Estivation problem?

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

For a while now, Peggy's been trying to estivate constantly, even though I keep her substrate moist. I'll dig her up, water her and feed her, and back down she goes. Can anyone help me out here? Feel free to ask questions and stuff.

[GrifTheGreat]

For a while now, Peggy's been trying to estivate constantly, even though I keep her substrate moist. I'll dig her up, water her and feed her, and back down she goes. Can anyone help me out here? Feel free to ask questions and stuff.

This is not uncommon. I have a female that wants to sleep all the time. Best thing to do is just let her for the most part. Check on her every so often to be sure she is ok. You can lessen the substrate depth so that she can only cover her back and not her head, but mine I wake her about once a month sometimes twice. She will normaly soak, shed, eat, poop, throw a fit because she wants a boyfriend and then goes back down. As long as she doesn't lose weight and appears in good health she will be fine.

Go ahead and answer the questions in the Trouble in The Enclosure thread just so I know how everything is treated and setup.

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

Honestly she's been estivating so much, and so often, that she's lost some weight. And she hasn't been growing as much as she probably should. I've been thinking I should keep her in very shallow water until she grows and fills out some more. Any thoughts on that?
1. 10-gallon tank
2. 1 Ceratophrys cranwelli x cornuta
3. Honestly, humidity varies. I've been trying to keep it in the 70's.
4. Temp varies somewhat as well. Mostly in the upper 70's-mid 80's.
5. She only gets dechlorinated water.
6. Substrate is a mix of topsoil and coco fiber.
7. Her setup consists of the dirt mix and a water dish.
8. She mostly eats night crawlers.
9. Vitamins/Calcium about every other feeding.
10. No special lighting-just an infrared lamp.
11. Infrared lamp is being used to heat the tank.
12. She last ate yesterday.
13. I found poop yesterday as well.
14. I'll upload a picture when I get a better chance.
15. She's probably close to a year old.
16. I've owned her since November 2012.
17. She's captive bred.
18. She mainly gets night crawlers, with the addition of crickets once or twice a week.
19. She's only handled when absolutely necessary.
20. The enclosure is in a low-traffic area.
21. She's misted and re-watered as needed, and I check for poop whenever I feed her and do maintenance.

[Mentat]

Hello Brett! Looks like you are doing OK with enclosure . Did you tried Colleen/Jerrod idea of leaving just a shallow substrate layer so frog can't cover it's head?

[GrifTheGreat]

You can offer her more fattening foods too when she eats. Foods like Hornworms, Silkworms, pinky mice, or fuzzy mice. These foods are good for weight gain, but rodents of course need to be used sparingly. Samurai Pacman Food can help some with weight gain as well. You may want to raise the humidity some. Cornuta like high humidity and since your frog is a Fantasy she may have a lot of needs similar to Cornuta. 80% to 85%.

[Teh Frog Whisperer]

I've been keeping Peggy in a Kritter Keeper with about a half inch of water since the last time I posted, and she's doing great. Her colors are brighter, she's more alert and active, and she eats like a hog. When she's not eating, she's trying to eat me through the walls of her container.

[Mentat]

Frog reaction to a water environment is strange since neither parent is aquatic. Couple things to watch for is that, when terrestrial frogs like Pacmans and ABFs are raised in an aquatic environment with slippery botom, their rear legs can get malformed. Also, make sure it's getting CA and vitamin supplements. Good luck !