hello. my male is now approx 7.5 inches and in the past 1-2 months his appetite has gone way down. when he was younger he would eat 20 dubia in 1 sitting and his feeding response was very enthusiastic.
now in the past 1-2 months he only manages 7-10 dubia and his feeding response is almost gone. only when the dubia is flapping in front of his face will he go for it. he will no longer chase the prey.
my setup has stayed the same since he was 3 inches long. only thing i can think of is that he always burrows in the cooler end of the 3ft enclosure i have him in. hot end is 85 and cool can be as low as 70 in cold weather. i dont know why he likes to burrow into the cool side.
do you think he wants to aestivate? i dont know what i should do tbh. hes lost his personality and doesnt seem too bothered about food anymore. hasnt croaked in about 2-3 weeks either.
please, any advice from experienced keepers would be helpful. cheers.
Maybe his eyesight has deteriorated?
Hi and sorry it took so long for somebody to answer.
it is absolutely normal. Frogs, just like any other animal, are very good in controlling their food intake, they eat only what they need.... very different from humans lol
When they are young and small they need to grow fast, because it is eat and grow or be eaten situation. They consume lots when they need it. As they grow, their nutritional needs change and they gradually eat less and less, often go off food for periods of time, that usually corresponds with seasonal changes. It is important to keep an eye on your frog, if looks healthy, don’t bother, don’t stress out, you will see when he is hungry.
as example, my big boy about the same size as yours, goes to sleep for weeks at the time, not actual eastivation, because the conditions of the tank is not suitable, he just sleeps. This winter for example he ate may be 5-6 times from fall til April, woke up really hungry, ate really well for couple weeks, now he is slowing down again.
You just need to monitor general health and what food you are giving. If good lean food, a frog looks healthy, it is all good.
Save one animal and it doesn't change the world, but it surely changes the world for that one animal!
thanks for the reply. puts my mind at ease. i have been attempting to feed him twice a week still and the pattern has been 8-10 adult dubia on one day and completely refusing the next day. so i may just switch to a once a week schedule.
one thing that really frustrates me atm is that he sits and burrows himself into the coldest part of the enclosure which is currently 74f and can fall as low as 72f at night. the hottest point is 85f but most of the hot end is in the high 70s to low 80s.
the enclosure hes in is a 3ftx2ft plastic box and my 100w ceramic struggles to heat it. not sure if i should upgrade the wattage or put another heater in there. but why is he always sitting on the cold spot?
if only he sat closer to the heat source maybe his appetite would perk up. maybe he likes to be kept cool? hes done well at these temps since iv got him so im confused and every source states they need the low 80s to thrive. surely these frogs know how to regulate themselves properly?
he is big and healthy, not impacted. gave him a warm bath earlier and he seems alert. lovely eyes and colour etc but he only took 1 of the roaches i gave him.
any ideas on this would be help me greatly. cheers.
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