PLEASE help...Bumble Bee Walking Toad having difficulty eating

[REDDEV1L]

I had a similar situation with my Bufo bufo a few years ago.
He wanted to eat, and went for the food, but never seemed to hit the target, and when his head flicked (When you'd expect his tongue to come out) I could hear an audible click.
Sometimes when he did this, he would recoil, and splay his front/back/all his legs and lower his head (Almost as if it hurt)
It turned out to be MBD.
I tried syringe feeding, giving calcium and D3 supplements (Direct to his skin), put a 10% UVB bulb on him etc but he didn't make it.

I know thats not what you want to hear, and I hope yours doesn't show the other symptoms mine did above.

However, if it's only recent, its probably possible to stop the process and get him in better shape.


You could try tong/forcep feeding the toad.. one thing that somtimes works is if you lightly move the prey item over the lips of the toad, quite often they'll open up and be able to eat it that way.

[jubilee]

Thanks for the replies.

He still seems active and has an appetite. We tried pinheads and watched him for about an hour. He got two in an hour. That's how inaccurate he is at the moment. He seems to be launching his tongue from his usual distance but his tongue isn't coming out so he can't reach it and misses it. There is a snapping noise, and he doesn't give up. It's pretty sad watching this. He has had a UVB bulb up to now.

REDDEV1L: What kind of supplements were you applying to your toad topically? I would like to try that since he isn't getting much via the dust since he is taking so long and catching so little.

[REDDEV1L]

REDDEV1L: What kind of supplements were you applying to your toad topically? I would like to try that since he isn't getting much via the dust since he is taking so long and catching so little.

Calcium Sandoz was what I applied topically. One drop to the back of the neck twice a week.
I was advised I could also get purer calcium in the form of Calcium Gluconate and add it to the toads waterbowl instead but couldn't get hold of it.

What you could try is making a paste of whatever dusting powder you use, and feed this to the crickets before you put them in with the toad.

I ended up trying to force feed via pipette. I used a mix of Vetark AviPro, Vetark Critical Care Formula & vitamin dust powders mixed with some cricket guts and a few drops of water to make a watery paste
BUT he hadn't managed to eat anything for months and was losing weight very fast so there was no other option.

[jubilee]

Thanks for all the info! Will be trying EVERYTHING!

[NOsen]

Hey
im having the same issue with one of my stelzneri i got 5 of em one of em have always been alittlebit smaller then the others even compared with the other male and the last month (4-6 weeks) i havent seen it eat at all it still walks around now and then but it grows thinner and thinner i have removed it from the tank now put it in a smaller enclosement for the time beeing and put in fruitflys & tiny mealworms and added calc and other vitamins to the water inside.

If he dosent start eating i feel i have two option either put him down or force feed him but im unsure how the stress of a force feeding will hit him. have anyone acually forced feed a stelzneri and done it sucessfully?

[jubilee]

NOsen, does your guy still have an interest in eating? Mine does, so this is my only hope. Wouldn't even know how to force feed him, but we put him in a small Kritter Keeper with lots of food and for feedings we remove the hide. Once we take the hide out, he starts to hunt. He is still missing, terribly, but I THINK there may have been a small poop, so I am still keeping my fingers crossed. Other than his usual fruit flies we added more pinheads, which in the past he really wasn't interested in, but now he's seems to go after the crix more than the flies. The x-small phoenix worms did attract him, but he was unable to eat those. I had to sit an watch him for an hour just to see him catch two pinheads, so it's a slow and sad process. I have been using extra vitamin A and made the substrate wetter since he also doesn't seem to be soaking much. At the moment he doesn't seem better or worse, but he is still trying, so I am still trying too. Keep us posted!

[NOsen]

he seems to be "alert" but i dont see him eating but he do **** so i guess thats a good sign.