Are you wondering what Pixie frogs eat? If you’ve ever seen a Pixie Frog (Pyxicephalus adspersus), we bet you couldn’t help but fall in love. These frogs are adorable when they’re babies and as they grow older and pudgier, they’re quite possibly even cuter!
Pixie Frogs are great pet amphibians because they are extremely hardy and they are pretty docile overall, which means they don’t mind being handled and held. Oh, and another thing we should mention that probably contributes to their popularity is that these frogs are fatties and will eat pretty much anything you allow them to, making feeding time fun for both frog and owner.
That brings us to the discussion of what you should actually feed your pet Pixie Frog. What do they eat in captivity?
What we feed our Pixie frogs
At the Backwater facility, we feed our Pixies dusted, gut-loaded crickets on a regular basis and supplement with other types of insects such as wax worms, meal worms, and even roaches. It’s important to note that the size of insect you are feeding your Pixie should be appropriate to their body size. Mid-size Pixies should eat mid-size insects, babies should eat small insects, and full-grown frogs weighing from three and a half to five pounds can eat large insects (i.e.locusts, large night crawlers, and big beetles). Full-grown Pixies can also eat frozen/thawed mice in moderation. Overall, no matter what size your Pixie is, be sure that it has a varied diet as this helps to ensure it receives all the nutrients it requires to be a happy, healthy, amphibian.
Because Pixies are prone to obesity (especially in captivity), you must be careful of how often you feed your froggie friend. Babies will of course need to eat more frequently than adults. It’s recommended to feed your baby frog twice a day and your adult frog once per day. Adult frogs also need their insects dusted less frequently than babies do.
Lots of Pixie parents have trained their frogs to eat from tongs. If this is the case, you can feed your frog canned insects too. This is helpful for some people who might have an aversion to live, wriggling feeder insects.
Backwater reptiles has both captive bred hatchling Pixie Frogs for sale as well as slightly larger frogs in the two to four inch range. You can also purchase a range of feeder insects of varying sizes for your own hungry Pixie.