HELP! i'm new!

[Ali Robertson]

Hey everyone,

As you can tell by the name of the thread that i am a total newbie to this (forum and frog keeping).

My story is;

My sister moved to a different part of the country nearly a month ago, and asked if i would take her frog, as it was a long journey and would have been far too stressful for the frog. I was glad to take it as i love animals, and always like her (the frog). The frog is called V.ella (my 6yr old nephew named her, so don’t ask lol)

She came with a 24x18x18 exoterra viv, fake plants, tub of locusts etc.
I set her all up, following the advice of my sister, gave her a couple of locusts and thought that would be that, im on my way.... BUT

She seems reluctant to eat at all really, and its really starting to worry me. I have scoured forums, websites, other reptile owners etc for info, but it all seems so so SO conflicting. For example,

My sister told me to keep her a room temperature, using the heat matt on colder days. But a girl who worked in an exotic pet store i visited told me that she needed to be kept warm... (she is now kept at a temp of around 25-27oC), admittedly, V.ella seems a lot more active, but she still wont feed.

I have tried her with locusts (Small and medium sized), banded crickets and the odd waxworm, but she still just wont feed. I think she may have ate 2 in the last month or so.
I could REAAAAALLY do with some advice from you guys as looking through this forum, everyone seems really clued up and helpful, so i am here to gain any advice, help and tips you guys can afford me.

I will post some pics up of the viv and the frog herself so you guys can get an idea of the setup. Plus, i would love confirmation on what species of tree frog she is. I think she is a golden tree frog, also seen that be called ‘asian flying frog’.

All i want to do is make sure she is happy and settled and feeding properly. So like i said, all advice would be welcome.


Thanks guys.

[ViperJr]

Welcome to the community. You've come to the right place if you want advice.

First of all, pictures is of the essence. We can then ID the frog, which is very important. When we know what kind of frog it is, it's possible to adjust the requierments (if they're a bit off). Make sure you also post pictures of the terrarium, since a proper habitat is of outmost important when it comes to keeping frogs.
Second of all, I would not trust what the petstore said. There are some knowledgeble people working in petstores, however they are far too few, escpecially when we're talking big chain stores. So, they might be correct, but the might be completely wrong.
Thirdly, if the frog have been moved, he/she might still be very stressed and needs to settle down. Give it time and make sure you're not disturbing her. Frogs are NOT cuddling pets and they're best of left alone in the enclosure.

Hopefully I (and others as well) can give some better advice after you post some pictures. Best of luck with your frog!

[Ali Robertson]

thanks a lot.

i'll get some pictures up this afternoon.

the pet store isn't a chain, its a specialis exotic pet store. family owned i think.
i already knew that frogs arent cuddling pets, and have tended to leave her well alone, apart from checking on her, spraying the viv and feeding.

like i said, i'm just getting worried about her

Thanks again ViperJr, and i look forward to more replies.

[John]

Definitely follow Martin's advice and post a photo. When frogs don't eat it is often a sign of a stress-induced illness, so don't rule out more drastic measures such as a trip to the vet. Do you count the food items you put in the terrarium, and how many are left the next day?

And welcome to the community!

[Ali Robertson]

DEVELOPMENT OVERNIGHT!!!!

she's eaten a couple of crickets. there were 4 in there, and after a good look, i could only spot one in there this morning. i'll keep you all updated though. may take me a wee while to get a picture up, i dont have a camera at all!! i'll borrow one, and get them on ASAP. my girlfriend is certain the frog is a Golden Tree frog, but like i said i'd rather confirmation from people in the know.

again many thanks for the help and concern.

[ViperJr]

Do you have any positive way of confirm thw numbers of crickets eaten? I woumd recommend a glass feeding bowl, so you can monitor the food intake for sure.

[Heatheranne]

Welcome Ali! It nice to hear he/she's eating again. Keep us posted.

[hophappygirl]

welcome!!!!

[BG]

Welcome to the forum Ali. Hope to see some pictures of your frog . I can't wait to see them. I hope its a tree frog.lol

[Ali Robertson]

hey peeps. sorry, not been able to get to a computer this weekend. i'm gonna borrow a camera from work today and get some pictures on this evening.

i've invested on a cricket feeder, one of the exoterra ones. i already feel like its a more organised process now. and obviously it leads me to have less time in the viv, which i guess is better for the frog.

does anyone have any tips on actually getting the crickets out of the tub and into the feeder... those little guys are so fast and wriggly!! took me a good hour just to get 7 in the feeder ha ha ha

ALSO, does anyone have any tips on getting a routine down as i have read a few people say they have a strict routine and the frogs respond to it. i still feel a bit worried that she still isnt eating enough. she's ate a couple of crickets since my initial post, but i still dont feel its enough. we even dangled a waxworm right in front of her and she couldnt have cared less about it. is that normal??

again so so so many thanks to everyone, you're all lovely!!

[DonLisk]

Many frogs won't take food from you but once dropped in will gain their attention.

You can put a small cigar tube or similar in the cricket keeper and they will gather in it. Then just pick up the tube or cup and shake them into a plastic cup for dusting or into the tank or glass feeding bowl. In my larger tubs of crickets I use the cardboard egg packaging and just shake it off into a large plastic cup.

As for routine, since they are active at night, I feed after I get home from work in the evening. For my RTFs I use the cricket bowl method and for my WTFs which are way more aggressive, I just dump them into the viv for them to hunt the crickets. I occasionally feed them with a tong and some frogs will gladly accept the cricket and some shy away.

[Heatheranne]

A cricket keeper is a plastic container with tubes that extend out. The crickets gather into the tubes. You can powder them easily with calcium/vita D powder and then just tap the end of a tube over your frog tank and out they come. It's easy. I buy crickets every week or two and feed the crickets with gut-loading food and cricket gel water. Then clean out the cricket keep every one to two weeks emptying out all dead crickets and left over food and debris, egg crate and the paper towel I place in the bottom, and wipe everything out. It sounds like a lot of work, but it is really quick and easy. I'll take a picture of mine later. Hope this helps. Just a suggestion.

[Ali Robertson]

trying the glass bowl trick... cant believe the crickets dont jump out!!

i tried one of those cricket feeder things... the exo terra ones that look kinda like a rock. but when i checked last night the crickets that where left inside were dead.

gonna have a count of crickets and stuff tonight as i didnt get the chance this morning before work. will try (again) to get pictures of V.ella (crazy name, i know... 6 yr old nephew named her) tonight so you guys can check her out. would be great to get people's opinions on my viv and stuff.


just wandering, is it safe for the frog if i put some of that cricket water into the glass bowl inside the viv, or is it unsafe for the frog.... if she eats that is.

also, John mentioned about taking her to the vets if she still continues to not eat.... do people have an idea of how much that costs here in England??

[Ali Robertson]

Hi everyone. worries are over now.

she's feeding normally now. about 500% more active than she's ever been.
i've gone back to locusts now, i'm generally a lot happier than with the locusts and she seems to be responding to them a lot more.

put about 5 in last night, and within half an hour, we seen her bouncing and jumping all over the tank so i feel like all my worries with her not feeding are lifted now. she went from eating maybe 4 insects within a month, to eating maybe 9 insects within the last coulple of nights.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR THIER ADVICE!!!!!!

it really really helped!! so appreciative of it all.

Basically, it took some patients, whilst trying a few different things. the rise in temperature of the tank seems to have helped a lot too. she looks and acts like a different frog now.

Thanks again people!!

[DonLisk]

Great to hear.
Thank you for letting us know too.

You will have a lot of fun watching her now that she has become more active.

[Ali Robertson]

yeah already i find her fascinating to just watch. me and my girlfriend where watching the TV, when we heard a loud bang on the glass from inside the tank, we looked over and the frog was just flat up against the door glass. then shot off somewhere else.... then about ten minutes later 'bang!'.... she was up against the glass again. and then back into the leaves

its great hearing her hunt properly now. feel so less stressed too now, so i can go about just enjoying looking after her.