Frogs are some of the best pets that you can have. They are known for being peaceful, docile, and joyous pets. But taking care of the frogs can be difficult. They are not very common pet species like dogs, cats, and birds. They need a different type of care and food as compared to other pets. So, a lot of people who get the frogs as a pet are not sure about how to care for them and what to feed them. Frog diets are complicated as they eat different types of food depending on their age.

A young tadpole eats differently compared to an adult frog. Their life cycle starts when they emerge from the eggs and turn into sperm-shaped tadpoles. From that form, they develop legs, shed their long tail, and become baby frogs. These baby frogs then turn into small adult frogs that start gaining weight and their size increases. With all those changes in their life cycle, they need a different type of diet that is only suitable for them for a short period. So, you need a complete guide about the dietary guidelines and food items for your pet frogs. The article below contains all the information that you may need for the frog diet, read carefully to know more.

What Do Frogs Eat In THE Wild?

Common frog species that live in the wild eat a variety of different foods including pests, small rodents, crickets, worms, locusts, and caterpillars. The tadpoles in the water eat algae-based diets such as phytoplankton. When small tadpoles start developing legs, they can eat small insects along with the normal algae-based diet and decaying matter. Once the tadpoles get out of the water, they can capture small prey to eat. After reaching adulthood in the wild, these frogs can eat a variety of other prey such as small lizards, insects, rodents, and even some birds. Some species of frogs are larger and can eat bigger prey, including small mammals. But they are rare and are only found in a few places. Most of the pet frogs that you will see in people’s houses belong to these rare species.

What To Feed Your Pet Frogs?

It depends on the species of pet frog, for example, there are smaller pet frog species that only eat a few species of insects and there are also some species of large pet frogs that can eat larger prey including birds, insects, and fish. But one thing is common, all of these frog species like to eat alive prey as compared to eating dead prey. So, it is better to feed them something alive otherwise they will starve to death before touching dead prey. In many cases, the pet frogs become comfortable with certain types of diets and they become picky and only eat those items and refuse to eat most of the other items on their diet list. That is why it is better to keep feeding them alternative types of food items so that they won’t become picky.

Feeding Baby Frogs:

As mentioned in the paragraphs above, baby frogs or tadpoles have different dietary requirements. They not only need a different type of food, but they also have different time requirements, and medium requirements when it comes to the food. For example, tadpoles live in the water, and they need food to be available in the water source or medium. But as these tadpoles grow, and their tails shrink, they develop small legs and can move out of the water for a short time. During this time, they need a different type of diet and in a different medium (soil or ground.). Not only that, your tadpoles or baby frogs will need to be fed more often as compared to the full-grown adult frogs who can survive without food for about a week.

These young frogs can only live without food for about 12 hours. Also, make sure that you put enough food in their tank so that they can keep eating for the next few hours. There are a few guidelines for feeding the baby frogs that you must follow to avoid choking and any other feeding-related problems. Make sure that you are feeding smaller prey to the baby frogs that they can easily capture and swallow. If you put larger prey in their tank, they could choke on that and develop digestion-related issues. That is why you have to be very careful when deciding about the size of the prey for your baby frogs.

Feeding Adult Frogs:

Feeding an adult frog is easier as compared to a baby frog as they can eat a variety of foods and you can feed them according to a specific schedule. You should start feeding your adult frogs insects, larvae, small mammals, and small birds. Apart from this, there are a few other items as well that you can feed them such as processed meat, shrimps, dragonflies, and small fish species such as minnows. There are no restrictions on medium, you can provide them food in water and on the ground. But you will have to make sure that you are feeding alive prey to your frogs.

Along with the frog diet, you will also have to include supplements, and vitamins in their food to make sure that they get a balanced diet. You will have to make a schedule for feeding your adult frogs. It is important to make sure that you do not overfeed or starve your frogs. For that purpose, the schedule is very important and you should stick to it. You will also have to make sure that you do not feed anything to your frog that is bigger than it can put in its mouth. But feeding very small prey to a very large frog is also not a feasible solution as you will have to feed them a lot of insects. So, make sure that the diet is varied and contains both smaller insects and larger prey.

Here is a list of the things that you can feed to your frogs:

Food Items	Baby Frogs	Adult Frogs
Ants, Aphids	Yes	Yes
Bloodworms, Butterflies,	Yes	Yes
Cockroaches, Crickets	Yes	Yes
Earthworms,	Yes	Yes
Flies, Baby Frogs	Yes	Yes
Goldfish, Guppies	Yes	Yes
Beetles, Ladybugs, Locusts	Yes	Yes
Shrimps, Snails	Yes	Yes
Small – Mice, Bats, Cicadas, Mammals, Snakes, Turtles.	No	Yes
Vegetables, Human Food, Fruits.	No	No

How Much And When To Feed?

It is one of the most important things that a frog pet owner has to know when to feed and how much to feed. You can answer the when to feed answer by creating a diet schedule, based on the age of your frog. But how much to feed your frog is a question that requires deeper research. It depends on the species of frog as there are a lot of pet frog species and each one has different needs. There are small frog species that eat a small portion of their size and weight. Then there are species of frogs that eat a lot of food as they are large and require more food.

So, to answer that question correctly, you should check the size, and weight of your frog. Make sure that you feed it according to that. Smaller frogs that only grow a few inches, need a few crickets, or worms to survive for the day. But the larger frogs need bigger prey but they feed less often as compared to the smaller frogs. Also, the larger frogs can survive for a long time without food as compared to the smaller frogs who quickly die of hunger if you are not providing them food regularly.

What You Should Not Feed Your Frog?

There are a lot of things that you cannot feed your pet frogs, these include some human food items, vegetables, fruits, dead prey, raw meat, and some other food items that are a common part of many carnivorous species. Also, you cannot feed them a dog or cat food, or prey that is larger. Frogs can’t swallow large prey, especially the ones that are bigger than their face of the frogs. So, make sure that you do not put anything too big in their vivarium. Also, you should not feed anything that might contain bacteria or viruses as that can lead to severe health issues in the captive frogs.

Vitamins and Supplements For Frogs

Frogs that are kept in captivity no longer have access to their natural habitat, or diet. The diet we provide them contains most of the vitamins and necessary supplements. But there are some supplements that you may have to provide them additionally. These supplements include calcium, vitamin A, and D. All of these are very important for the normal development of frogs. Vitamin D and calcium help in the formation of strong bones, so if you do not feed these supplements to your frog, they will suffer from low bone density-related health issues. So, make sure that you get appropriate vitamins and supplements that you can feed your frogs.

How To Provide Water To Your Frogs?

It is also important to provide water to the frogs in your vivarium. A lot of experts agree on creating a habitat setup that combines both land and aquatic conditions. For that purpose, you will need a larger tank. You will have to fill that tank in a way that contains an uneven substrate layer. So, a part of your vivarium will be underwater, which is perfect for both tadpoles and adult frogs, and there will be land-based habitats in the rest of the vivarium. These types of conditions will help you provide the water to your frog. Also, when you put lights in such a container, they will heat the setup, and water will turn into vapors, increasing the humidity. Frogs can absorb water through their skin using humid conditions. So, it is also a way of providing them with the water that they need.

How Long Can A Frog Survive Without Food And Water?

Frogs have the ability to survive without food and water for a few days, you shouldn’t let your frogs starve as they can die. So, it is better to keep feeding them according to the schedule. It is better to feed baby frogs twice a day, keeping them hungry for more than 12 would impact their health. So, make sure that you feed them accordingly. Some small frogs may survive 24 to 48 hours without food and water but they will be very weak. Larger frogs however can survive without food for even longer. But keeping them hungry would impact badly on their health. It can cause severe physical health issues, and stress as well. So, it is better to keep them well-fed according to the schedule. If you are going out of your house for a few days, make sure that you ask someone to feed your frogs.

Conclusion:

Feeding pet frogs is something that is a very important part of taking care of pet frogs. So, the frog owners need to learn about it and plan for it beforehand. If you are not feeding your frogs properly, it would negatively impact their health, and can even kill them. To avoid this, you should make sure that you are aware of every aspect of their diet. For example, there are a lot of types of insects, worms, birds, and fish species that these pet frogs eat. You just need to make sure that you feed them according to the timetable, and dietary guidelines that are given above.

FAQs:

Question: Can you feed human food leftovers to frogs?

Answer: No, you cannot feed human food leftovers to the frogs. They do not like eating anything deadly or not moving. So, make sure that you are feeding them a healthy, and healthy diet.

Question: How do frogs drink water?

Answer: Frogs are different from humans, and most other animals when it comes to drinking water. They do not use their mouths to drink water even though they sometimes live submerged in the water. Instead, the adult frogs absorb water using their skin.

Question: Do frogs eat vegetables?

Answer: Frogs do not eat vegetables of any type. The tadpoles and baby frogs do eat phytoplankton and algae but once they age out of this phase, they become carnivores and no longer eat any type of algae-based or vegetable-related food.