what to feed my little rescued tree frog

[porcupine69]

hi, im new to the forum and in the last week i have been getting trucks coming from florida delivering mulch and inside or stuck to the side of the mulch are these treefrogs so i caught them and brought them home i live in northern ohio and these frogs will die if i release them so i have a 40 gallon aquarium i am not using so i put some untreated topsoil in the bottom with some foliage and put them in there 2 are decent sized but i have a really tiny guy and not sure if he is eating or not. ive tried alot of things they seem to really like fireflys and they are easy to catch in the evening!the others have been eating quite well but i havnt seen my little guy eat yet its coming up on a week and i am a bit worried . any suggestions? upon reading the threads ive seen so far i am going to get some of the calcium powder and i believe i have located a place to get crickets but how often and how much should i feed them?thanks for any help or tips u could give me

[Bolisnide]

any pics? if we know what species you have, that will help with care suggestions....
and, I think fireflies are poisonous? I would resource some crickets and discontinue the fireflies, but I'm sure someone else will have a more educated opinion on that.

[BlueKiwiOca]

Sounds like you're not doing too badly I'm not very experienced, but maybe I can help you out until an expert comes along.. Can you post a picture of your frogs so someone can figure out what species they are?

From what I've heard on the forum, you'll probably want to cover your topsoil substrate with coco-fiber or Bed-A-Beast. I don't think treefrogs are particularly aggressive feeders, but if they accidentally eat too much of the soil it could block them up on the insides and cause a nasty thing called impaction.

How big is your little guy? If he's too much smaller than the other frogs, he might accidentally be eaten by them. Tree frogs have a tendency to be cannibalistic, so you'll want to keep a really close eye on that.

If the little frog is really small, you can feed him pinhead crickets or wingless fruit flies. Mealie worms are a big no-no, because they're high in fat and low in nutrients, and their exo-skeleton can cause that nasty impaction I mentioned earlier. If the little guy is growing, I think you'll want to dust lightly with calcium every second feed, and with multivitamin once? a week.

I have only dealt with juvenile froggies, so I don't really know how much to feed adults, but I believe a lot of people feed them every second or third day, and they can go up to a week? without food... although we don't want that to happen. I feed my juvenile frogs every second day, but sometimes two days in a row if they're looking very hungry.

One possible reason for the little guy not eating is stress.. I imagine riding in mulch wasn't very fun so keep an eye on him, don't handle him, and cover at least three sides of the aquarium/ tank... it makes them feel more secure

Good luck with your frogs, and welcome to the Forum!

*EDIT: Definitely discontinue with the fireflies.. I know they're convenient, but Wikipedia says; "Most fireflies are quite distasteful to and sometimes poisonous to vertebrate predators. This is due at least in part to a group of steroid pyrones known as lucibufagins (LBGs), which are similar to cardiotonicbufadienolides found in some poisonous toads.

[porcupine69]

thanks for all the info im sorry i didnt mention the breed but they are american green tree frogs i have just got another one today and he is so tiny i will deff have to add some more plants and ill stop the fireflys going to pet store tomm and will keep them well fed to try to avoid my little guy getn ate that would be so sad but thanks a ton and thanks for the warm welcome

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Gabby has you pretty well covered.
But for now I wouldn't have them in a full tank just yet.
I would use a small plastic bin with a moist paper towel substrate.
and sperate them.

The rule of thumb for feeding is food no bigger than the space in between the frogs eyes.