Feeding frequency and period for tadpoles and frogs raised in cages

• Grant number: 11/10288-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2011
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Claudio Angelo Agostinho
• Grantee: Claudio Angelo Agostinho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cecília Silva de Castro ; Daniel Argentim ; Paula Kern Novelli ; Raphaela Rezende Ribeiro

Abstract

The principal production problems in different frogs' production systems are related to water quality and feed management. In the systems where food is supplied directly into water, the ration is provided few times a day, losing quality with time and it may be contaminated with leftover fermented feed and feces. For tadpoles production a limiting factor is the necessity to provide powder food directly in the water, because it has low stability and little fluctuation time, limiting the availability and quality due to settling and leaching. Supplying feed more often during the day in small portions and raise the tadpoles and frogs in cages can be a solution to the limitations of frog culture. The project aims to determine the frequency and the period most suitable for tadpoles and frogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) food supply in cages. For the tadpoles phase, tadpoles of bullfrog will be distributed in 24 hapas of 1m3 completely randomized in a factorial design with three food frequency (6, 12 and 24 meals/day) and two periods of feeding, day and night. For the growing phase, the frogs will be distributed in 27 cages of 0,243m3, in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement of two feeding frequencies (24, 48 and 72 meals/day) and three periods (day, night and day/night). The net cages and hapas will be placed in a pool of 2.000m2 and rations will be provided by automatic feeders. It will be assessed the productive performance, growth measurement characteristics, activity of digestive enzymes, intestinal morphology, liver histopathology and food digestibility. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE CASTRO, CECILIA SILVA; RIBEIRO, RAPHAELA REZENDE; AGOSTINHO, LUCAS MIYABARA; DIAS SANTOS, ANDERSON APARECIDO; CARMELIN, JR., CELIO APARECIDO; CHAN, RENIE VENN; NETO, JOAO FAVERO; AGOSTINHO, CLAUDIO ANGELO. Polyculture of frogs and tilapia in cages with high feeding frequency. AQUACULTURAL ENGINEERING, v. 61, p. 43-48, JUL 2014. (11/00057-7, 11/10288-6)