[Guest]

I supplemented my juvie luecs this morning, and as I watched them spit out the dusted flies I began to wonder. I wondered if I could find a way to coat the flies just enough to get the goods to the frogs without the frogs spitting out their food.

And then a fly fell into a pool...and came out clean. So...my next question is...what if we mix a little bit of vitamin and calcium into the water that the frogs soak in, just enough so that it is barely staying in solution.

It is well known that amphibians can absorb toxins and other macrobiomolecules through their skin. Obviously even their medicines are topical. If the frogs could absorb the vitamins as well:
A) would they absorb enough?
B) Would the vitamins, as presented in the supplement, be effective by entering the blood stream, or must they first be broken by the frog's digestive enzymes?
C) Is this a stupid question and should I get back to doing things the way they've always been done?

I know there are some scholarly types lurking around here, and if you know one, please forward these questions.

Lydia

 

[Guest]

this is actually a very good question. I think that you may get some good discussion out of this! Unfotunately i dont have enough knowledge to actively participate in the conversation. my frogs have never spit anything out before, they eat anything that moves, so i have never considered a different method of supplementing. could it be that the food was just a little too big? if they are juvies, they may not take the bigger flies. I know my frogs would not eat hydei untill they were about 6 months out of the water....

 

[Guest]

That's a good thought, idea. However one of my leucs just started calling yesterday, and I had never seen them spit anything out either--unless it is dusted. Even if they spit the fly out, they still get some of the supplement stuck to their mouths. I watched one spit out three dusted flies before it gave up.

But if I can find a less distasteful (not to mention more low-level constant instead of spiking) way of supplementing them, naturally I would prefer it.

 

[mindcrash]

Have you tried using any other supplements? It could just be the taste of that brand.

 

[bbrock]

I think this is a great question but my feeling is that we barely have a handle on proper supplementation using dusted insects. Even still we have a long way to go but at least most people seem to be able to have a successful regimine with dusting. Adding supplements to the water brings up all of the questions that you asked. I just think dosing would be next to impossible. Plus, many vitamins are highly reactive so I would bet that many of the supplements would become quickly chemically altered. Just too many places for error in my book. But of course soaks have been proven effective for the treatment of nutrient disorders. Hypocalcemia, for example, can be successfully treated by soaking frogs in calcium gluconate.