# feeding baby common frogs



## trw

my first common froglet has just left the water. up till now they have been living on chopped liver and pond plants and algea. now that it has left the water what should i feed it on. i have tried tiny mealworms, but it has shown no interest. any ideas?


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## Ron Magpie

Fruitflies? Tiny woodlice? Springtails? You can find the last two under logs and bricks in damp areas. Since they are native, you could also try using moss or leaflitter from the area they came from in their viv- all sorts of little tasties in that.


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## trw

should i move the tiny frog. at the moment it is in a 50 litre tub with the other tadpoles. there is a large tile about 12inches square above the water with some moss and half a pot on it. if i put some leaf litter on this wont all the insects jump into the water?


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## Ron Magpie

I'd be inclined to move it to a new enclosure with shallow water (in a dish) and a damp land area. If the frog can move easily in and out of the water it should be fine.


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## ipreferaflan

I would release the froglets as soon as they leave the water. Rana temporaria are much more difficult to keep in captivity than people commonly believe.
The variety and large amount of food available for a young froglet in the wild is impossible to match in captivity.


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## Tehanu

Hiya mate, 

My answer is really dependent upon your plans for these froglets, if you're raising them to keep them then the answer I'd give is totally different to if you're "helping them along" before they go back out in the wild 

Taken from my reply here;
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/amphibians/516262-common-frog-froglets-2.html



> Basically, microcrickets which are hard to supply are just not comparable to the massive abundance of various foods in the wild.
> Newly metamorphosed frogs need to feed almost constantly and it's at this point that good quality varied food with high calcium content is so important.
> 
> The longer you try to raise them through this stage the further behind wild populations they will become, possibly being stunted through insufficient food availability or with MBD as they fail to get the balanced diet they need. Ultimately they may be left unfit for survival in a new habitat.
> 
> We run a headstarting conservation project with _Rana dalmatina_, the agile frog, our observations and studies over the years have shown that metamorphs for release are given the best advantage when released just before leaving the water independently.


Best wishes
Lotte*


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## Ron Magpie

Saedcantas said:


> Hiya mate,
> 
> My answer is really dependent upon your plans for these froglets, if you're raising them to keep them then the answer I'd give is totally different to if you're "helping them along" before they go back out in the wild
> 
> Taken from my reply here;
> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/amphibians/516262-common-frog-froglets-2.html
> 
> 
> 
> Best wishes
> Lotte*


 That's really interesting! Have you got any links to the agile frog project?


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## Tehanu

Ron Magpie said:


> That's really interesting! Have you got any links to the agile frog project?


I think so too! 

There isn't masses of up to date literature, but it is proving to be a very successful project indeed 
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog: Local conservation: agile frog headstarting in 2009


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## Ron Magpie

Saedcantas said:


> I think so too!
> 
> There isn't masses of up to date literature, but it is proving to be a very successful project indeed
> Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog: Local conservation: agile frog headstarting in 2009
> 
> image


 That's fab!:2thumb: is the project going to widen the distribution area, or is it thought best to stick with the two original sites?


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## Tehanu

The plan is to at least return them to all of their historic sites and potentially to identify other regions of the island where they would thrive but may not have existed before. The greater the number of populations and individual sites, the more stable they will be


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## Ron Magpie

Saedcantas said:


> The plan is to at least return them to all of their historic sites and potentially to identify other regions of the island where they would thrive but may not have existed before. The greater the number of populations and individual sites, the more stable they will be


 That's what I would have thought- then any one disaster that strikes one site wouldn't necessarily hit the whole population. I wondered, because in the piece, only the two were mentioned. It's a really positive project, I have to say- it would be good to see the principles applied to other species.


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## Tehanu

Sorry TRW! 



Ron Magpie said:


> That's what I would have thought- then any one disaster that strikes one site wouldn't necessarily hit the whole population. I wondered, because in the piece, only the two were mentioned. It's a really positive project, I have to say- it would be good to see the principles applied to other species.


When we started, the lone population remaining was in a very sorry state, my first spring in Jersey 2007(the project was already underway at this point!) there were 8 clumps of spawn at only one site, since then we've had record year on record year. This year there were 103 clumps between two sites 

The principles are typical "Durrell"  This is exactly the type of conservation work we've always done, most obviously across the Mascarene islands currently restoring whole ecosystems;
Rebuilding reptile communities

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog : Mauritius


Lotte*


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## Ron Magpie

Saedcantas said:


> Sorry TRW!
> 
> 
> 
> When we started, the lone population remaining was in a very sorry state, my first spring in Jersey 2007(the project was already underway at this point!) there were 8 clumps of spawn at only one site, since then we've had record year on record year. This year there were 103 clumps between two sites
> 
> The principles are typical "Durrell"  This is exactly the type of conservation work we've always done, most obviously across the Mascarene islands currently restoring whole ecosystems;
> Rebuilding reptile communities
> 
> Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog : Mauritius
> 
> 
> Lotte*


Kewl :2thumb:


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## trw

Saedcantas said:


> Sorry TRW!
> 
> no worries.
> 
> When we started, the lone population remaining was in a very sorry state, my first spring in Jersey 2007(the project was already underway at this point!) there were 8 clumps of spawn at only one site, since then we've had record year on record year. This year there were 103 clumps between two sites
> 
> The principles are typical "Durrell"  This is exactly the type of conservation work we've always done, most obviously across the Mascarene islands currently restoring whole ecosystems;
> Rebuilding reptile communities
> 
> Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog : Mauritius
> 
> 
> Lotte*


this is very interesting. i am raising them to release them. i got them because we were supposed to have our pond done by now, but the pond guy never called back and my parents are being very slow about finding someone to do it. the people i got them from normally catch up all their tadpoles and release them to the local park pond. we have a tiny pond atm which is about 2 foot by 1 foot. would i be best realeasing all the tiny ones which hatch into here and giving them the oportunity to try and find a new pond. i think its illegal to release them into the park pond so dont want to do this? any ideas


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## Tehanu

trw said:


> this is very interesting. i am raising them to release them. i got them because we were supposed to have our pond done by now, but the pond guy never called back and my parents are being very slow about finding someone to do it. the people i got them from normally catch up all their tadpoles and release them to the local park pond. we have a tiny pond atm which is about 2 foot by 1 foot. would i be best realeasing all the tiny ones which hatch into here and giving them the oportunity to try and find a new pond. i think its illegal to release them into the park pond so dont want to do this? any ideas


Yup, I'd say no matter how small your little pond is, the best way to do it is release them into the pond (in batches daily if possible!) as they reach their final stages before completing metamorphosis. So ideally they should have 3 popped legs and release them just before or straight after the second front leg pops, before they begin to absorb the tail 
This way they can choose their own moment to leave the pond and disperse completely naturally, chosing their own food and path along the way 

While a lot may return to the original pond, they will instinctively disperse to a degree.
The main point being that all the hard bits (like when are they actually ready to leave the water fully? When do they start eating after that? What should they eat and how much? Where would they like to spend their time?) are chosen by the froglets themselves instead of you guessing for them


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## trw

this pond is being demolished by september, and a new 5 foot by 3 foot pod is being made. we are going to my grandmas on sunday and they have a nice pond. i saw 7 adult frogs in it a few weeks ago. we could release some into here? they live near the south downs. would it be bad to move some here, or could i pit some in our pond and some in their pond. most of the poles are toad poles and their garden has large densley planted borders which would be great for toads if i put a few pots down for hides?


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