Red Eyed Tree Frog Un-motivated!

[lisabug04]

Hi!
I am brand new here, just registered and this is my first posting, (actually I posted this same thread but I think in the wrong subject thread...) so I'm hoping I get a response here! Anyhow, I've had a red eyed tree frog for about a month now, and have never had one before, so I'm brand new to that as well. Altho I'm a research QUEEN and have spend hours and hours reading up on them!!! The main thing that I've noticed about her is that she hardly ever moves! I'm reading about how all these adorable little frogs are "waiting at their food bowl" for their owners to feed them, and eating tons of crickets, dubia's, etc... and that's awesome! My frog barely moves out of her one spot! much less do i EVER get to watch her eat!!

I understand they are nocturnal, but on most occassions she is in the EXACT same spot as she was when the lights went out! Her tank is right smack next to my bed, (don't worry, no action THERE to scare her from being awake!! lol) and i've even gotten up to check on her in the middle of the night on numerous occassions, just to have her in the same spot all night long!

And feeding...? I'm lucky if she eats 2 small (not pinhead) crickets every other day! I have them in a feeding bowl and I don't see them disappearing at a phenominal rate as I've read others say their's do! and altho i'm not sure what their poo looks like, i haven't seen any unusual things in her water bowl! lol

yesterday i changed the substrate in the tank from reptile carpet and a water bowl to about 1.5 inches of water with a small fountain and many many large rocks and fake plants for her to crawl on (since i've read that tree frogs don't swim). but i've had the problem of her not being "motivated" since I've gotten her.

When i DO make her move (pick her up to make sure she's alive!) she looks wonderful! she doesn't seem the LEAST bit sickly, or underfed, or anything, it's just that I have to move her myself in order for her to be interested in life!

Soooo, any suggestions? BTW, Sorry for such a long post! I'm just worried about her being so lifeless yet seemingly healthy!!

Thanx!
Lisa

[toxxxickitten]

What is your set up like besides the changed bottom? Temps/humidity/size of enclosure, etc.? What kind of water are you using? How long have you had your RETF?

[lisabug04]

Hello,
My set up is NOTHING like the fabulous set ups i see in this FF!!! wow, some of those are absolutely AMAZING!!! Mine is a 10 gallon glass aquarium (not verticle like the exo ones) but just a regular fish tank type. I have fake plants, and large rocks in there. I did have branches and stuff, but she seemed to not like them because she was NEVER on them! she mostly just sleeps either on the fake leaves of the plants or stuck to the side. And now I've included the water and a home made fountain on the bottom. I'm not too sure of the humidity level, but i mist her very often thruout the day with distilled water. i also feed her crickets in a bowl (which she barely eats!) I've had her for about a month now. She's been this way since the day I got her!

Thank you for your response!

[Heatheranne]

Do you have pictures? What is the temp in his home? You really need a hygrometer. Knowing the humidity is very important.

Keep us posted, we'll help if we can .

[lisabug04]

I'm looking around for an inexpensive hygrometer, but there's never been any condensation like some of the pics i've seen. I think it's because the whole top of her tank is open due to the screen top that's on it. I do spray her ALOT during the day, but I don't think it's very humid in there. I'm not even sure how to KEEP it humid cuz of the top. And the fact that we live in arizona!!

[lisabug04]

oh, and I don't have any pics as of yet, but I'll work on it! )

[Heatheranne]

You have the light on top? You can use Saran wrap on 1/2 of the lid top to keep in moisture. I had glass cut to 3/4 the top of mine, but if you do be careful of the light over it bc it can crack. If you have a waterfall in there you might have higher humidity than you think. Do you know what the temp is in there?

[DonLisk]

Since your keeping a tree frog you need to think rain forest canopy. They live up in the trees and rarely like to touch substrate/ground.

Here are some random thoughts on what may help.

Height is a necessity over width in your setup. Branches, big broad leaves, creating a place where things are close enough for your frogs to travel from one item to the next to get to water dish, feeding bowl, and back to perch without ever having to settle on walking across the soil. RETFs are not going to inhale meals like a WTF. Mine perch out on the water dish or on the leaves right above the cricket bowl and some nights only one will be out then the next night the other frog is out. Just try to have the crickets smaller than the distance between the frog eyes so they are easier for your frog to eat.

Gets some pics up so others can suggest possible changes.

You also want to ensure a 60 percent daytime (while lights are on) or slightly higher humidity level. Once the lights are out your humidity will rise since the lights are not burning off the humidity. You can cover part of the screen top with a piece of glass to help the humidity not escape so quickly also. i cover about 50 percent of my open tops and one tank needed 70 percent of the screen covered to keep the humidity up.

You should mist with declorinated tap water or spring water about twice a day and if your drying out too fast maybe more often. If you mist right before the meals are provided it might help with appetite also.

Again, as others suggested, get some pics posted :-)

[Heatheranne]

I have 3 retf's, btw .

[lisabug04]

wow! Excellent feedback! Thanx everyone! ok, so here's some (really bad) pics. it's the best i could do... but i just now covered about 80% of the top screen with saran wrap, so we'll see how that goes! ) i know the set up is SO not up to par, but that's going to be my goal! funds are extremely limited and with all the money going for crickets and superworms and wax worms (I have a chameleon as well!!) it's kinda hard to buy a tall vivarium right now, but i am definitley on the search!!!! and i'm pretty stoked to get it up and running!! so... tell me whatcha think, but play nice!! lol. oh, and the lights are just a really cool effect i put in under the water, just cuz it was, well, cool! lol.

[InfinitysDaughter]

Its rather possible that your baby actually IS moving around and being active at night. There nocturnal so you may never see her when shes awake. I remember one person on the forum said that she traced the outline of her frog on the outside of the tank, knew for a fact it moved around at night (I think the little bugger was rather noisy) and the next day found her frog in the exact spot as if it hadn't moved.

Petsmart has a cheep hydrometer for around 3$ but I'd suggest the double pac, a thermometer and hydrometer, because the cheep one is, well, cheep and isn't as accurate. The duel pac is 11$ and sometimes goes on petperks (sale) for under 10 (I think around 7$ but I cant be sure). Its the best investment you can make for your frogs because you know exactly how humid and what temp the tank is.

You said that your frog isn't showing any signs of sickness right? Are you finding poop and are the crickets being eaten? To be sure there getting eaten either have a separate tank (a small critter keeper is perfect for this) to feed in (have to do that with my green sometimes to be sure he is eating) or get a small porcelain or glass bowl (crickets cant climb out so if there gone you know they've been eaten). Look in the bird and small animal sections of your pet store. They often have small dishes like this (again, plugging work (X3), I know petsmart has rabbit dishes that are perfect).

Honestly I think you have a nice tank IMO. Maybe a smaller water dish (the Tupperware bowl is the water dish right?). The size is pretty good but it seems high. If your able, just use scissors to cut it down to only about a half an inch to an inch tall to be sure your frog can get in and out easily. Even though they can climb up things easily, if its wet they do have a hard time climbing (after I mist sometimes Percy tries to climb up the glass walls of his tank and just slides back down). What size is the tank? I cant tell if its 12x12x12 or 12x12x18. If it is the smaller, I dont see it being a huge problem. You only have one frog and red eyes dont get huge. My green is thriving in his 12x12x12 (so much so he sings every day ). I've found places to hide are more important then a lot of up space. Percy has a small pagoda (meant for fish X3) with a ledge inside he sits on and a large leaf plant in one corner that reaches to the top of the tank that he was actually sleeping on for 3 days and I didn't find him (he blended in so well) and a few other things that engage his hunting instinct with his crickets (places for the crickets to hide where he has to flush them out and stalk them). Your hollow log and the large vine in the corner look wonderful (as long as the leaves are large enough and strong enough to support your frogs weight).


If you really want to see if your baby is out and about at night I'd set an alarm to get you up at about 2 or 3 am and check the tank without turning on the lights. If hes still in the same place he is in the day time then maybe you do have a problem but I'm willing to bet he'll be wondering about happy as a lark.

[Heatheranne]

Your tank looks fine. You just need to add some broad leafed plants that are smooth and safe. They live to sleep on or under them. Even a stand of pothos would be great. You can get a vine and twist it up and around and the pothos will grow up it. PM me if you'd like.

~Heather

[lisabug04]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!! ) Greatly Appreciated!!

[lisabug04]

I have another question, which I am unable to find thruout this site... how on earth do i drain water from my enclosure without having to re-do everything?!? i'm reading about false bottoms which is a great idea and I want to try it, but there would still be stagnant water at the bottom... how would I get rid of that?

Thx!
Lisa

[Heatheranne]

You use a siphon/suction tube. Create a hole somewhere with a cover that can be lifted to drain the water.

The piece in the corner just lifts or slides to put the siphon in. Very easy .

[lisabug04]

Thank you!

[Heatheranne]

Any time

[Heatheranne]

I just put a "potted" plant there so I can just lift it out or scootch it sideways, then put it back and recover the pot with substrate.