Meadow Plankton

[RichFrye]

I was wondering if anyone out there had any good/bad experiences with meadow plankton. I am a bit fearful of bringing something into a viv that is unhealthy.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,


Rich
http://www.fryebrothersfrogs.com

[The Haj]

I have never had enough nerve to do this. My luck I would introduce something bad into my viv.

[DartFrog]

I have read about this but dont really know much about it. What is the risk of it? Where do you get it?

[RichFrye]

Meadow plankton is another word for field sweepings.
Sorry about the thread mis-spelling. Typed too fast.

Rich

[DartFrog]

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/s ... adow-12111

For those who dont know what this is this is a good explanation. It is the first question on the page.

[Rih]

I would advise against it, since the frogs aren't native to this area, and those bugs which are caught might be contaminated with pesticides or other chemicals which can be detrimental, and possibly fatal to the frogs, if you want to introduce a food source which will procreate in the vivarium, use springtails, you can buy cultures form various places, and they do great, my galacs, tincs, and auratus love them. Also i find it makes them a lot more active as they are constantly hunting them in the tank.

[DartFrog]

Rih,

How well do the springtails reproduce in your tank? What do you have to do to get them to reproduce in the tank?

Thanks

Mike

[RichFrye]

Rih,
Yeh , that is a fear of mine as well. I do know there are "safe" fields people use (safe of pesticides).
I was looking for some input from anyone who has tried field sweeping. Looking more for good/bad critters introduced to the viv.
Thanks.

Rich

www.fryebrothersfrogs.com

[Mantellaprince20]

I will be trying my hand at field sweepings this coming spring, once the snow is gone. I am going straight to the top of a nearby mountain though, so there is no chance of contaminants. As for the bugs, I would not be fearful of anything, other than a wolf spider that may make its way in. I will definitely let you all know how it goes, and I am going to make good visual observations before dumping anything into my frog tanks.

Ed Parker

[Rih]

Springtails are easy to culture, I have a container with damp soil in it, i caught a started colony and placed them in the container, added a little food for them (gutload i believe it is) and in a week times there were thousands of them, i just held the container above the dart cage, and gently misted it, and all the springtails jumped and fell in the cage. The frogs quickly ate most of them but if you add them when the frogs are sleeping, they will burrow into the substrate, and begin multiplying and eating the deteriorating stuff in the tank. I've noticed all my frogs are much fatter since I've introduced the springtails to their cages

[RichFrye]

Rih,
Yeh, we have about twenty springtail cultures going. You need them if you are going to raise Darts. I am looking for another source of food to introduce a little nutritional variety. It would not need to come from field sweepings though.

Rich

www.fryebrothersfrogs.com

[DartFrog]

Interesting, I will look to see if I can find some online.

[Rih]

Rich,

Have you tried flour beetle larva? I had a culture that produced for over a year, its a little time consuming separating the larvae from the beetles, but they fatten up the frogs quickly, i give them as a treat to mine once or so a week, on top of their fruit flies, and springtails.

[DartFrog]

http://www.azdr.com/springtails.html

For anyone interested, I found this site for springtail cultures. It also tells about how to raise them.

Mike

[DartFrog]

Rih,

You must have the happiest frogs around, sounds like they get to eat buffet style.

[RichFrye]

Rih,
I have not tried them yet. I was told that they may be a bit large for thumbnails. What do you think?

Rich

www.fryebrothersfrogs.com

[Rih]

dartfrog


Thanks i try my best to give them a rounded diet, they are all very active so i guess they are active, and now my auratus are breeding like crazy, i have 3 clutches of eggs now . I cant wait till some more of my frogs mature.

[Rivetchick]

rih,
your frogs sound like they are in froggie heaven! do you have pics of them? thanks, ~Lauren

[Rih]

hey


Sorry for the reascent wait on my responses, i've been finishing um a room in my parents house so i can put up more tanks for my frogs, so been exceptionally busy lol.

Rich,


The flour beetle larva are about 3-5mm long, so they should be fine for adult thumbnails, the only problem is that it is time consuming separating out the larva from the adults, i good think go to is have several containers, place the adults in the container for a little while (not sure on the time frame of the larva developments) and then take out all the adults, and sift the entire batch, and wal'a you have lots of little larva, my frogs love them, and they fatten them up nicely.


Lauren,

I don't have any pictures as the digital camera had a fatal accident with my chocolate lab :oops: so hopefully i can obtain another soon, and ill take some pice and post them, if i figure out how lol


And to all, thats for the wonderful comments about my frogs


Sincerely Rih

[Philsuma]

I think Stu was asking about meadow plankton and feeder insects other than FF.....here ya go.