# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  keeping froglets

## vivaboy76

hi all,

Anyone had experience keeping froglets to adult frog.......

what kind of food- other than ants, fruit flies?????

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## Xylomelum

Its good to supliment all foods with calcium as they use heaps when growing
other foods, House flies, Moths(silkworms), cocroaches, spring tails, dragonflies, cicadas, spiders, baby mice
basically anything that moves and will fit in their mouth, that isnt poisonous and wont fight back to much.
Xylo

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## doofie22

i remember in my grandma's kampong, the froglets are really cute... but when they're big.... its kinda gross... lol

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## RonWill

> what kind of food- other than ants, fruit flies?????


 Hang a banana peel inside their tank to attract fruit flies and let the froglets snack on them... own target, own timing, carry on!!  :Grin: 

If you want a more consistent supply of pin-heads (baby crickets), start a breeding colony and you'll get more than you need in 2 weeks. The larger black crickets seem to lay much more than regular brown crickets. Ditto for meal worms, which is faster and more productive than superworms.

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## vivaboy76

> Hang a banana peel inside their tank to attract fruit flies and let the froglets snack on them... own target, own timing, carry on!! 
> 
> If you want a more consistent supply of pin-heads (baby crickets), start a breeding colony and you'll get more than you need in 2 weeks. The larger black crickets seem to lay much more than regular brown crickets. Ditto for meal worms, which is faster and more productive than superworms.


 
thanks for the valuable info. but keeping cricket colony is a real hassle i prefer having cutivating mealworm.

How abt bananaworm or microworm??

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## RonWill

> ...but keeping cricket colony is a real hassle


 Let's put it this way. So long as you're keeping something that's alive; be it an amphibian, reptile, fish or bird, there's the accompanying 'hassle' of husbandry and providing a varied diet.

Maintaining a cricket breeding box isn't as impossible as it sounds. Just so you know I'm speaking from between my ears and not my butt crack, here's an image of newly hatched and day-old brown cricket nymphs. [between 500-800 in this clump...]


Taking their first drink from a quenched tissue.


...and 2 week old juvenile enjoying their vege scraps.


Microworms might be ok for tadpoles but I don't think froglets will be interested in such super tiny food and I have no experience with bananaworms... yet.

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## vivaboy76

wow thats great to see such tiny guys......do u sell them??? my tadpoles will froglets in mid april...

correct me if i am wrong.....cricket eggs need heat to hatch....if so are u using spotlight?

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## RonWill

Hmm... how to say this without getting into trouble...  :Roll Eyes: 

I started the cricket breeding box (aka cricket bin) in anticipation of "something" to hatch but unfortunately, all those eggs in incubation were not viable. If things went well and I needed to feed these "baby somethings", the pin-heads (cricket babies/nymphs) will make a fine starter food.

[Did I mentioned that if you plan to go into breeding, one must be prepared to feed the little ones. If not, better don't breed and watch the babies die of hunger because you failed to plan in advance]

Having said that, I have not considered selling live insect feeds (pin-heads, baby/adult crickets, worms or other bugs) and I really don't know how to price them. In honesty, how much is a hobbyist willing to pay for, say, a film-canister's worth of pin-heads??? Include the 'obligatory' price-haggling, that would make life too difficult and please.... don't ask me to count or ask how many are there in one canister!!  :Shocked:  *1, 2, [email protected] I squished one, 3, 4, &%^@!! some dropped on the floor, 5, 6, aaaarrrggghhh!!!! throw it all out the window!!* It's almost like counting daphnia... well, you get the picture.

I am, however, open to trading/swapping if the species intrigue me (some things are better not mentioned in public, so PM me). Your best bet is to do your share of online research and kick-start a bin of your own. Google is your friend and so is Youtube. Search with "cricket breeding" and you'll be surprised how much there is to learn. Post here when in doubt and if (a big IF) I'm inspired by your determination. I might start a thread on how things were done, what to feed, how to maintain, method of harvest, control mess and smell, etc.

It may sound like I'm keeping my distance but don't take it the wrong way. In the past, I've given out lots of live cultures (for fishes) but it was a painful realization that not many hobbyists will bother to keep them alive, re-sub or distribute their extras as I had planned... a total waste of time and effort, IMHO.

Your froglets are due in mid April. Now is a good time to get off the fence and start something and you can reap your harvest then.

PS: I appreciate reading well written threads and I am occasionally long-winded, but will also cheerfully ignore all posts with broken engrrish and SMS lingo (so please, accept my humble suggestion to edit your earlier posts  :Grin: ). I'll hang around, if I'm needed.

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## vivaboy76

ok thanks alot for the valuable info.......i will try ................but one thing....do i need heat element to hatch??

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## RonWill

No heat tape, no bulbs & nothing that emits heat. All you need is to monitor the humidity level and minimize the hatching media from drying out. The eggs will hatch between 7 to 14 days, depending on the ambient or storage/incubation temperature.

For starters, here's what my bin looks like (with ventilated lid) before I introduce the breeder crix...


Nothing fancy and no Phd required. An ample sized toyogo (or similar type) box, cardboard egg crates, a container of damp coco-peat or compost (from the nurseries) and a water source. You don't see many crickets in the pic since they're all hiding. There's a band of grease near the top, to minimize 'jail breaks'.


Try it and get back to me.

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## vivaboy76

thanks alot..appreciateyour time...but what do u mean by media not drying up

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## RonWill

"Not drying up" means exactly that. Do what you can to keep it damp/moist without media going soggy. It's easier to explain once you've read enough or already have everything in hand.

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## FuEl

You can buy pinhead crickets from a commercial farm. PM if if you wish to have the contact.

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## limz_777

nice info ronnie ,whats is inside the right egg tray ?

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## RonWill

> nice info ronnie ,whats is inside the right egg tray ?


 I couldn't fit a whole uncut crate into the plastic bin, so I cut, stack & rearrange as needed, to maximize the crate's surface area. On the top of the right stack, there's a smaller piece of plastic egg crate to hold damp food, eg. vege scraps, peels, etc.

If you're referring to that brown tray (right side of both crates), then it's just damp coco peat for the female crickets to lay their eggs.

Was that what you wanted to know?

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## limz_777

what sort of vege scraps ? i see apple slice , and the round ball like stuff is ?

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## RonWill

IIRC, those are cabbage, sweet potato peels/ends and leftover cooked brown rice. I was experimenting to see what appeals to the bugs more  :Laughing: 




> ...and the round ball like stuff is ?


 HAHAHA!!! Those cannot be eaten... expanded clay pellets lah. I had some between egg crates, increasing the space to allow better ventilation, thinking that more space = more air = less casualties. Found out later that it wasn't necessary because I have a huge opening on the lid.  :Grin: 

BTW, Lim, do you have a cricket bin or thinking of starting? If you have better harvest than I, must share share.

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## limz_777

I have problems keeping them alive  :Laughing: , used to buy quite often last time
and of course the sound produced not really my cup
of tea :Grin: , Might try one if i get hold of a end_user, do you notice any cannibalism?

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## Archduke

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum, so I cant PM. 
Anyway, I'm currently looking for cricket nymphs or juvs to feed my pets. I have called up a few fish shops but they mentioned that they do not supply them. I'm looking for a steady supply of them if possible.

Cheers,
Mark

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## felix_fx2

Hi mark. 
Please try polyart or c328.
Polyart is 24/7.

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## Archduke

> Hi mark. 
> Please try polyart or c328.
> Polyart is 24/7.



Hi Felix,

Thanks for the speedy reply.

Cheers,
Mark

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## David Moses Heng

You may want to try New Katong Aquarium. They have a ready supply of pinheads. I always get my supply from them. Just call them to order in advance.

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## Archduke

Hi Felix,

I've went down to the clementi aquariums around block 328 at Clementi Ave 2. They do sell crickets of various sizes, I tried getting a box of them home (the smallest i can find) but i was hoping to get somewhat more of those nymph sized crickets shown earlier in this thread. I've asked the shop owners by they told me that was the "standard size" My pets are about 1cm long and i think they are having trouble eating the crickets i bought. Any advice on where to get even smaller crickets?

Hi Altum_lover76,

Thansk for the contacts. I've tried to call them but my chinese isnt the best and they couldnt really understand me. Have you had experience getting the really tiny ones, say about 5mm in size?

Cheers,
Mark

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## felix_fx2

Mark, ever try to breed some mealworm? Not too sure if froglets will eat them but my flowerhorn eat.

Crickets are brought in when they reach a certain size. That is why lfs only had such sizes.

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## David Moses Heng

Hi Mark, so far, the crickets that i get from Uncle Chong fits into the mouth of my 4 line froglets and mudskippers without much problems.

Hope this helps.

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## RonWill

> My pets are about 1cm long and i think they are having trouble eating the crickets i bought. Any advice on where to get even smaller crickets?


 One possible alternative should be soft-shelled roaches, commonly called 'ong lai ku'. This is what some song-bird keepers feed to their omnivorous shamas and 'swi mei' (sp??), plus others I suppose.

Last known to be sold from bird shop in Telok Blangah but from what I understand, the operator there no longer supplies them. I was maintaining 2 'roach bins' as supplementary diet for my scaly 4-legged and larger killies/bettas, and a 1cm froggie (is that 1 inch or typo??) will obviously have issues with any feeders larger than 3mm. In that case, try pin-heads or new-born roaches which have excellent 'shell to meat ratio'.

Males - Small dysfunctional wings. Maximum size about 1.5cm in my bins.


Adult group - Wingless females (like little Volkswagon 'Beetle'  :Grin: ) and often slightly larger than males.


In case anyone knows what species this live-bearing roach belongs to, please educate me... I've spent too much time trying to nail a positive ID on these buggers!! Many TIAs!!

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## Archduke

Dear Felix,

I did think about it but I am not keeping froglets. I'm keeping some invertebrates (i am somewhat afriad that the mealworms wil hurt my pets), so i am thinking of getting mini crickets to feed them. Currently I do not own enough pets to breed mealworms/crickets. Tjhanks for the tips, actually, what does the acronym LFS mean by the way?

Dear Autumn_Lover76,
Yes that helps, I'll drop them a line again when I can get a hold of their staff that can speak english (my chinese is quite appaling), as I stay in the west and it'd be a long journey down.

Dear Ronnie,

Those roaches would make excellent feed. If it is not too much to ask, would it be any trouble to purchase a couple individuals from you (what is their life expectancy by the way)?

Cheers,
Mark

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## RonWill

Mark, starting and maintaining a cricket bin doesn't take lots of time but try it, even if it's purely for experience sake. In return, you can harvest heaps of teeny weeny pin-heads for whatever critters you have in mind, plus all the various sizes in between, to suit your needs. That said, if I have to have a reason to do the things I do, then I wouldn't have gone through what I have insanely done!! (danged... that's a mouthful, isn't it??  :Grin: )




> Those roaches would make excellent feed. If it is not too much to ask, would it be any trouble to purchase a couple individuals from you (what is their life expectancy by the way)?


 Let me check for holocaust survivors and get back to you. Life expectancy?? Pretty short from when it's picked up to when something else feeds on it!!  :Grin:  Jokes aside, I never tracked the roaches' lifespan but it was long enough for a starter group to propagate and produce adequately for my intended purpose... give or take a couple of months?? *having a senior moment here...*


BTW, LFS = Local Fish Shop

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## stormhawk

Ron,

Those are probably _Byrsotria fumigata_ or Cuban Burrowing Cockroach. See this:

http://www.reptileexpert.org/cuban-b...ng-roaches.php

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## FuEl

Contact me at 90660450. I have flightless fruitfly cultures & culture medium should you wish to culture them yourself.

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