Do you feed yours small snakes and such, or just insects?
Do you worry about parasites?
I've not had mine long, have not fed them anything wild caught. I could offer them wc baby snakes in the spring. But Im concerned about parasites.
No Sandra, mine are fed almost exclusively on captive raised insects, occasional mice in spring after brumation. I do feed them large moths I catch out back, the odd grasshopper etc but thats the limit of it.
Ive never been overly concerned with parasites carrid by these insects, but those carried by wild reptiles might be a different matter, since many wild reptiles small enough to be eaten by a large frog, themselves eat other reptiles and frogs.
Many wild caught reptile/frog eating herps carry a variety of parasites including skin worms. Captive raised baby snakes may be ok.
My theory (so well demonstrated by my freinds frogs), regarding any reptile, is that though they are opportunistic to a large degree in the natural state,
In captivity they do best provided a lean and regular balanced diet. Slow but adequate growth equates to a healthier animal in the long term.
Too often captive frogs and reptiles are overfed by well meaning owners
who have emotional difficulty overcoming the urge to feed them like mammals.
Reptiles and frogs require only 1/10th the food energy of mammals, meaning
overfed critters tend to develope fatty organs, be generally prone to illness, be less active and in the long term, have a much shortened life term.
Interestingly, overfed reptiles also can experience difficulty reproducing.
My freinds pair mentioned above are extrordinarily large, about the size of two clenched fists together, but it's taken a long time for them to get so large.
By comparison, Ive seen the same species at reptile shows, the same size at 2-4 yrs old! Poor things look impressive yes, pretty yes, but they just sit there like green jello barely able to move much less jump or support their weight. These are unhealthy animals that will not live anywhere near as long.
My freinds frogs are still active and still breeding! He never feeds his anything other than I do. Variety is important though.
Actually it is great to see them thriving in their native habitat.
