Ornate's appettite seems not so good.

[NialR35]

Hey,

I've had this baby ornate for about three weeks and I'm kinda paranoid about his eating behavior...I don't know if it's because I compare him to how aggresive my pyxie eats or something but my ornate seems VERY lazy, only eats 4 night crawler pieces with the fourth one being forced into his mouth because he just doesn't want to go for it.

He is a little over 2 inches SVL, temps are always perfect and so it humidity ( 82F day/ 78F night constant 80% humidity), has a perfect 12 hour day/night cycle, and I even taped a small screen cover in the front bottom part of his critter carrier so he cannot see the outside too much(all other 3 sides are also covered). He has been pooping once and week, and looks chubby, bright skinned and overall healthy......BUT he RARELY moves, sometimes in the same place for over two days, when feeding time comes he grabs the first piece but each attempt has less effort. I feel that he should be eating a lot more...

What should I do? I use the 15 min rule but he takes forever to eat and I don't think he is eating as much as he should. He does seem to like the night crawlers so could it be that he gets full with 3 pieces at this size? I could swear my pyxie who is smaller eats more than he does. Should I something else to see if he eats more? I just really hate crickets and Dubia roaches are illegal in FL, cannot find locusts and every other insect as far as I know is used for a treat and not staple. Also he has not really grown much in three weeks, I would not say he doubled his size, but he probably grew 1.5x his original size or maybe a bit less.

Should I move him to my 18x18x18 exo terra already? Maybe he wants more substrate to burrow even though I put about 2 inches of substrate in his medium critter carrier which should be enough for him but he never burrows, just sits there lol.

Any tips would help IF I'm doing something that I should not, if not then let me know if this is normal.

[flybyferns]

I'll send an expert a link to this post.
Lynn

[danfrog]

Maybe tweak the temps a little. I do 84 for the day and 77 at night. Are you feeding at night? Pacman are very lazy. Mojo might move an inch to grab prey. When he is full he moves back an inch right back to where he was. The nightcrawler pieces might be too small for the effort for him also, maybe try bigger chunks. A half hour before I feed Mojo I always spike the humidity up by spraying everything down.

[NialR35]

Yea, I do all that. He's just either extremely lazy or I don't know what it is. The pieces I give him are a bit longer than the distance between his eyes and I give him the bigger worms too because they are thicker.

[Bombina Bob]

I wouldnt wory if he's not moving much, Pacmans are notoriously lazy and only
move when they want. i would say that it is harder to keep temp and humidity
in a critter keeper for pacman frogs though.

[Mentat]

At 2 in. my Strawberry would eat one small to medium size (couple in. long) night crawler in one feeding. By that size she could handle them whole and slowly chew them in. Your frogs sit and wait behavior is normal for species. Don't expect your frog to eat like a Pixie; it won't .

[GrifTheGreat]

Nials how big is your Ornate? Sitting in a single place for up to a week of more is normal for these frogs. Eating 3 night crawlers per night is actually a decent meal. You are all in a panic over nothing.

Now I know all you hear about Ornates is that they are huge eating machines and that can be true, but the majority of them are laid back and lazy. This is normal of all Horned Frog species. Do not force the frog to eat anything because you are just causing unnecessary stress by doing so.

[GrifTheGreat]

Also you cannot compare the appetite of a Horned Frog to a Pyxi. They are not even in the same family.

Also to add that a Pyxi will become substantially larger than your Ornate. Not every individual frog has the same appetite even within the same species. Like people they each have their own prefferences and personalities. Keep that in mind.

[GrifTheGreat]

Sorry. I have no idea how this thread became closed. I reopened it .

[NialR35]

Nials how big is your Ornate? Sitting in a single place for up to a week of more is normal for these frogs. Eating 3 night crawlers per night is actually a decent meal. You are all in a panic over nothing.

Now I know all you hear about Ornates is that they are huge eating machines and that can be true, but the majority of them are laid back and lazy. This is normal of all Horned Frog species. Do not force the frog to eat anything because you are just causing unnecessary stress by doing so.

He's just a little over 2 inches. He does not eat 3 night crawlers though, he eats three to four PIECES of night crawler. Well from what you all say, every thing seems okay with my baby ...I guess he is just one of those super lazy bulldog-type ornates. I will just feed for 15 mins and stop when he doesn't go for his food anymore. I guess watching my pyxie eat made me see this abnormal hahahaha.

I was also planning to buy them some treats next week, I was thinking between waxworms and hornworms. Might wait for the hornworms because I heard they get HUGE really fast and I don't like I can cut those like I do with night crawlers.

Thanks guys!

[Mentat]

Fifteen minute rule really does not apply to frogs that eat fast or eat a big prey. My previous ABF and Pacman get done eating in a couple minutes, 5 at the most. Try feeding it a piece of worm around 2 in. long. and see if it will bite and gobble it up.

[NialR35]

But isn't that too long considering the size of my frog? Will a large piece cause impaction?

He usually goes to for the first two pieces then he kinda stops trying.

[Mentat]

A night crawler has no exoskeleton and can't cause impaction.

[danfrog]

He's just a little over 2 inches. He does not eat 3 night crawlers though, he eats three to four PIECES of night crawler. Well from what you all say, every thing seems okay with my baby ...I guess he is just one of those super lazy bulldog-type ornates. I will just feed for 15 mins and stop when he doesn't go for his food anymore. I guess watching my pyxie eat made me see this abnormal hahahaha.

I was also planning to buy them some treats next week, I was thinking between waxworms and hornworms. Might wait for the hornworms because I heard they get HUGE really fast and I don't like I can cut those like I do with night crawlers.

Thanks guys!

You can halt hornworms growth by sticking them in the fridge overnight I do believe.

[SCF]

You can halt hornworms growth by sticking them in the fridge overnight I do believe.

You are correct danfrog.

[NialR35]

So then its safe to give him larger night crawler pieces without causing impaction? I was cutting about the distance between his eyes but being that he only throws 2-3 efforts at grabbing food...its safe to give larger pieces?

[SCF]

With my baby pyxie, I'm just cutting them in 3-4 pieces. It takes them no problem. Like Carlos said, they have no exoskeleton, they will not cause impaction.

[NialR35]

Well great news! I just finished feeding my ornate and he ate around one big night crawler into three large pieces and got full in 5 mins hahaha but at least I know he got well fed. I think my problem was cutting too small....yet I was doing the distance between his eyes. Maybe he likes big butts and he cannot lie

[SCF]

lol =)

[GrifTheGreat]

Well great news! I just finished feeding my ornate and he ate around one big night crawler into three large pieces and got full in 5 mins hahaha but at least I know he got well fed. I think my problem was cutting too small....yet I was doing the distance between his eyes. Maybe he likes big butts and he cannot lie

The distance between the eyes rule is mostly for foods like crickets and roaches. Feeders with exoskeletons that if to large can cause the frog to choke or become impacted. Night Crawlers are all flesh so no worries.