What does the frog eat?

Content

• Frog characteristics
• Do frogs have teeth?
• Where do frogs live?
• What does the frog eat?
• What do terrestrial frogs eat?
• What do tadpoles eat?
• Threats and dangers for frogs
• What do domestic frogs eat?
• What does the frog eat?

Frogs are amphibians that belong to the order Anura. Physically, they are different from frogs in their rough, dry skin, as opposed to the smooth, moist texture of the frog's body. They are specialists in camouflage but, at the same time, they are easy to recognize by their unmistakable croak. Frogs are found almost all over the world and it is common to see them in gardens during rainy days. How much do you know about your habits?

If you want to know more about the characteristics of this species, such as where they live and what frogs eat, you can't miss this PeritoAnimal article with everything about frog feeding. Keep reading!

Frog characteristics

Frogs are amphibians that are characterized by having a small body and large eyes. Although the tones may vary, the most common colors are olive green, brown and gray. Also, they have yellow eyes with horizontal pupils. Like many other species, they present sexual dimorphism, with females being larger than males, reaching 14 cm in length, while males measure only between 9 and 10 cm.

The body of the toads is rounded, with wide legs, with four toes on the front and five toes on the back. Their head is short but wide, and includes a large snout that allows them to pick up their food very easily.

Some species of frogs have a peculiar defense system, being capable of secreting poison through glands present throughout your skin.

Another characteristic of frogs is their oviparous reproduction, ie by eggs. The eggs are incubated in water, and small tadpoles are born from them, which go through a cycle similar to that of frogs.

Do frogs have teeth?

the frogs don't have teeth, instead, they have a long sticky tongue with which they catch their prey and insert it into the oral cavity to engulf them entirely.

As we've already said, most species wait for prey hidden in the vegetation and then catch it with their sticky tongue. once in the mouth, the frog swallows the prey whole, forcing the head so that the prey passes through the throat without chewing and swallowing it quickly. When it reaches the stomach, the prey begins to go through the process of dehydration thanks to stomach acids.

Some species of frogs don't have this sticky tongue. In these cases, they take the prey by surprise and hold it using the strength of their jaw.

Where do frogs live?

Before talking about what common frogs eat, you need to know where frogs live. They can be found on all continents, where they prefer to inhabit humid places and close to water sources. They are able to survive in virtually any ecosystem, from forests to grasslands and urbanized areas, however, they do not live in Antarctica or deserts.

When they are born, frogs are aquatic, but as they develop, they start to live both on land and in water. On land, it is common to find them hidden behind rocks, logs and bushes, in order to maintain body moisture and protect themselves from predators. This task is also facilitated by the pigmentation of your skin, ideal for easy camouflage.

They are poikilothermic animals, which means that their internal body temperature adapts to that perceived in the environment. This is because frogs do not have body regulation mechanisms similar to other species, so they try to protect themselves against extreme weather by staying in moist spaces. It is also common to find them at any time of day, especially if the weather is rainy.

Now that you know the habitat of these animals, let's see what frogs eat in these environments.

What does the frog eat?

Frogs are opportunistic carnivorous animals, they do not hunt their prey like other animals, but remain immobile waiting for it to get close enough to throw out its huge sticky tongue, at which point they swallow the victim easily.

The frog's diet varies according to its species, so what do common frogs eat? Smaller species feed on all kinds of insects, worms, spiders and snails, while others can eat fish. On the other hand, larger species ingest small snakes, lizards and rodents. This way, if you ask yourself what small frogs eat, you can see that the answer is small animals that are easy to catch with your tongue.

A characteristic of frogs is their ability to adapt to eating habits. Although each species has a specific diet, they are able to vary that diet if environmental conditions so require, in the case, for example, of certain prey becoming scarce or disappearing.

What do terrestrial frogs eat?

As we've already mentioned, frogs can remain both in water and on land. They are animals that breathe through their skin, with gill breathing when they are tadpoles and lung when they reach adulthood. So, in their adult stage, they have more difficulty breathing underwater, so they mostly live outside. For this reason, all frogs are considered terrestrial and thus eat the beings mentioned above.

What do tadpoles eat?

Baby frogs, called toad tadpoles, feed on plants and algae found in water. As we have already said that frogs are animals that undergo a metamorphosis, as they grow, their eating habits change and, in this way, they become carnivores when they reach adulthood.

Before becoming adults, toads go through a tadpole-like stage to frogs. During this period they have no legs, have tails and gills, and live in water. In principle, these baby frogs feed on the yolk sac for the first few days. Then they consume plants and marine algae. Furthermore, they consume debris of any kind, larvae and mosquitoes.

Learn more about tadpole feeding in this PeritoAnimal article.

Threats and dangers for frogs

As with many other species, there are certain threats that endanger the existence of frogs. These are a few:

• Herbicides or pesticides: toxic substances released into the environment, such as herbicides and pesticides, are highly toxic to the frog's organism.
• habitat destruction: the contamination of rivers and lakes, as well as deforestation, are activities that put the lives of these animals at risk, as this means the loss of refuges that protect them from their predators. Furthermore, habitat destruction implies a lack of food by making prey sparse, which is why frogs are forced to move.
• Danger on the highways: roadkill is a frequent threat to these animals, as they often cross roads built by humans, especially on rainy days.
• Prolonged droughts: Dry seasons are not a big problem for frogs; however, if they are too large, they will result in scarcity of water sources and high temperatures.

What do domestic frogs eat?

Like frogs, it is possible to adopt some species of frog as a pet. In these cases, it is essential to provide adequate food for each stage of their life, in addition to offering a diet that provides the same nutrients that these animals would obtain in the wild. In this sense, frogs babies can be fed with crushed fish scales, which can be found at any pet store. Also, it is advisable to add algae to the tank where the tadpoles are to supplement their diet with ground red larvae.

With regard to adult house frogs, your diet must be carnivorous. This is one of the main reasons why we advise against adopting a frog as a pet, as the task of providing a proper diet is complicated. If you already have one at home, you need to give small fish, live larvae and worms and sometimes fish scales. In some stores it is also possible to buy crickets and others live insects, in addition to ants. With regard to quantities, you should pay attention to how quickly your frog consumes the food you supply, so you will know how many insects, fish, etc., you need to supply per day.

What does the frog eat?

THE frog feed it differs slightly from the feeding of frogs. Frogs can sometimes eat plant foods, while frogs are strictly carnivores. However, frogs also tend to eat insects of all kinds, snails, worms, etc.