ok so here's the scoop: I have 29 toadlets, between 9 and 19 months old, and 5 of them appear bulimic. I feed all them chunks of earthworm and they all usually eat just fine. they all pig out, but 5 of them, 3 of who used to be underweight (and I call them recovered anorexic thinspo toadlets), binge on earthworm pieces. however, I have discovered they regurgitated all the food (after consuming it, not a thing where they hate the food and spit it out) and display a pinging-purging behavior pattern. i'm worried since they are starting to become emaciated again. I tried feeding them roaches today in the hopes new food would help, and I fed them limited food to discourage binging. is there anything else I can do to help these toadlets??
Re-establish their self-confidence?
I'm kidding, I have never heard of a frog exhibiting "bulimic" behavior. But if someone has- It may help to know if they are being hand fed, fed separately (individually or in groups) or in their enclosure, how long after they eat do you wait to reintroduce them to their population, and what exactly and how often you are feeding them.
I'm very new to frogs, so this could be completely wrong, but I know that humans and other animals will get sick after going along time without eating and then gorging themselves. Maybe feeding them smaller amounts of food, like you had done with the roaches, would help to keep the food down?
I would conduct fecals to check presence of parasites in toadlets. If they are together and $$ is an issue; probably need to do fecal test in one, since all in the "bulimic" group exhibit same symptoms.
As long as frog size is the same; if it comes positive, then only need to buy more medication to treat all frogs. If fecal is negative; then would try to continue offering much smaller portions every 3 hours or so.
Remember to take care of the enclosure and it will take care of your frog !
why would captive bred toadlets have parasites? I am keeping these 5 in the same conditions (and they r all separated btw) as the other 24 who r perfectly fine. I feed a few chunks of earthworm every other day. maybe they don't take earthworm pieces as readily. I will try small roaches for these 5 and if they continue to do badly I will do a parasite test.
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