Pacific Tree Frog- Should I be worried??

[Megs5384]

Ok, I'm sure there is probably another post somewhere on this site that is similar to this, but it's late, and I don't want to search for one tonight! So here's my issue:

This past Christmas (2012) we somehow managed to bring home a Pacific tree frog in our Christmas tree. How he stayed put through us cutting it down, dragging it up the hill, putting it through the binding machine, setting it up at home and getting 3 strands of lights on it, I'll never really know, but somehow, he did. The kids were thrilled and we decided to keep him. We got him a nice enclosure and he's got plenty of climbing and hiding places along with a nice sized soaking pool. He's been a pretty happy little frog. He's also been very vocal, making his presence known at least once a day, everyday. Until recently. It's been about 10 days since he's made any sounds other than a little chirp that he makes when he catches a cricket. We're starting to get a little concerned.

We have tried to think of what could be causing it, but the only things that we've come up with were that it started within a day or two of us getting a new batch of crickets; or the water we are using for his pool and to mist him. As far as the crickets, we buy from the same store all the time, so I don't think anything would be different as far as where they come from, unless the store changed their supplier. We feed the crickets with Fluker's and give carrots as a water/additional food source per the recommendation of lady at the pet store. Hmm.. Now that I think about it, the new batch we got was the first one we used carrots with. Great.... so now I have a new variable... Any thoughts on that one? And with the water, we use tap water and are on city water. Could that be an issue? I didn't even think about it until just this last week, but I know our water is treated. Should I switch to distilled?

Anyway, so those are the things that I've come up with that maybe making him sick. But I don't actually know if he's sick. What's normal and what's not as far as him being vocal?

[flybyferns]

Hello,
Welcome to Frog Forum !
Wow -that's some story ! He is a little survivor !

2 VERY important things that should be changed immediately!
1- your frog needs a regular schedule of dusted crickets with a calcium and vitamin supplements or it will develop MBD ( metabolic bone disease) from the lack of calcium. That little squeak you hear when he grabs a cricket could be an early symptom of MBD? Use the calcium daily for a few weeks to get a good start on correcting this. Since he has not had vitamins use them 2 times a week for a few weeks . Then you can switch to vits 1X weekly and calcium a few times a week.
Both of these supplements are commonly found at most larger pet retailers:

http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm#Ultrafine Calcium

http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm

2-You DO NOT want to continue to use tap water without de-chlorinating it. The chlorine in the water will eventually kill your frog as they absorb it through their skin. Purchase any amphibian safe (tap water) de-chlorinator, It's simple to use. ie Aquatize This de-chlorinator needs to be in a soaking dish at all times that is changed daily and not about the frogs's chin. You can review the care sheet below-- I do not believe additional water is necessary except for the a very important soaking dish.

Here is information and a review of a proper set up.
A care sheet for Pacific :
Pacific Tree Frog

Lynn

[CJ PELCHER]

I couldn't have said it any better LYNN!!

[Megs5384]

Thanks for the advise. He's always done the chirp when catching the crickets, so I don't think that's really anything but I"ll certainly see if it stops when we make the changes.
So should I use the vitamins and calcium in place of, or in combination, with the Flukers? The Flukers says it's high calcium, so I don't want to OD him on calcium as I'm sure that will cause problems of it's own.
And instead of buying the De-chlorinater could I just buy distilled water?

[deeishealthy]

Trust me, the dechlorinator will save you hundreds of dollars in distilled water. Besides that, you don't want to use distilled for your frog to soak in. Distilled water has zero minerals in it, and frogs need minerals and such. They get them via soaking thru their skin. Spring water ($$$$) or dechlorinated tap water is best. The dechlorinator is like six bucks and it only takes a couple drops to do a whole gallon of tap water. Totally worth it and absolutely necessary.