Worried about my poor Master Bellatinizer

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Thank you for your response. I should have posted on here about 8 or 9 months ago when he started turning dark but he has always retained his weight, gone back to what i would call a partial green, and eaten well. I didn't think much of it since my other toads change dark sometimes, but ALWAYS go back to normal after a few days. But Master Bellatinizer just recently began losing mass though and seldom eats. Most of the time now he misses his food and gives up. That is what scares me.

As for the water, it is bottled Spring Water. I will get a filtration system if that is what I need. I will wait to hear back regarding how frequently I should be changing the water.

And for the supplements, I used to use them a LOT LOT and I was warned that liver damage can occur if used too frequently, so i got paranoid and cut down quite a bit.

But what about his constant mouth popping? He opens his mouth and closes it real fast, several times a minute, especially when i hold him, as if his jaw is bothering him or something. And what would cause his chin to stop doing that up and down motion? I call it chewing gum because i don't know the proper terminology, and he does not do that anymore and I have never seen a frog or newt NOT do that. I really hope he isn't in pain, and I have no way of knowing..??

I will put him inside the temporary holding tank I have. I am picking up crickets tomorrow anyway so I will watch for poop when he eats, if he does.

Thanks.

[Mentat]

Spring bottled water is good if really from a spring. Sadly some localities allow companies to add chemicals to water and you need to check on that; or use dechlorinated tap. For water changes what I would do is get a small aquarium gravel siphon kit (with squeeze start bulb) and drain the water into a bucket daily and replace with dechlorinated tap or un-adultered spring.

If frog eats let us know, if it eats poorly could dust it's food with Fluker's Repta Boost. Also, have you tried to feed it night crawlers? IRT supplements and if you fear organ damage, at least dust 1 cricket with CA/D3 2x and vitamins 1X weekly on different days with skip day in between.

Not sure what the constant mouth popping indicates and can't ID frog ailment so far. Would like to get some extra nourishment in it; hence the supplement and Repta Boost recommendation .

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Thanks for all your help so far. We live out in the sticks so we do have well water. Are there any hidden concerns regarding using that?

Siphon kit sounds like a genius idea for getting around hauling the tank around each time for cleaning. I really wish I would have thought of that ages ago!!

Master Bellatinizer just ate 2 waxworms of decent size. Slightly dusted with reptivite-calcium/D3 powder which mostly came off once the worms got a little wet, but he managed to eat them both. He seemed very hungry and had a difficult time catching them. Of course I was there to assist him with tweezers. Whatever problem he is having with his mouth is causing him to end up knocking the food out of his mouth with his arms each time. It seems he has trouble getting his tongue to stick? Just from a general observation, he seems more likely to spit the dusted food out than not.

He has been separated in this tiny carryout in a 1/4inch of water with a few fake leaves for the moment. I left out the moss because I will never see if he poops with that in there. I also gave him the tip of the heating pad, so he can decide if he wants to be warm or cool.


I will update as soon as I see poop. Or if I don't see poop within a couple days. Whichever comes first.

What are signs of organ damage in a firebelly toad? I really hope we can rule that out as a factor..??

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Update. I guess he never actually swallowed the second waxworm. He has since spit it out and only retained one. This doesn't seem good.

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UPDATE: Okay, he pooped what appears to be normal at first. But then he also seems to have pooped out about an 80% digested waxworm. Meaning, I could still tell it was a waxworm. Could he not be digesting properly?? What are the next steps now that we know he is pooping?

Thanks.