Last weekend, when I was on my weekly hike, I came by a local pond where I saw some frogs and some fish swimming in the water.
That was when the question “do frogs eat fish?” popped into my head. Since I didn’t know the answer, I made it my personal mission to find the answers.
So I went on the old interwebs and searched until I found the answer. I not only found the answer to the question above, but I also found some other facts that I think you would find interesting. So I hope you learn something from the article below!
So, do frogs eat fish? Yes. frogs can and sometimes will eat fish. Although they are carnivores, if they don’t have anything other to feed themselves with (think about their normal diet of insects), frogs will eat fish.
Tadpoles will even eat their brothers and sisters when it comes to it (more on this in the article). So, when frogs “starve” they may resort to eating fish.
I did my best to find the answers to the questions you have about the eating habits of frogs. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Read further to find out if frogs eat fish, wasps, fish eggs, or other kinds of food.
Do frogs eat fish?
The simple answer would be that frogs will eat anything. They are carnivores and are likely to feast on any and every type of other animal when they are really hungry.
This also applies to fish. If the frog lacks their usual diet of insects etc, they might venture out to feast on other types of food.
Even if their primary diet doesn’t include much protein or fat for that matter, they will eat fish.
As long as they can catch it with their long, sticky tongue they will stuff their green faces full of any food they can find.
The scariest example of this surely is that of the young frogs or tadpoles, when starving for food resort to eating each other.
Do they eat small or large fish?
This answer depends on the species of frog. The bigger, larger frogs are more likely to eat any type of fish, be it smaller or larger.
Other types of fish will use their tongues to catch insects, while tadpoles usually live of algae or small plants.
The American bullfrog, for example, is known to eat not just large fish but also other types of animals, mammals, and reptiles that are close to the size of a larger fish.
This type of frog along with others uses its hands to eat its prey and not its tongue.
People always assume that frogs take care of their food with their tongues but that isn’t always the case. The natural world is much more diverse than that.
Can frogs eat fish eggs?
It is highly unlikely that they will do such a thing. Frogs like their food to be eaten alive, and they will focus on food that is still on the move.
They have evolved with such a preference. This means that they won’t eat fish eggs. Fish eggs, in most cases, are also way too tiny for a frog to get its fill.
But, any type of food that just aimlessly floats around the water won’t catch their attention.
If it’s on the move, they will most likely try to catch it with their tongue before swallowing it whole.
Can frogs and fish live in the same tank?
Depends on the kind of fish and kind of frog we are talking about. Since they are so many different species of both fish and frogs we will focus on only a few species that are best suited to be tank-mates.
The majority of frogs do not like the be in the water all the time. Which makes the bad company for fish. If they are larger, they might even eat their tank-mate.
A larger frog like the American bullfrog and a goldfish, for example, would be a terrible idea.
The bullfrog would most likely eat the goldfish, since larger creatures like fish or small reptiles are their primary food source, unlike smaller frogs who feed on insects.
Frogs also like higher temperatures than your average fish does. This means that most frog species are out as potential tank-mates with a fish
But there are the African Dwarf frogs. They spend almost their whole life in the water and areas fully aquatic as a frog can be.
They are also quite small and won’t feed on fish. Like fish, they need their space and a lot of clean, fresh water.
The majority of fish and African dwarf frogs find the temperature of 70F or 21C ideal for living.
If you have a large enough tank, and apple time to properly take care of both the fish and the African dwarf frog you could have a few great tank-mates, living peacefully together for quite some time.
You now know that frogs eat almost anything, but did you also know that frogs can bite? Find it out in this fun article.
What do frogs also eat?
Do frogs eat other frogs?
Yes. When frogs are facing a shortage of their desired food source, they are prone to eating each other.
This is mostly the case with tadpoles and not fully grown and developed adult frogs.
But hunger is king and a large frog will stuff its mouth with whatever just to kill that hunger feeling.
Do they eat snails?
Yes. If the frog is big enough to swallow a snail whole it will.
Frogs like meaty things that move, and if they encounter a snail that fits that description you best believe they will feast on him.
How about mosquito larvae?
Again, the answer is a resounding yes. Frogs, the smaller species in general, love eating insects. Adult frogs will eat any kind of insect.
Some species eat so many mosquitoes that they call the natural way of dealing with mosquitoes, or natures, hitmen, on mosquitos.
Can frogs eat wasps or flies?
The archetypal image of the frog is one where it rapidly, in the blink of an eye, sticks its long tongue out, catches a fly, and swallows in whole.
And in this case, that archetype or clique is really true. Frogs will feast on flies as much as they can. The same is true for wasps as well.
Do they like to eat vegetables and is it good for them?
They do not, at least not as adults. When they are tiny tadpoles they mostly feed on what’s green, such as algae or plants that are small enough for them to consume.
When they reach adulthood they switch from green to anything that can move and fit in their ever-hungry mouths.
Frogs enjoy more meaty stuff, strictly meat and nothing else is good for them.
Do frogs eat birds?
No. Not even the big bullfrog will eat birds. But birds will eat them and are one of the most dangerous predators of frogs.
Can frogs get sick from eating any of the above?
The only things that could possibly harm fish are fruits and vegetables.
It is also wise to avoid any type of human foods or leftovers to your frogs. This can only cause them harm.
What should I never feed my frog?
as we mentioned above, any type of human food that has been processed or cooked, baked, etc.
There are plenty of complex molecules in human foods that can cause a lot of harm to your frogs.
Conclusion
I think that you have learned that frogs are no picky eaters. They will eat almost everything that is small enough to fit in their mouth.
I also hope that you learned that frogs do not eat vegetables! This is also true for toads and you can learn more on that here (learn about the diet of a toad).
Furthermore, I hope that you have enjoyed the article and below I’ll list some articles that you might find interesting.
For further reading
Here’s an interesting article about what toads need to survive (in the wild and in captivity)
There aren’t growing any ears on the outside of a frog… Do you want to know how they hear?
Read it in the article I wrote about frog ears and how they hear.