How to Feed the Correct Size Insect to Poison Dart Frogs

The eye-catching poison dart frogs hail from the rainforest of Central and South America, where their vivid colors alert potential predators to their toxic skin. Dart frogs in the wild use instinct to choose which insects to dine on. In captivity, you must help your pet choose the right kind of food.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small insects, such as crickets
• Insect habitat or holder
• Vitamin and mineral supplement dust
• Calcium and D3 supplement for amphibians

1. Consider the size of your frog when choosing insects. Most poison dart frogs are quite small. While they can feed on larger insects, having to do so can cause unnecessary stress.

2. Choose from readily available insects at your pet supply store. This usually means crickets, but some pet owners have offered fruit flies with success. In the wild, poison dart frogs also feed on termites, spiders, centipedes, worms and ants.

3. Add variety to your frogs' diet even if their chief meal is tiny crickets. Other possibilities include small wax worms or flour beetle larvae.

4. Start by feeding very young crickets dusted with a vitamin and mineral supplement to your frog. Add the vitamin powder to the cricket habitat and shake. Alternate the general vitamin supplement dusting with a calcium and D3 supplement.

5. Experiment by occasionally offering a slightly larger insect, particularly if you own a larger species of dart frog. Determine your frog's preferences by what it does and doesn't eat.

6. Watch your frog's appetite. Although insects should be small enough for easy consumption, frogs can eat dozens of insects a day.

Tips & Warnings

• Feed adult poison dart frogs once a day. Keep food available for younger frogs that might have to feed more often.