Quote Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny View Post
To add some variety to the diet of a few of my pets, I would like to begin testing the waters with other whole prey animals. Currently I am trying to build up a mouse colony. (I have one breeding group, and I'm about to add two more) and will soon be breeding rats in small numbers. Eventually I will have all of these as a part of their weekly/monthly diet.

Mice
Rats
Gerbils
Hamsters
ASFs
Chickens
Button Quail
Frogs/Toads
Lizards

So I'm trying to figure out what kind of frog would make a good feeder and how I would house and breed said frogs. I've seen these firebelly toads at pet stores. How hard are these to keep or breed? Or is there a better kind of frog or toad?
Firebellies are not the best idea - they are indeed mildly toxic.

In the past, I have used both anoles and green tree frogs as feeders. Ken the Bug Guy sells both (prekilled). Mark Lucas sells them live.

Many moons ago I tried my hand at feeding green tree frogs and it was a royal pain in the arse. That doesn't mean it can't be done, I'm just not cut out to be a frog pimp.

As far as the inclusion of reptiles into your snake's diet -can I ask an honest question - why? While there are some snakes that may prefer a frog or reptile based diet, most don't really need it.

I've hear about how western hognoses supposedly live much shortened lives due to their fatty rodent diet in captivity, however my first snake was a western hognose that lived until the ripe old age of almost 18 years on a cholesterol-laden diet of rodents.

I've never had an issue getting WC reptile eaters onto rodents. I have, however, had issues with feeder reptiles passing on parasites to some of my animals.

With some of my drys and other large colubrids, I'll mix in some fish, some quail and some chicken parts (even beef heart on a rare occasion).