can you feed you mantis a frog?

[Absint Reefer]

would it hurt the mantis

 

[Wocka]

i dont kno y u would feed a frog to it, probly easier to feed it a shrimp or some krill.. most frogs arent small

 

[stellablu]

would it hurt the mantis

I'm more concerned for the frog.

I would have to say feeding a frog to any fish would be the absolute LAST route I'd take especially seeing as there are so many other completely safe and healthy options as food out there.

It just seems cruel and unnecessary.

 

[Absint Reefer]

ok just curious not actually going to do it

 

[stellablu]

Besides a lot of frogs are poisonous upon consumption or even from just licking their slime coat (nice visualization) but I'm unsure if a mantis would respond the same way, as say, a cat would.

 

[csammis]

Besides a lot of frogs are poisonous upon consumption or even from just licking their slime coat (nice visualization)

"Dad, are you licking toads?"
"I'm not not licking toads!"

Ahh, the Simpsons...what won't you teach us?

Anyway, I would be mildly worried about any poison that the frog would contain. It's meant to warn away birds and mammals, but I have no idea how inverts would react to it.

The cruelty aspect is also something to consider...since we know what to feed a mantis to keep it healthy, there'd be no reason to feed it a frog except to watch the mantis eviserate the poor thing. If it was a part of the mantis' accepted diet (like snakes eat mice and other cute fuzzy animals), that'd be completely different.

 

[crzy4reefs]

yeah i'm glad you aren't going to do it, my mantis eats frozen foods and ghost shrimp.

 

[Ms. K]

I'm not sure that feeding a mantis a frog is any more cruel than feeding it ghost shrimp, snails, or the like, but I do agree that frog legs is probably not on the regular menu at the Mantis House.

 

[Jacob D]

Thanks for the laugh, this is up there with the 'fed my fish some banana' thread!

 

[reefguru2]

Most frogs use a neurotoxin. Very similar to the one seen in "fugu". If this particular frog carries it, it would definately affect the mantis, as they do have a central nervous system (VERY different than ours, if not just by the fact that it is ventrally located, but sufficiently similar to ours). If you do that, you might get a dead mantis.

Andrej