Force Feeding



If you're going to stay in the hobby for any length of time, force-feeding a frog is something that you may need to consider at some point. If you are unable or unwilling to take the frog to a competent vet in your area, it's better to be prepared to do something about it yourself than to do nothing. I'd bet that many keepers have lost frogs that might have pulled through with force-feeding, but were too afraid to try it. Better to learn at some point and hope you never have to do it, rather than waiting until you need to but don't know how.

If an animal refuses to eat altogether, you may need to force-feed it. This can be done using a thin guitar pick (I use .50mm), some flat toothpicks, and some wet paper towels. Guitar picks are good because they are thin, have smooth, rounded edges, and can depress the frog's tongue at the same time as keeping its mouth open, keeping it protected and out of the way.

Prepare some food items to feed by mashing it, and adding vitamins/calcium. Catch the frog with the wet paper towel, and create an opening for its head to stick out. Make sure that the frog's front arms are to its side (like soldier at attention) and restrain it in the paper towel with its head exposed. If the arms are bent, the shoulders could be dislocated while trying to restrain it. Wrap the paper towels loosely around the frog, but snug enough to keep it restrained. This allows you to apply pressure to keep the frog secure without squeezing the frog to death. Use the thin guitar pick to crack the mouth open from one side of the mouth. Do not go from the front, as this may damage its tongue. Once the mouth is cracked open, gently pry it open the rest of the way, and depress the tongue at the same time with the guitar pick. Get a one-swallow sized portion of the mashed food insects dusted with some vitamins/calcium, and place it in the frogs mouth towards the back of the throat. With the rounded end of a flat toothpick, push it as far back as possible. If itıs in the front of its mouth, the frog may spit it out. Release the frog back into its enclosure, and make sure you see it swallow. Repeat this once a day until the frog starts eating on its own. After a while, if the frog gets stronger and gains weight while force-feeding, give it a few days between feedings to see if it gets hungry enough to feed on it's own. I once force-fed a D. tinctorius for 5 months, before it started taking food on its own. It went on to thrive and breed well. The larger the frog, the easier it should be to force-feed. If you're able to manipulate all the necessary items, it can be done alone, but it is always easier to do with two people. One to restrain the frog and hold its mouth open, and one the put the food into its mouth and push it back. Really active frogs may require two people.

There are also a lot of things involved here that can only be learned through experience. Aside from the obvious dexterity it requires to do this, knowing when to force-feed is something that I can't explain. If you wait too long, it doesn't matter what you do. The frog will not likely make it. It may even die in your hand. That's not to say that the attempt at force-feeding caused its death. It was probably well on its way before the force-feeding was attempted. But that's part of experience, and should tell you that next time you should start sooner. But if you start to soon, you may have a difficult time restraining the frog, and could cause more harm than good. There is a definite window between too soon and too far gone, but making that determination is a tough call. In general, sooner is better than later, but you better be pretty sure that the frog is no longer able to eat on its own, as force feeding should never be the first course of action. It is easier to see when you've worked with a lot of animals, which I've been fortunate enough to do. But I've lost my fair share, so this information didn't come cheap. At least not for me, the others whom I have learned a great deal from over the years, and the frogs that didn't make it so that we could have the information we do today.

I hope this helps.

Now for the disclaimer:
I'm not a vet. I don't claim to be a vet. If you want an qualified, expert opinion, ask a vet. I am simply stating what I have done in the past, and what has worked for me. Take it or leave it. It's just one guy's opinion.

Sincerely,
Thomas Villegas
http://www.pumilio.com
P.O. Box 83272
San Diego, CA 92138-3272
619.807.8856 (phone)
619.296.4694 (fax)



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snip " If an animal refuses to eat altogether, you may need to force-feed it. This can be done using a thin guitar pick (I use .50mm), some flat toothpicks, and some wet paper towels. Guitar picks are good because they are thin, have smooth, rounded edges, and can depress the frog's tongue at the same time as keeping its mouth open, keeping it protected and out of the way. " endsnip

Credit cards and flexible laminate cards also suitable. Typically it works well if you start off center of the lower jaw and the frog will often open its mouth in an attempt to get rid of the irritating object.

snip " Prepare some food items to feed by mashing it, and adding vitamins/calcium. " endsnip

This is not optimal as you may not be able to get sufficient food into the frog and the supplementation may still be too low or even too high. It is easier to administer (at least in my opinion) a liquid diet that is easily assimilated and is well balanced. We use feline clinicare at work with great success. It is partially predigested for easy assimilation, is well balanced and is easily tube fed. It is available without a prescription via many vets and even online. (if you open the can, parcel it out and freeze the extra in an icecube tray to keep it from spoiling).

snip "Catch the frog with the wet paper towel, and create an opening for its head to stick out. Make sure that the frog's front arms are to its side (like soldier at attention) and restrain it in the paper towel with its head exposed. If the arms are bent, the shoulders could be dislocated while trying to restrain it. Wrap the paper towels loosely around the frog, but snug enough to keep it restrained. This allows you to apply pressure to keep the frog secure without squeezing the frog to death." endsnip

Here is a picture of a way to hold the frog http://www.dendroboard.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/normal_Img1222.JPG

this allows you to hold the frog in the off hand and keep the head upright which keeps it from refusing the food. An alternative way is to restrain the hind legs between the thumb and the side of the hand with the frog's head facing towards the other hand.

snip "Use the thin guitar pick to crack the mouth open from one side of the mouth. Do not go from the front, as this may damage its tongue. Once the mouth is cracked open, gently pry it open the rest of the way, and depress the tongue at the same time with the guitar pick." Endsnip

When using a soft catheter this is not necessary as the catheter can be placed just past the tongue to administer the food. (soft catheters aka feeding tubes can be obtained from some online companies like the Bean Farm and trimmed to the needed length.

snip " Get a one-swallow sized portion of the mashed food insects dusted with some vitamins/calcium, and place it in the frogs mouth towards the back of the throat. With the rounded end of a flat toothpick, push it as far back as possible. If itıs in the front of its mouth, the frog may spit it out. Release the frog back into its enclosure, and make sure you see it swallow. " endsnip

With a liquid supplement the frog will often simply swallow it before you put the frog back down.

snip " If you're able to manipulate all the necessary items, it can be done alone, but it is always easier to do with two people. One to restrain the frog and hold its mouth open, and one the put the food into its mouth and push it back. Really active frogs may require two people. "endsnip

Two people make this way easier....

snip "There are also a lot of things involved here that can only be learned through experience. Aside from the obvious dexterity it requires to do this, knowing when to force-feed is something that I can't explain." endsnip

If you weigh your frogs a couple of times a year anytime the frog loses 10% or more of its body weight is a good idea. It also gives you an idea that the frog is not doing well and its husbandry and medical (fecal) should be revaluated.

snip "If you wait too long, it doesn't matter what you do. The frog will not likely make it. It may even die in your hand. That's not to say that the attempt at force-feeding caused its death." endsnip

If the frog has lost enough weight then the feeding needs to be carefully controlled or it may die from refeeding syndrome. (refeeding syndrome occuers in cases of severe starvation where dissolved ions have been pulled from the cells to keep the circulating system running and the sudden influx of a large number of calories results in the ions being removed from the circulatory system to transport the nutrients into the cells causing the frog to crash and die. In severely starved animals the recommendation is to feed no more than 10% of its nutritional needs on a daily basis for the first several weeks to help restore circulating standards at which time the amount of food canbe slowly increased until the frog's needs are met. Another concern may be in placing the food in the back of the throat to avoid aspiration into the lungs and aspiration pneumonia.

snip "as force feeding should never be the first course of action. " endsnip

At work we have used supplemental force feedings to help stabilize severly thin animals that were feeding on thier own with great success (typically confiscated animals).

snip "Now for the disclaimer: I'm not a vet. I don't claim to be a vet. If you want an qualified, Expert opinion, ask a vet. I am simply stating what I have done in the past, and what has worked for me. Take it or leave it. It's just one guy's opinion. endsnip

Ditto....

Some alternate thoughts on the process (I meant to write this process and info out before Thomas posted his but I was dragged out to find a tree for the holidays).

Ed
Ed Kowalski
South Jersey


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Great follow up Ed. My methods are definitely home-remedy/old school. Perhaps I should have waited, but I didn't think anyone was going to jump in on it.

Wouldn't a liquid diet run a higher risk of aspiration into the lungs? How much of the feline clinicare is a sufficient amount? I've never seen the product, so I don't know anything about its consistency, but that would be a concern of mine. I have never had a frog aspirate using the "mashed food" method of force-feeding. But I would like to mention that if one does go with the "mashed food" approach, they should consider something a little more meaty than fruit flies. Perhaps crickets, waxworms or termites.

How does the average hobbyist determine what 10% of their nutritional needs are, and again how does that translate into how much feline clinicare should be administered?

If you weigh your frogs a couple of times a year anytime the frog loses 10% or more of its body weight is a good idea. It also gives you an idea that the frog is not doing well and its husbandry and medical (fecal) should be revaluated.

I guess my main concern is that I don't know how much practical application this has for the average hobbyist, but I do appreciate having definite numbers to go by, as opposed to "eye-balling" everything and leaving a lot up to chance.

P.S. Everyone, sorry for the long edits.

Sincerely,
Thomas Villegas


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I am editing down to your questions to keep the post shorter. I had wanted to answer this a little more clearly earlier but time to type long answers has been very limited for little while now (I occasionally have to put them off until my weekend which doesn't help those people who have more uregent questions).

snip " Great follow up Ed. My methods are definitely home-remedy/old school. Perhaps I should have waited, but I didn't think anyone was going to jump in on it. "

No, your post was timely and needed, this was/is a great post.

snip" With a liquid supplement the frog will often simply swallow it before you put the frog back down.

Wouldn't a liquid diet run a higher risk of aspiration into the lungs? How much of the feline clinicare is a sufficient amount? I've never seen the product, so I don't know anything about its consistency, but that would be a concern of mine. I have never had a frog aspirate using the "mashed food" method of force-feeding. But I would like to mention that if one does go with the "mashed food" approach, they should consider something a little more meaty than fruit flies. Perhaps crickets, waxworms or termites." endsnip

This product is not super runny like water it is a much thicker consistency, just thin enough to flow down a catheter tube. The benefit of a liquid supplement is that you can place it in the middle (or towards the back) of the mouth and withdraw the catheter and the "prying tool" and while some will leak from the mouth, the majority of it will be swallowed before you put the frog down. If you are placing the food at the very back of the mouth there is a risk of the frog aspirating the food (whether it is a mash or a liquid). (this is why I am not suggesting passing the tube through to the frog's stomach (which if you can get someone to demonstrate it to you, will avoid, the aspiration issue (provided you do not tube too much) and the reguritation problem.

snip " 10% of its nutritional needs on a daily basis for the first several weeks to help restore circulating standards at which time the amount of food canbe slowly increased until the frog's needs are met.

How does the average hobbyist determine what 10% of their nutritional needs are, and again how does that translate into how much feline clinicare should be administered?" end snip

The simple answer is to feed the frog 10% of what you would expect a healthy frog of that species to eat daily for about 10 days to two weeks (if it has been badly starved (I have some concerns about this as I have seen a number of very fat frogs at shows and in pictures and a frog that is of a weight comparable to a healthy wild frog may be considered thin/starved by some people). The amount of feline clinicare can be calculated out (there is a formula conviently enough in Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry for feline clinicare). I don't have time right now to put it up but if you remind me in a couple of days, I should be able to get it done.

snip " I guess my main concern is that I don't know how much practical application this has for the average hobbyist, but I do appreciate having definite numbers to go by, as opposed to "eye-balling" everything and leaving a lot up to chance. "

I view it as giving people a harder figure to fudge from as they get experience with the frogs. I do know people that use those figures as absolutes (namely one of the vets in the aforementioned book) but I have to say in my experience it has worked well (anecdotal).

Ed
Ed Kowalski
South Jersey








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