Out of estivation and not eating?

[RagnarKon]

First off, hello Frog Forum. I've been a silent watcher of this forum for about a two years now, but my latest problem finally got me to register.

And now the problem:

My African Bullfrog came out of estivation two nights ago, a good 2-3 weeks earlier than normal. I usually allow him to sleep from November until around mid-March. Around the beginning of March I normally start simulating the coming of spring, and he pops right up without much help from me. But this year he popped up when his cage was bone dry (I live in Arizona) with temps around 60-64 F, no simulation of spring.

Normally I would be okay with this, but he hasn't eaten since waking up. Once I noticed he woke up, I went ahead and raised the temperatures (76-80 F day, 68-70 F night) as well as increased the humidity (~60%-70%). But so far nothing. He seems more or less alert (changes position around 3-4 times a day and reacts to my touch), but he just won't eat. Is this something I should be concerned about? Or should I just continue to ensure he has food available and hope he'll eat soon?


If you need some background:
Age: 4, almost 5.
Diet: Mostly crickets. Meal worms when crickets are unavailable. Occasional mouse, fish, or nightcrawlers. Not supplements beyond gut-loaded crickets.

I've never had a problem with him eating right after estivation before with the exception of the winter 2 years back. That winter was particularly cold (power was knocked out a few times), and he was very sluggish after waking up. He still ate, but I had to hand-feed him as he was just too sluggish to go after the food himself. Last winter he woke up and was fine. I attempted hand-feeding him this year, but he just seems uninterested. I also tried to gently pry open his jaw (which I had to do the cold winter), and he has enough strength to resist.

Visually he looks okay I think, albeit thinner and duller in color than he was back in November. Here is a picture I took this evening:

[Jace]

My male, Kadesh, did something very similar when he came out of estivation a couple of years ago. I wish I could say I had a magic trick that got him to eat, but honestly, I just had to be patient and wait for him to decide it was time. Which, for him, was just over a week later. Keep yours misted, with warm temps during the day and try and wait him out. Once Kadesh decided he was ready, I could not feed him enough-his main diet is large dew worms and in two days, he ate 53 exactly and then was content for a while. Good luck and let me know how yours is doing.

[RagnarKon]

After I posted yesterday, I prepared him a warm bath with some honey in it, just in case he was impacted. The last thing he ate in November was a mouse, so I was somewhat concerned about that being a possibility. Also put 5-7 crickets in the cage and then went to bed.

Woke up this morning, and he had left a present for me in his water bowl and also dug himself a little hole in the substrate near the heating pad that he settled into. I could also only count 3 crickets, so unless the crickets are hiding somewhere (possibility), it looks like he ate 2-4 crickets last night.

At any rate, he is obviously strong enough to walk in and out of the water bowl, as well as dig, so I am a little less concerned than I was previously (especially since your male did something similar). I'll post updates if/when they do come.

[Eel Noob]

They sometime look a bit thinner but once they get a good soak they usually plump right up. My guy just wokeup last week due to disturbance from moving lol. Going to try to feed him this weekend, usually give my guys close to a week to cleanse their system out first.

Do keep us updated.

[RagnarKon]

Almost 3 weeks later and I finally have an update worth posting:

Long story short, I kept on offering him crickets during evenings, and then removing them the next morning. Every morning there seemed to be a cricket or two missing, but that doesn't really tell me much because crickets go missing all the time. Then last week I was cleaning the inside of his tank, and while I was cleaning the tank I offered him some meal worms in a separate 5 gal tank. To my surprise he started snacking away. He ate about 8-10 meal worms, and then ate another 8-10 worms four days later. So he appears to be okay. It is rather puzzling to me because he is eating FAR less than he usually does, and he is ignoring crickets, which seemed to be his favorite for quite a while. But at long as he is eating, I am not concerned.

Yesterday he buried himself in the substrate, and when he pops up again I will attempt to feed him earthworms, as I rather not use mealworms as a staple food.