Help! Dumpy Suspected Illness!?

[IgbyKibbits]

To anyone that can help!

I started noticing over the weekend that one of my Dumpy frogs is not acting like normal. He usually sleeps right at the top of his tank, and when I located him, he was on a rock at the bottom with his mouth open (and eyes closed) almost like he was sleeping with his mouth open; hearing me, he did close his mouth, so I was hoping that he was just going through molting and as to not stress him, I left him alone. I've not noticed the mouth thing again, but from everything I can tell, he's not moved from that rock area for the past couple of days. Usually he is an active mover in that I find him sleeping in different locations each morning when I wake up. Even at night when I put in the crickets for feeding, I haven't seen him leap to attention like he usually did at feedings. He just seems very very lethargic. Besides that one incident earlier with the mouth, I've not noticed any other changes. I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time knowing whether or not he is eating. I've not noticed any change in his weight and there is another dumpy in the cage so when the crickets disappear, I don't know who the culprit is; I've been hesitant to disturb him by transferring him to quarantine to feed him in there because I don't want to stress him.

Here is some tank/frog info:
Tank: 35" Tall shared with another dumpy, same age/relative size (no change in that frog's beh.)
Temp: Gradiated 82 to 70 from dry side to wet side.
Humidity: 50 to 60%
Bottom 6" of tank divided into dry side of ground coconut and water side with waterfall/plants
Water: Treated with drops prior to tank introduction
Feedings: 4 to 5 crickets each night, gutloaded (these frogs are still juveniles - bought in October when about 1 1/2 inch long), sprinkled with calcium dust.

Final things: He's staying on the water side, sometimes a little submerged, sometimes not. Neither his skin (still green as before) nor underside has had any color change.

Thank you so much for any advice/help. I've been so worried, but it's hard when it's just a behavior change and nothing more noticeable.

[John]

Sorry to hear that your frog is having problems. From your list of conditions I can't see any obvious problems. Let's see what Kurt says but I think the verdict will be to bring him to an amphibian-savvy vet asap.

[Kurt]

Try feeding him in a seperate enclosure. Don't worry about stressing him out, as White's handle stress better than most frogs. Mine are always taken out of their tank and fed in a Rubbermaid box. They actually look forward to being placed in there. Decrease the frequency of feeding as well, just make sure its not a case of him just being full and overfed.

[IgbyKibbits]

Thank you for your suggestion! When I glanced in about an hour ago, he was awake so I fed him then to make sure that he was eating. He did, so that made me a little better, and he's finally moved locations to one of the higher trees (and out of the water), so that was a good sign.

I will try your suggestion of taking them out for feedings at night. To be frank, they are in quite an elaborate setup, so sometimes they are physically impossible to get to without taking branches/trees out. Lots of places for them to hide! At the beginning, since they were so young, I was trying to handle them as little as possible. As far as feeding, I was finding mixed reviews as to how many they should be getting a week given that they were juveniles. What I've been doing is the old "number of crickets that can fit length wise" a day routine. Any suggestions on what I should decrease it to?

Thank you again! I'll make sure to give updates. I appreciate your help!

[Kurt]

There is no real formula to how much you feed your frogs. You will have feel it out for yourself.If you will regularly feed them outside there enclosure, they will eventually seek you out come feeding time.

[IgbyKibbits]

Thank you! I will start keeping track of how much we are feeding them and feeling things out as we go along.

To follow up, I actually have a strange question. Igby (the one that has been behaving strangely) actually started croaking. This is the first time that he has done it. Do you think that perhaps his change in behavior has to do with him reaching this stage in development? For all other purposes, he has gone back to his normal behavior with the exception of the new calling each night. It seems to me that it is too much of a coincidence. Has anyone else noted behavioral changes shortly before this maturity?

Definitely interesting for us to watch, but wonderful to hear him finally using his little voice. Guess we are the proud parents of at least one little boy. ; ) Now we'll just have to wait for Kibbits to make his presence known. Let me know if you have had a similar experience!

And again, thank you for your suggestions! I'll certainly try them out.

[Kurt]

Has anyone else noted behavioral changes shortly before this maturity?

My frogs get embarrassed if their friends see them with me.

Seriously, everything seems fine and normal with your frogs. No worries.

[IgbyKibbits]

Touche! Guess I'll put away those naked baby pictures then. Haha!

Thanks for all your help (and sense of humor for a worried "new mom"!)

[Kurt]

You're welcome. Remember there's is a two drink minimum and don't forget to tip your waiters as well.

[IgbyKibbits]

Ha! I think those are rules I can easily follow