Getting frustrated and worried

[ChrissyBee]

ok, first of all your temps are too low. 22-24C night =71-75F, day 27-29C is ok, so heat it more at night it should be around 25-26C. Big swing in temps day/night might force him to sense it is winter time.
next - cover 3 sides of the enclosure.

some frogs have harder time catching moving food, my male is one of those. they want to eat, can't get it easily, get discouraged, stop trying and are scared of tongs. so get a piece of nightcrawler and rub his lips a little, he may or may not eat it at first, but you gotta be persistent, he will get mad at some point, bite it and eat it but don't to annoy his too much right away, he might get scared. do it every day, at some point he will get tongs=food and will have no problems further on.

Thanks. Two sides of the enclosure are covered (hard to see int he pic) but I'll put something over another to see if it helps, and I'll check the temps again. I can leave the ceramic heater on all night as well, it will just mean less of a drop (if any) at night.

And yes, he has a hard time with moving food for sure - but at the same time needs movement. A live cricket can sit directly in front of his mouth, not moving and he wont' eat it. Then it will crawl, he may lunge and miss, and that's that. No eating.

He's not really afraid of the tongs, I often use them to push crickets toward him. I'll try a worm again. I have had them crawl over his mouth/face with no luck. It's frustrating but I'll keep at it.

[Lija]

no, don't let them crawl on his face, make him bite it, so just rub it on his lips, he'll learn

do you have a dimmer for your lamp? you can just dim it down a little for night.

[ChrissyBee]

No I've been looking locally for a thermostat with no luck, I'll have to order one. I know they work for heat pads, ceramic bulbs as well?

[Lija]

No I've been looking locally for a thermostat with no luck, I'll have to order one. I know they work for heat pads, ceramic bulbs as well?

home depot, 10$ lamp dimmer, it is not perfect, but sure will do. thermostat will work with anything, or you can get hydrotherm off ebay, its the cheapest way

[Silkmoth]

Maybe he has eye problems? Ive had several blind mantids in the past. One had a small sliver of an eye she could see with so I would use tweezers to hold her food where she could see it. The other I had to touch his face or raptors (claws) and he would grab it.
How do his eyes look?