Feeding Dart Frogs #

TL;DR #

Frogs: 3 days a week.
Froglets: 5-7 days a week.
Melanogaster or hydei fruit flies depending on frog size
Dust flies with calcium + d3 vitamins every feeding, vitamin A at least once a month
How to dust flies https://youtu.be/Q9PkDXLK13A?si=azksV1dVeihP2gvj

What do I feed? #

Frogs eat fruitflies and springtails (which are usually just part of the clean up crew rather than fed directly). These are available in two varieties: melanogaster, a smaller one, and hydei, a larger one. As long as the frogs are big enough to eat them, hydei is the most commonly used fruit fly in the hobby as they have more protein. Melanogaster are needed for smaller frogs and froglets, though larger frogs will happily eat them as well.

Vitamins #

Dart frogs must have supplementation for Calcium, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin A. The most common way to give these is by dusting fruit flies before feeding.

Some supplements, such as Repashy Calcium Plus, contain all of these vitamins in a single owder. Repashy Calcium Plus is considered the “Gold Standard” of supplements for dart frogs as it is simple and covers all the basics.

Other supplements, such as Rep-Cal Calcium + D3 do not contain Vitamin A, so, when using these, at least one feeding per month should be dusted with Vitamin A powder instead.

Frogs can overdose on Vitamin A, so take care not to supplement with it more than once a week when dusting with Vitamin A powder directly.

When breeding, additional Vitamin A is required. Increasing Vitamin A from once a month to 2-4 times per month when actively breeding will help keep frogs healthy. Note that Vitamin A is included in small amounts in All-in-one supplements like Repashy Calcium Plus when increasing Vitamin A supplementation.

How to remove fruit flies from cultures, how to dust them and how to feed them to dart frogs

How much? #

Hard to say, precisely. If there are still a lot of flies left in the enclosure the day of the next feeding, reduce the amount you are feeding a bit. If you can’t see any flies, increase the amount you’re feeding. If there are a few flies around, you’re feeding about the right amount.

Won’t they escape the vivarium and run over my house? #

Yeah, probably. You can place a banana slice in the vivarium to give them more reason to stay and you can place apple cider vinager fruit fly traps outside the vivarium to catch flies that do venture out.