Is it possible to overfeed?

Shoot yes its possible to overfeed, even juveniles. They don't need, or are they use to in the wild, a constant supply of easy food. Let'em hunt. Let the excess flies disappear for a day (or two) before feeding again. The froglets will grow slower and take longer to reach breeding age, but they will also live longer. People in this hobby always say that the frogs are what's important and then the breed the crap out of them and kill them off at a young age. Its inconsistant. Think about what you want - if you want a bunch of offspring and a short lived frog then keep doing what your doing. If you want a frog that produces less and lives 10 to 20 years then give them a break between feedings. Please understand this isn't directed at you personally, but at the hobby in general. Think about what your doing and why.

I only feed my frogs twice a week, with an abundance of flies. After a couple days the flies are gone and the frogs don't eat for a day or two. They do fine, breed and everything.

Best,

Chuck

With young frogs I try and feed every other day, sometimes less often. I generally feed alot and if there are still flies running around the cage I'll hold off another day or two till they're gone. My tincts take about a year to mature, which I believe is about right. I do end up loosing the weaker froglet, but I consider that acceptable for the long term good of the hobby. I think my view is much more long term than the average hobbyist - 20 years down the line, when we can no longer get wc, I want to get the same quality in animals as we have today (if not better).

People may not think they are going to sell their offspring but Dendrobatids are really easy to keep and breed and once you have 20, 30, 40 babies hopping around that you have to feed you're going to think seriously about selling them (or at least giving them away). Many years ago I had one pair of E. tricolor produce nearly 300 babies in one season. I wasn't doing anything special - its just what they did. I couldn't give the things away - nobody wanted them. But that's another story.

For adults I feed about twice a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) but I feed in abundance (100-200+ flies/adult tinctorius, maybe more). I don't get alot of breeding, but they do breed and my frogs are far from starving - they look fine. Not as thin as most wc and not as fat as some cb. I'm looking to keep the individual frogs at least 10 years and I'd prefer 20, but haven't reached that yet. To do that you can't breed them heavily and they can't be too fat - it shortens their life. IMHO a clutch of eggs once a month is fine.

Best,

Chuck

bluetip said:

I am genuinely curious, how often do you feed your frogs and how much at a time? For frogs and froglets? What would you recommend for froglets and frogs?

I understand the point that you were trying to drive at and honestly its the first time I'm actually I've seen such a post with that kind of thinking -- and I think it's very good and logical. I've kept cichlids for the longest time and for easily bred species, young prolific breeders really "max" out. Either they get stunted or produce sub quality offsprings (in that they themselves get stunted as well).

But my sentiments are just that dart frogs are so delicate, or they seem to be portrayed from the discussions everywhere. Furthermore, because it is an endangered animal, I would feel bad about over doing either -- starving or overfeeding.

I've also read that darts have pretty fast metabolisms which is why they always have to be fed all the time, everyday. Is this a myth?

With my cichlids, I find it a good practice to feed sparingly and erratically -- probably feeding them about 3-5x a week with varying quantities.

regards,

bluetip

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