That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

I frequently promote the use of canned insects as a means of providing a balanced, varied diet to amphibian and reptile pets…in my experience, very little is as important as this one factor. Free living reptiles and amphibians consume dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of prey species, and rarely fare well on a captive diet consisting of 2-3 types of insects.
Canned invertebrates are convenient…some people even rely on them in place of readily available insects such as crickets and mealworms.  However, their true value lies in providing us an opportunity to add difficult-to-obtain food animals to our pets’ diets.  Other canned species that are valuable in this regard include grasshoppers, snails and fresh water shrimp.

Insect traps, such as the Zoo Med Bug Napper will also assist you in adding a variety of species to your insectivorous pets’ diets.

Feeding Tongs – Plastic vs. Metal

When looking at the video, please note how hard the frog strikes the insect…this is common, and a very good reason to use Zoo Med Plastic Feeding Tongs with these ravenous little fellows.  Metal tongs, which can injure delicate mouth tissues, are best reserved for pets which feed gingerly or take large food items.

Green and Bronze Frogs as Pets

Green frogs are wonderful but over-looked terrarium pets.  The normal seasonal changes throughout most of the USA are sufficient to spark breeding, even among animals housed indoors, and their colors are quite attractive and variable.

Populations living south of the Carolinas have been classified as a distinct subspecies, and are popularly known as bronze frogs (Rana c. clamitans).  The individual pictured here is part of a group I established for a new amphibian exhibit at the Maritime Aquarium  in Connecticut.

Green frogs also do well in outdoor ponds (please see photo), but be sure to introduce tadpoles if your pond is unfenced – adults that are relocated often attempt to return to their home territories.

Video #2 – Small Frog vs. Large Finger

The second video shows a yearling green frog attempting to swallow my finger.  This animal was received as a tadpole (as was the adult, now 3 years old), mixed in with a shipment of feeder minnows.  Although amphibians are thought to operate largely upon instinct, learning, as you can see, plays a role as well… my hand should send this frog diving for cover.  Interestingly, those captive-raised frogs that I have placed into outdoor ponds quickly regain their “common sense” and become difficult to approach.

Further Reading

Please see my article Providing a Balanced Diet to Reptile and Amphibian Pets  for further information.

ReptoMin Floating Food sticks have long been recognized as a valuable dietary staple for many aquatic reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, and are used in zoos and private collections worldwide.  A new version, ReptoMin Select-A-Food, contains the original food sticks as well as freeze dried plankton and shrimp.  The size of the individual food items is geared towards smaller creatures, and each ingredient is housed in its own compartment, allowing for careful control of your pet’s food intake.

My Experience

ReptoMin Food Sticks are unique in that they form a nearly complete diet for quite a few species…the addition of freeze dried invertebrates increases the product’s value immensely.  I have used Reptomin Foods Sticks while caring for herps in the Bronx Zoo’s collection, as well as for my own pets, since its introduction, and most other professional zookeepers do the same.  Following is a brief summary of those species for which I have used it as a major component of the diet.

Amphibians

50-75% of the diet of African clawed frogs (several species) and of fire-bellied, red-spotted, California, ribbed, alpine and crested newts, among others.

80-90% of the diet of Mexican axolotls and of larvae over 1 month old.

50-75% of the diets of the larvae of numerous salamanders, including spotted, marbled, tiger and fire salamanders.

50-75% of the diets of numerous tadpoles, including American and African bullfrogs, green frogs, edible frogs, American toads, Wallace’s flying frogs, Australian bell frogs and horned frogs (several species).

Turtles

Except for live food specialists such as the mata mata, nearly every aquatic and semi-aquatic turtle relishes ReptoMin and freeze dried shrimp.  Due to the high calcium needs of growing turtles, I tend to supplement their diets quite frequently with whole fishes and crayfish as well.  I vary the percentage of ReptoMin with the species and situation, but usually rely upon it heavily.

I have used ReptoMin for 50-75% of the diets of hatchling red-eared sliders and snapping turtles, and 30-40% of the diets of spotted, painted, musk, Asian box, Bornean pond and many other turtle species.

Invertebrates

Reptomin is eagerly accepted by crayfishes, fresh water shrimp and most aquatic snails, as well as a number of terrestrial invertebrates – millipedes, roaches, snails, crickets and sow bugs.

Larger Animals

For those pets that require larger food items as they grow (i.e. the huge African clawed frog pictured here) you can offer the same basic nutrients by switching from Select-A-Food to a combination of ReptoMin Food Sticks, ReptoTreat Suprema Food Sticks (krill)  and ReptoTreat Gammarus Shrimp.

Further Reading

For a look at another very useful food item for aquatic animals, please see my article Zoo Med’s Canned Shrimp .

Those of us who keep the smaller varieties of insect-eating reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates (dwarf leaf chameleons, bark scorpions), or who raise the young of others (many newly-transformed frogs and baby lizards), are faced with great challenges when it comes to providing a balanced diet.  Many of these animals consume dozens if not hundreds of different types of invertebrates in the wild.  Yet in captivity they must get by on very limited number of commercially bred insects – pinhead crickets, fruit flies and springtails.  Although vitamin/mineral supplements help, the situation is far from ideal, especially where little-studied species are concerned.

Special Concerns

The problem is particularly acute because nutritional deficiencies suffered early in life are difficult or impossible to reverse later on…reptiles and amphibians that remain small never outgrow this dilemma.  Those of you with an interest in invertebrates may face similar concerns when you breed mantids and certain spiders and scorpions.

An Ideal Food Source for Smaller Pets

A very simple (and free!) solution to this problem lies as close as the nearest pile of decaying leaves – leaf litter invertebrates.  A vast army of tiny decomposers and scavengers – ants, slugs, millipedes, sow bugs, beetles, mites, springtails, bristletails and termites – inhabit accumulated leaves in city gardens and pristine forests alike.

Even excluding earthworms, the weight of the invertebrates in a single acre of New England forest leaf litter can top 3 tons – greatly exceeding that of all resident mammals and other vertebrates!  So how do we get at them? More on that next week.

Other Sources of Tiny Insects

The Zoo Med Bug Napper, a very effective insect trap that I rely upon throughout the warmer months, will attract tiny gnats, moths, beetles and flies along with larger insects.  These too make fine foods for your smaller pets.

For information on a simple method of gathering termites, please see my article Building a Termite Trap.

Next time I’ll explain how to harvest and use this bonanza of free food, and my unexpected find when visiting reptile collections overseas.

Further Reading

Several tiny invertebrate species can be cultivated as food.  Please see my articles on Breeding Flour Beetles  and Sow Bugs for further information.

Click: Caring for Reptiles and Amphibians: Useful Products from the Aquarium Trade – Using Frozen and other Foods for Turtles, Aquatic Salamanders and Tadpoles – Part 1 to read the first part of this article.

Frozen Foods for Tadpoles

Tetramin Staple Diet Flakes  and spirulina flakes have long been used by hobbyists and zookeepers as foods for poison frog and other tadpoles.  However, frozen tropical fish foods have been largely over-looked as regards tadpole husbandry.

I have found a number of frozen foods to be well-accepted by a wide variety of tadpoles, including most poison frogs, tomato frogs, golden bell frogs, various flying frogs and native species such as bull, green and gray tree frogs, and Fowler’s and Colorado River toads.  The consistency of frozen foods renders them very palatable to tadpoles…by utilizing a few different types, it is a simple matter to formulate a healthy diet for many species.

Suggested Frozen Foods for Tadpoles

Cichlid Vegetable Food contains a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, while Emerald Entree has spinach and other vegetables along with animal protein derived from mysids and brine shrimp.   Spirulina is always a favorite and is a fine food for nearly all tadpoles.

The tadpoles of most frog and toad species, even those described in references as “grazing upon algae”, usually consume a good deal of animal matter in the form of Daphnia and other tiny invertebrates and carrion.  I suggest you provide a mix of several foods containing both plant and animal matter to most species.  Please write in information concerning individual species that you might be interested in rearing.

Freeze Dried Foods for Tadpoles

As mentioned earlier, Tetramin Staple Diet and Spirulina flakes are tadpole-rearing standbys, and I continue to rely upon both.  For most tadpoles, I also make liberal use of freeze dried fish foods.  Many of the fresh water invertebrates favored by small fishes, and available in freeze-dried form, are consumed by tadpoles as part of their natural diets.

Be sure to offer your tadpoles a variety of these highly nutritious foods, especially Cyclops, Daphnia, and bloodworms.

Tablets and Wafers for Tadpoles

Sinking tablets and wafers are especially useful when rearing tadpoles.  They are dense enough to keep the tadpoles of bullfrogs, smoky jungle frogs, marine toads and other large frogs busy, yet are palatable to even the smallest species (I have used algae tablets for the tiny tadpoles of wood frogs and spring peepers).

I usually raise tadpoles in bare-bottomed tanks, especially where large numbers are concerned.  This eases cleaning and allows for close observations.  However, in zoo and public aquarium exhibits, I am sometimes faced with the task of rearing tadpoles on gravel or other substrates (please see photo).  In these instances I find tablet and wafer type foods to be a great help in maintaining water quality, as most of the food stays above the gravel bed.  Also, in well-planted exhibits, it is easier to keep track of how much is being consumed when using tablets as opposed to flake or frozen tadpole foods.

Recommended Tablets and Wafers

Tetramin Tablets provide both animal and vegetable matter, and are a good choice as a dietary staple for many species.  Algae Eater Chips are quite unique in containing several types of algae, and should be fed to any frog or toad tadpole that will accept them (most do so readily).  As with frozen and flake products, spirulina discs are a good basic food item for most commonly-kept tadpoles.

Many items marketed for tropical fish are of great value to reptile and amphibian enthusiasts. Please see: Caring for Reptiles and Amphibians: Useful Foods, Medications and other Products from the Aquarium Trade – Introduction and Feeding Accessories for background information and notes on other products.

Frozen Foods for Turtles

Frozen silversides, krill, beef heart, sand eels, mussels and similar foods provide a convenient means of increasing dietary variety for many reptile and amphibian pets.  They are readily accepted by nearly all aquatic turtles, including soft-shells, sliders, cooters, map turtles, snake-necks and musk turtles.

Diamondback Terrapins – Estuarine Specialists

Marine foods, such as sand eels, should not be used as a dietary staple for freshwater turtles, but rather as a supplement each 7-14 days.  However, diamondback terrapins, which inhabit estuaries and other brackish environments, should be offered mussels, krill and other such foods at most meals.

These gorgeous, variably-patterned turtles have an undeserved reputation as difficult captives.  Indeed, when kept in what is the proper manner for, let’s say, a painted turtle, a diamondback will usually fail to thrive.  However, when kept in brackish water and fed shellfish, krill, marine fishes and other natural food items, they make active, long-lived pets.

Other Salt Marsh Turtles

Snapping turtles often enter brackish environments…indeed some populations are specifically adapted to such.  I have had good success in raising snapper hatchlings on diets composed of approximately 50% marine-based organisms.

The eastern mud turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum) is another “freshwater” turtle that is often associated with estuarine environments.  In New York State, it occurs only on Long Island and Staten Island, where it is almost always found in salt marshes.  Mud turtles also fare well on a diet high in marine foods such as mussels and krill.

A Note Concerning Krill

Krill are shrimp-like creatures native to marine environments.  As such, I would normally recommend they be used in the diets of fresh water turtles on an occasional basis only (except for the estuarine species mentioned above).  However, some years ago a colleague raised a group of Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) hatchlings on a diet composed entirely of freeze dried krill and Reptomin Food Sticks.  The turtles grew quickly, matured into adults with perfectly-formed shells, and have, I believe, reproduced.

Since then, I have used frozen and freeze dried krill as a substantial part of the diet of spiny soft-shelled turtles, a number of Australian snake-necked turtle species, red-headed side-necked turtles, midland painted turtles, axolotls, tiger salamander larvae, red-spotted newts, sharp-ribbed newts, African clawed frogs and many others…with fine results in each case.  I heartily recommend that you include krill as part of the diets of your aquatic reptile and amphibian pets.

Frozen Foods for Large and Small Aquatic Salamanders

Amphiumas, mudpuppies and sirens will accept most of the aforementioned items, and newts of all types relish krill.

Beef heart was long used as a staple diet for laboratory colonies of Mexican axolotls and African clawed frogs, and countless generations were raised and bred on this food item alone.  Although I favor a more varied diet for these creatures, certainly frozen beef heart is a very useful food that should be offered regularly.

Click here to read the 2nd part of this article.