily on a pelleted diet - the difference is unbelievable. - plumper, healthier skin, less frequent nail breaking, solid skin shedding rather than tattered, less prone to disease etc etc the list goes on.

 

[Oscar Betta]

Yes, these have been all I've been feeding them for a while. Tank size is 20 gallons with 3 cory cats, 3 platys, and 3 dwarf gouramis as tank mates. Whenever I tried to feed them pellets they would take FOREVER to eat them if they even did. Plus the other fish will usually get them first, I had to sneak it down to them.

 

[Jenste]

yea bloodworms are not very nutritious for them....

the pellets are the best route, but you are seeing the difficulty of having them in a community tank. if you feed the HBH frog and tadpole bites, use a turkey baster to drop them right infront of the frog's face.

hopefully he will find them fast enough.

if not, do you have room any where to set up a little 5 gallon tank? if you could devote a species only tank to him he will probably recover much faster.

 

[raptorrex]

are bloodworms the main part of the diet?

it is actually a myth that these are appropriate for frogs - - they are fine for a treat, but not as a staple diet.

problem could be malnutrition - -try picking up HBH frog and tadpole bites - - small sinking pellets that my frogs go nuts for.

what type of tank set up is? size? tank mates?

thats interesting. i have never heard that said before. blood worm is usually stated as a staple. could you point me to your sources?
but i know from experience that the will take most frozen fish foods. even flake can go down well.
thing seems to be, getting the food to the frogs, they are lazy eaters. often needing the food placed in front of them, just to get them to eat. i use a syringe and extension tube. though i read a lot of people use turkey basters.

I am also a member of a dedicated frog forum - - for carnivore fish, bloodworms are acceptable to be more frequently used, but the frogs absorb nothing but fat from them. breeders will add more bloodworms into the diet right before mating to plump up the females for a better shot at eggs, but other thank that bloodworms are used as a treat only.

a specially formulated pelleted diet is much healthier for them. HBH frog and tadpole bites or ReptoMin sticks are a well rounded vitamin fortified diet for them.

I have noticed the difference in my own frogs - - from feeding heavily on bloodworms to feeding heavily on a pelleted diet - the difference is unbelievable. - plumper, healthier skin, less frequent nail breaking, solid skin shedding rather than tattered, less prone to disease etc etc the list goes on.

sorry, but i need links. mainly because i can find no corroboration, for your comments, indeed quite the opposite. i am not saying you are wrong. but i would need more evidence than "I'm a member of a dedicated frog forum, and they say".

 

[Jenste]

...


now, I am not saying that bloodworms are not acceptable for fish - - I am speaking solely for frogs. they have different dietary needs completely...

same reason fish flakes etc are not suitable at all for frogs...

here is such a link - - a new user was concerned about feeding

 

[Oscar Betta]

yea bloodworms are not very nutritious for them....

the pellets are the best route, but you are seeing the difficulty of having them in a community tank. if you feed the HBH frog and tadpole bites, use a turkey baster to drop them right infront of the frog's face.

hopefully he will find them fast enough.

if not, do you have room any where to set up a little 5 gallon tank? if you could devote a species only tank to him he will probably recover much faster.

I have a 5 gallon tank but it has a betta in it...

 

[raptorrex]

yea bloodworms are not very nutritious for them....

the pellets are the best route, but you are seeing the difficulty of having them in a community tank. if you feed the HBH frog and tadpole bites, use a turkey baster to drop them right infront of the frog's face.

hopefully he will find them fast enough.

if not, do you have room any where to set up a little 5 gallon tank? if you could devote a species only tank to him he will probably recover much faster.

I've done some very interesting reading,on this subject. and there does seem to be a, perceived, problem with blood worm. however nowhere, except on your forum, does anybody suggest its, nutrition that is the problem with blood worm. there seems to be a concern that feeding, particularly, live blood worm. can cause, or be part of the cause, Bubble frog. but thats teamed with low calcium, low osmotic pressure and poor water conditions. clealy a varied diet is good, within reason. but fly and insect lave are the frogs natural staple. and used by very many keepers with no, reported or apparent problems.

I would really love to get more information, but there is so little, out there, other than anecdotal. and that is the most unreliable kind.

even so, its very interesting. despite, ATM, there being no real evidence to back it up.

 

[Oscar Betta]

Good news, he ate a little this morning. I'm going to try to feed him some more later today.

 

[raptorrex]

Good news, he ate a little this morning. I'm going to try to feed him some more later today.

i had consistent problems with feeding. the only solution, i found was, housing frogs that would eat. this is not acceptable to all (it means some of the frogs you buy will, inevitably, die). which, for me, meant not keeping frog any more.

please don't get me wrong, I am not saying we should not keep frogs. but it does underline the problem of keeping critters we, in truth, know so little about.

I wonder if inchworm has anything to add here?

 

[Inchworm]

I wonder if inchworm has anything to add here?

I can only speak from my own experience on the matter. While I've heard members talk about having problems getting their ADFs to eat, I've never run into that problem. I seldom feed the frozen bloodworms because I don't trust them going bad in the small tank the frog is in. Instead, I give him live blackworms which they have always gobbled up. I also give some of the HBH frog bites but am never sure how many of them are actually consumed.