Getting worried about BETF not eating

[Ribbitmethis]

I bought Mercutio, my Leptopelis vermiculatus, 9 days ago. I was told he was fed daily 3 crickets at the pet store, and I remember seeing no crickets in his tank at the store. Since bringing him home, I do not believe he's eaten. I have tried hand-feeding him and leaving crickets in his cage. When hand feeding (have tried both crickets and mealworms) he just pushes it away. When letting crickets loose, I have seen him not respond to them even if they're climbing ON him!
He does move around the cage a fair amount, and 7 days ago we had a very stressful fiasco (Merc escaped from his cage twice, once for several hours which left him on the brink of death via dehydration), so it could be he's just stressed out still. His belly still looks chubby, but if I touch it there is not a lot of substance to it... no bug bumps (which is how I know he's not eating the crickets). He is starting to get a little bony, so obviously I'm worried.
I have heard about people force feeding using a credit card to pry open the mouth, but I am fairly terrified of this (plus Merc is a slippery little guy... holding him still is practically impossible).
Should I just be patient, or take a proactive approach? Any suggestions?

[bshmerlie]

I think Merc is still traumatized by his escape and also still adjusting to his new surroundings. Check the care sheets to make sure your husbandry is good on your temps, humidity and hidding spots. 9 days is awhile to not have eaten but definately not on the scarey side. Many people only feed their frogs once a week as a regular occurance but since he is new to your home I wouldn't just ignore it either. You said he is still active which is a good sign. I would keep him in a very quite and completely dark room. Don't fuss with him and I wouldn't be trying to hand feed a frog newly introduced. He's probably pretty frightened at this point. Depending on the size cage you have I would put a small cricket bowl in a location that is very near to him when he is up and about. Somewhere he can obivously see it. Again keep it real dark and don't sit there with a flashlight watching him. Check back in a couple of hours and see hows he doing. The more time he has to get use to his new environment the more comfortable he will be eating. At some point you should also have him checked out for parasites with a vet. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Ribbitmethis]

Here's the tank specs:

Temperature - 75*F
Humidity - 55%-70% (automated ventilation causes fluxuations)
Size of tank - 21 gallons
Tank mates - none
Food - 1/4" crickets, mealworms
Supplementation - Crickets gut loaded, fed carrots and Fluker's calcium fortified cricket quencher
Substrate - expanded coco eco brick, topped with sheet moss
Environmental hangouts - 2 pothos plants, irish moss, mini african violet, and 2 PVC branches
Glass area: 1 wall, the rest are climbable and covered.
Lighting: 14watt CFL 12 hrs/day (have plants, need light for them to survive), 45watt red incandescent light 12 hrs/day

One somewhat odd behavior I've seen is his preference to be on me... If I open the cage to mist, he'll often jump onto me.

[Chaya]

There is a thread called "came home with these" in the tree frog section I believe where someone bought some Leptopelis Ulugurensis (which i also have) The Leptopelis can be temperamental, you wont always see them eat. As stated before keep a good eye on him, be sure the sides of his cage are covered and he has lots of hides so he feels safe. If worse comes to worse and you really can see his bones sticking out a lot then it could be time to hand force feed... but try letting him calm down to his environment. I have been forcefeeding my ulu's for over 3 months now... i love them but its hard work and definitely not what i expected. Try reading through that thread though. I know they arnt identical to yours but being the same species it may have a little insight. Keep us all updated...and try posting a picture or two so we can know exactly how dire it is

[Ribbitmethis]

Here's a photo of Merc I took today. The back bones stick out much more predominantly when his stomach is not resting on something.


I have been reading the "came home with these" thread. The sides of his cage are always covered, as the cage is built into a bookshelf and only the front is built of glass. He seemed a little better today, slept a little less, was more active in the environment (though not nearly as much still as before his near-death experience). On the bright side, I just realized that I am now out of crickets, haven't found more than a handful dead, haven't seen any hopping around the house, and don't see any in the viv. Maybe he is eating, just having everything through his system by the time I wake up...

[Chaya]

he doesnt look too bad yet... so for now i say keep feeding him in the cage and keep an eye on him...hes a very good looking frog