gameoffish:

So I’ve seen a lot of people mentioning buying bloodworms to feed their ADFs, and not much discussion about healthy, sustainable diets for them. There isn’t a whole lot of reliable information about these little frogs, and I know a lot of people – myself included, before I learned the hard way – are feeding their frogs bloodworm-only or mainly bloodworm diets.
The problem with bloodworms (besides just not being enough nutrition by themselves– you should have a nice, varied diet) is that they can cause digestion issues and bloat.

Bloat in ADFs and ACFs will start with swelling in the hind legs, and, if not treated, the frog will be totally swollen and unable to sink; they will float at the top of the water, and eventually die. This occurs especially often in frogs fed primarily bloodworms. I unfortunately lost one of my froggies to bloat earlier this year, when I was giving them a diet of about 50% bloodworms.

Better foods for ADFs are (and be sure to vary your foods):

• small earth worms (red wrigglers, etc– make sure to cut into very small pieces for the frogs)
• crickets (again, tiny ones)
• dubia roaches or other roach nymphs
• brine shrimp
• white worms
• live black worms
• f/t glassworms
• flightless fruit flies
• small butterworms
• small waxworms
• some f/t turtle food (these are usually fish/shrimp based, so feed in moderation, mixed with insect-based food)
• homemade gel food!

If you feed a mix of the above for your primary diet, you can feed bloodworms and krill/shrimp/fish as a treat food. (There’s nothing wrong with bloodworms every few days, just make sure they have a good variety!)

Foods to avoid:

• anything freeze dried
• frog pellets – some of these are probably okay, but most dry food contains a ridiculous amount of fillers that your froggies don’t need, and are sometimes harmful. A small amount of good quality frog pellets are fine, but I prefer a mainly f/t diet.
• fish food: shrimp pellets, fish flakes, algae wafers, etc
• krill or fish with high amounts of thiaminase, except as a treat (I give my froggers krill a couple of times a month, they really love it)

I’m by no means an expert, so if I have any misinformation here please correct me! 🙂 I just want to make sure people are fulfilling their froggies’ nutritional needs.