Red eyed tree frog wont eat!

[Chaser]

My red eyed tree frog will not eat! This is more or less expected from me because I put a feeding bowl in his tank and he doesn't hunt for crickets anymore. He had a feeding bowl in his tank before but I ran out of the plastic cups I used for it. ( I replaced the cups for sanitary reasons. ) But now that i have more, he just doesn't eat. The bowl is in the back of the tank and is a few inches into the soil, so it doesn't tip over. The crickets are appropriately sized too. Is it possible he can't find the dish? But he is an extremely avid explorer so I want to doubt that.

[Chaser]

And I have had him for a year or so.. This is just out of the blue.

[Heatheranne]

Hmmm...I think he should be able to find it. Has anything else in the tank changed? How does he look? Is he still following the same schedule (day/night, times for tank chores, etc.)?

[Chaser]

He is still very active! Nothing in the tank has changed too. He is his usual green color. But another problem is that the crickets are growing to fast. I only get about 10 crickets out of 30. If he even eats. But anyway, he hasn't eaten for about a week and a half.

[mrzoggs]

does he look lethargic? is he losing weight? can you post a picture of him and his enclosure? in my opinion red eyes shouldnt be "very active" mine do not move at all until all the lights go out. have you recently put him in a new tank? when its night time does he walk around at all? water dish?

[Chaser]

He looks fine. He is only active when the lights are out like any other frog, and he walks around like there is no tomorrow! He has not lost any weight either, and he visits the water dish every night too. This is what baffles me, he seems fine but he doesn't eat..

[Chaser]

And the lights are on 12 hours from 7am to 7pm everyday, it been like this since I got him.

[mrzoggs]

not sure. he might be fine. email dr frye for a second opinion. maybe get a fecal examination done if you havent done so already. mine didnt eat for a week or so at one point. after a week one of mine ate. after a week and a couple days i ended up force feeding the other 1 cricket and havent had problems since. id watch the weight and make sure everything else stays normal with your frog. i wouldnt put too many crickets in the bowl because i think when i do that, my frog things whatever is in there is too big. and i use small pyrex bowls from the dollar store. 3 for $1. so every time it gets dirty i just put a new one in and throw the other one in the dishwasher.

[philgarcia]

Try feeding him live again, it is instinct they have, its next to impossible to get rid of an animals instinct, try letting him hunt for the food for once... Also if he is pooping he's eating, but honestly i would try a live cricket again, frogs love chasing the food they eat...

[Chaser]

Try feeding him live again, it is instinct they have, its next to impossible to get rid of an animals instinct, try letting him hunt for the food for once... Also if he is pooping he's eating, but honestly i would try a live cricket again, frogs love chasing the food they eat...

The crickets i feed my frogs are live.. Where did you get that silly!?

[philgarcia]

Also what is the temperature during the day and humidity, and what is it at night, does he have places to hide and climb... he could be stressed how long have you had him for?

[Chaser]

He really is not showing any signs of stress, and the day temp is 79, night is 74. The humidity is 80%. He has many places to climb and hide, and I have had the little fellow for a year.

[mrzoggs]

haha yeah i was confused for a second about you not feeding live crickets... I had to scroll up and read again but then realized you said you fed him live. umm. ive heard you can pull the bag legs off the crickets and they cant run as fast. and make sure your feeding small crickets. they shouldnt make any noise. at least my small crickets dont make noise. you can try a force feed if and when your frog starts to look lethargic and isnt acting right. but for now im sure hes fine. also email dr frye.

[Chaser]

Okay, I do have a question about force feeding. I did have to force feed one of my geckos in the first weeks that I had him. But it was easy as after the first few crickets I could hand feed him. But I have never force feed any of my frogs. Could someone please explain how one might do this to me?

[mrzoggs]

there is a nice youtube video on it. just youtube force feeding frog.

i used a credit card. i picked up my frog in a wet paper towel and held it inside that. it was squirming so i had to squeeze a little. but not too tight. it took me a minute to get a good hold on it. after i got a hold of it with one hand, i used my other hand with a cleaned credit card and used the corner to gently push into the frogs mouth and open it up. then had my girlfriend throw a cricket in there. it swallowed it like normal. some people say syringe feeding but i suggest having a vet or someone with experience show you how because you can accidently get it into the frogs lungs and cause problems. if you dont have anyone to help you. try using your thumb to hold a cricket ontop of the credit card. then when you get the mouth open lift your thumb up and let the cricket slide in. i would only do 1 cricket and see where that gets you. then just put him back in the tank. the key to doing it is to keep your frog under as little stress as possible. good luck and let me know how it goes