Red eyed tree frog wont eat!

[Chaser]

My red eyed tree frog will not eat! This is more or less expected from me because I put a feeding bowl in his tank and he doesn't hunt for crickets anymore. He had a feeding bowl in his tank before but I ran out of the plastic cups I used for it. ( I replaced the cups for sanitary reasons. ) But now that i have more, he just doesn't eat. The bowl is in the back of the tank and is a few inches into the soil, so it doesn't tip over. The crickets are appropriately sized too. Is it possible he can't find the dish? But he is an extremely avid explorer so I want to doubt that.

[Chaser]

And I have had him for a year or so.. This is just out of the blue.

[Heatheranne]

Hmmm...I think he should be able to find it. Has anything else in the tank changed? How does he look? Is he still following the same schedule (day/night, times for tank chores, etc.)?

[Chaser]

He is still very active! Nothing in the tank has changed too. He is his usual green color. But another problem is that the crickets are growing to fast. I only get about 10 crickets out of 30. If he even eats. But anyway, he hasn't eaten for about a week and a half.

[mrzoggs]

does he look lethargic? is he losing weight? can you post a picture of him and his enclosure? in my opinion red eyes shouldnt be "very active" mine do not move at all until all the lights go out. have you recently put him in a new tank? when its night time does he walk around at all? water dish?

[Chaser]

He looks fine. He is only active when the lights are out like any other frog, and he walks around like there is no tomorrow! He has not lost any weight either, and he visits the water dish every night too. This is what baffles me, he seems fine but he doesn't eat..

[Chaser]

And the lights are on 12 hours from 7am to 7pm everyday, it been like this since I got him.

[mrzoggs]

not sure. he might be fine. email dr frye for a second opinion. maybe get a fecal examination done if you havent done so already. mine didnt eat for a week or so at one point. after a week one of mine ate. after a week and a couple days i ended up force feeding the other 1 cricket and havent had problems since. id watch the weight and make sure everything else stays normal with your frog. i wouldnt put too many crickets in the bowl because i think when i do that, my frog things whatever is in there is too big. and i use small pyrex bowls from the dollar store. 3 for $1. so every time it gets dirty i just put a new one in and throw the other one in the dishwasher.

[philgarcia]

Try feeding him live again, it is instinct they have, its next to impossible to get rid of an animals instinct, try letting him hunt for the food for once... Also if he is pooping he's eating, but honestly i would try a live cricket again, frogs love chasing the food they eat...

[philgarcia]

Also what is the temperature during the day and humidity, and what is it at night, does he have places to hide and climb... he could be stressed how long have you had him for?

[Chaser]

Try feeding him live again, it is instinct they have, its next to impossible to get rid of an animals instinct, try letting him hunt for the food for once... Also if he is pooping he's eating, but honestly i would try a live cricket again, frogs love chasing the food they eat...

The crickets i feed my frogs are live.. Where did you get that silly!?

[Chaser]

He really is not showing any signs of stress, and the day temp is 79, night is 74. The humidity is 80%. He has many places to climb and hide, and I have had the little fellow for a year.

[mrzoggs]

haha yeah i was confused for a second about you not feeding live crickets... I had to scroll up and read again but then realized you said you fed him live. umm. ive heard you can pull the bag legs off the crickets and they cant run as fast. and make sure your feeding small crickets. they shouldnt make any noise. at least my small crickets dont make noise. you can try a force feed if and when your frog starts to look lethargic and isnt acting right. but for now im sure hes fine. also email dr frye.

[Chaser]

Okay, I do have a question about force feeding. I did have to force feed one of my geckos in the first weeks that I had him. But it was easy as after the first few crickets I could hand feed him. But I have never force feed any of my frogs. Could someone please explain how one might do this to me?

[mrzoggs]

there is a nice youtube video on it. just youtube force feeding frog.

i used a credit card. i picked up my frog in a wet paper towel and held it inside that. it was squirming so i had to squeeze a little. but not too tight. it took me a minute to get a good hold on it. after i got a hold of it with one hand, i used my other hand with a cleaned credit card and used the corner to gently push into the frogs mouth and open it up. then had my girlfriend throw a cricket in there. it swallowed it like normal. some people say syringe feeding but i suggest having a vet or someone with experience show you how because you can accidently get it into the frogs lungs and cause problems. if you dont have anyone to help you. try using your thumb to hold a cricket ontop of the credit card. then when you get the mouth open lift your thumb up and let the cricket slide in. i would only do 1 cricket and see where that gets you. then just put him back in the tank. the key to doing it is to keep your frog under as little stress as possible. good luck and let me know how it goes

[Chaser]

I haven't tried to force feed him yet, as he is still fine. He isn't lethargic, he visits the water bowl, and I'm still so confused, How is he still fine?! He hasn't eaten for 2 weeks.

[mrzoggs]

yeah i wouldnt of had as much patience as you i would of force fed already. what do you have on the bottom for substrate? how do you know hes not eating? no crickets missing im guessing? mine were pretty much the same after i put them into the sterilite container. one gave in and finally ate. the other i force fed because i was tired of waiting and i was scared. i force fed it 1 time 1 cricket and its been normal ever since. maybe get a fecal check done? might be some kind of bacteria or something. i cant really give you advice on this because im far from an expert. honestly im learning myself. ive only been into frogs since january. but if i were in your shoes.... ida made him eat a cricket by now. i dont think it can hurt anything.

i do understand stress on red eyes is not a good thing... BUT ive seen them go through what i think would be more stressful situations then force feeding a cricket. im no frog therapist but after i force fed mine it didnt change a thing on her day to day schedule. she hopped back in the tank unharmed and started grubbing down the next day.

i would email dr frye and see if he has any opinions.

the only difference i see is that our temperatures are different. i dont use a light on mine and i dropped the temperature a little. they both seem to be doing much better with house temperatures. im not sure how you keep your humidity at 80% all day...but ill be the first one to admit. mine doesnt stay 80 all day. its hard to get ventilation with humidity together. mine have not had a problem shedding either. never. no matter what care sheet you read, they are all different. they do not HAVE to be kept at 80 degrees during the day. mine stays about 75 during the day. 72ish at night. just my regular room temperature. for humidity i spray inside with the bottle and get everything moist. not drenching wet. and lay something over the screen to block some of the air gap.

just curious, have you seen your frog shed lately? what substrate are you using? mind posting a picture of the frog and the enclosure? if you can get a picture of him that would be awesome. how do his eyes look when hes awake? any noticable changes on his skin? does he stick to the side of the glass or on a plant leaf?

i read that you changed the cups and im not really fully understanding. did he stop eating as soon as you switched? maybe switch back? maybe try paper towels on the bottom and putting crickets inside the bowl and also outside walking around? is it that your not seeing poop? or not seeing missing crickets?

sorry for the long post. its probably past my bed time and when im tired i start to get too focused. im just trying to get as many answers as i can so i can help assisting you as much as possible. watch the videos on youtube about force feeding. call a vet maybe?


Edit: sorry for any typos. im sleepy...i noticed i put cricket therapist instead of frog therapist and had to change it.... -_-

[DC101]

I haven't read through the entire thread but you could try hand feeding him. I do that with my 4 months old green tree frogs and they seem to enjoy it.
I also chuck in an extra one or 2 so they can hunt and have fun.

if you don't want to use your hand you could use tweezer/tongs but I've heard plenty of stories that it could hurt the frog but I've had no problems so far. Just use plastic not metal and hold the cricket in front of him
and have the tweezer pointing down so your hand is above. This will stop them from getting scratched or hurt.

[Chaser]

Okay guys! I Had enough and put him in the hospital tank, which is very simple: A pothos and water bowl. He ate two of the three I put in there! He also had a small, very small poop! I do have a question too. Is it possible to have an "Overcrowded Enclosure"? Here is a picture of his current home. I was about to move one of the vines, but then thought I better check on this.

[mrzoggs]

it looks fine to me. what kind of water are you using to mist? it looks like the walls are all dirty. i would take everything out and give it a good cleaning.

what size is your tank? mine doesnt have much in there enclosure.

so as soon as you moved him to a hospital tank he ate? did he eat out of a bowl or what was on the ground? and if he pooped that means he definitely ate something. mine usually doesnt poop until the next day. i think he will be back to normal now that he ate.

i still suggest you get a fecal check done. they are inexpensive and it could save your frogs life.


oh..and can i get a picture of the frog? hehe