# Frogs & Toads > Dart Frogs (Dendrobatidae) >  How much to feed my frog?

## awelcome

I unfortunately don't know how old she is... I have had her for a week, and got her from PetCo, but I don't think they knew much about them.  Anyway, I am terrible at judging size, but I would say she's kind of big judging by the research I did on her species.  She is a Cobalt tinc and if I were to compare her to an object I would say her body would fill out most of a regular spoon... 

Anyway, my question has to do with how much to feed her.  She eats really well.  I will give her quite a few flies in the morning (she's sitting there waiting) and she's pretty quick to catch most of the ones I put in right away and then will hunt and eat all day as long as she finds them.  I just redid her enclosure and her feeding space is better so fewer can immediately hide so today especially she did really well cleaning them out in like 10 minutes tops and though there are probably a few lurking around in there she hasn't found them, though she's searched around much of the day.  I decided to give her a few more (like 10-15) and she quickly gobbled those up too and is still looking.  It's hard to count the buggers, but I would say I probably put upwards of 40 in there this morning or close to it.  Maybe even more.... 

She had a pretty big poop earlier, and it looked nicely formed (at least I think so based on what I read).  It was semi firm and in a sausage type shape.  Anyway.... I just wondered if I should feed her when she's looking like that all day or just wait til the next day?  I don't know if you can actually overfeed a frog.  I don't know enough about frogs to say if she's skinny or not... I would say she's already a bit fatter than when I got her, but I got super lucky in that she has eaten well since the day we got her even though I knew nothing about them and was following less than great advice from the pet store.  I also dust every day in an alternating pattern with rep-cal Calcium + D and rep-cal Multivitamin.

Thanks for the help.

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## awelcome

Sorry for the bump, just hoping someone knew the answer.

As usual, she was waiting for me to feed her, and since I bought a second culture last night to be able to alternate and allow them to produce more between feedings because she was emptying it quicker than I wanted and the second one was so overrun with flies having sat on the shelf for however long I gave her a generous amount (I'd say around 60) and she gobbled them up in no time.

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## Paul

Not sure if cobalts are different than other Darts, but I have read (and this is how i feed mine). I offer them 20 - 30 flies each once a day. If there is a surplus of flies in the tank the next day I feed less, but I always offer fresh flies with supplements dusted on them. If they devour all I give them than I will give them a bit more the next day.

Some frogs are prone to overeating. I don't see the harm in seeing what her limits are, but if it looks like she is a bottomless pit than you will have to regulate her some. Keep in mind she may have been starving at the pet store and is trying to recover from that so offer her plenty of supplement dusted flies for a bit.

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## awelcome

yeah, that's what I was thinking... maybe she's making up for improper feeding at the store.  Do you think I should put any more in there though.... even if she was making up for it.  I at least counted her eating 45ish right away, and there were probably like I said around 60 in there this morning.  She's probably hunted the rest down by now or nearly.

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## Paul

I wouldn't feed her more right now. Keep doing what you're doing in the morning though. 

My mantellas can each eat 50+ flies at a time. So roughly 250 flies between the 5 of them lol (no I don't count I just add flies till I go.... Wow that's a lot lol)

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## Lynn

Didn't we discussed feeding very specifically in another thread? 
In the "odd behavior thread" ? Maybe not ?

Paul has you covered  :Smile:

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## awelcome

counted her eating 65 in less than 10 minutes this morning, and then stopped counting but she was picking off a few stragglers.  Only a few scattered that she will likely find today.

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## awelcome

Lynn, sorry I had to go back and look at that thread.  We did discuss feeding a bit, but it was more to do with behavior of feeding and whether she was missing or not because I was seeing her flick her tongue out a lot at what seemed like nothing.

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## Paul

65! Wow she has a good apatite! How long is she from snout to vent?

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## awelcome

you know... I really have no idea.  I really am bad at judging size, but I would guess she's almost as long as my thumb so between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 inches.

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## Paul

She might benefit from some D. Hydie fruit flies. They are a bit bigger. Tough to tell without seeing her size in reference.

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## awelcome

actually... she just came close to glass again and I held up ruler... I am going to say more on the side of 1 1/4 - 1 1/2.

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## Paul

Ok. From what little I know about cobalts, they can range from 1.5" - 2.5" when fully grown. 

1.5 is prob to small for the bigger flies. She is just a little piggy  :Wink:

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## awelcome

for sure... if I had put more I am certain she would eat them.  I feel like I need to regulate her at least somewhat or she'd become obese lol.  Though from the pics I posted do you think she LOOKS like she eats that much?  I don't know how to tell if a frog looks skinny or not yet.

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## awelcome

I hope she doesn't get TOO big... since I have that smaller tank for her.  I am cursing that pet store employee even more now... because I honestly have no idea how far down the road I will be able to upgrade it.  Grr....

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## Paul

With her being alone she should be ok in there for a bit in that tank. You will want to upgrade her to a bigger home in probably 4 - 6 months. The good news is you can then use this tank to grow plant clippings from you pruning  :Smile: 

You will want at least 10g of room for her. Personally I would get her a 18x18x24 Eco terra  :Smile: 

When frogs get "fat" they get rolls of skin above thief shoulders and around their "ears" just keep doing what you are doing and she will be perfect  :Wink:

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## awelcome

sadly there is no way I will be able to upgrade in that time frame.... lot of home repairs coming up, and then we're planning a trip to Disney for the kids, and just regular life.  I have already spent SO much to get where I am at just because there is so much, and because I had such bad initial advice and had things I don't need.  So even if I could find a cheaper tank, I'd have to get more of some of the other things again, which adds up.  So she'll have to be ok as is for probably a long time.  I'm talking like a LEAST a year if not longer.  Because the more I think about it I would have to rebuy quite a few things.... especially if I wanted to keep that one semi-set up as a quarantine or whatever I use it for later.  I'd need new ground cover, new plants, new wood, new background, etc.... this is not a cheap hobby lol.

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## Paul

Yes it can be pricey. Just keep an eye on her she will let you know if she is stressed. You are doing a fantastic job. She is a very lucky frog!

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## awelcome

I have a feeling as long as I dump in flies for her, she'll be pretty satisfied even without the extra space.... heck if she gets too fat she probably won't WANT to move around rofl.

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## Paul

Lol win win  :Smile:

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## Carlos

Recommend get couple _D. hydei_ cultures started right away.  When cultures start producing is when you seed a new one with maybe 50 flies.  If those are too big; there's a strain called _D. hydei_ "Gold" that are a bit smaller than black ones  :Smile:  .

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