My two yr old pacman is not eating, very skinny, solutions??

[Ponyo19]

I have two pacman frogs that are around two years old. Each are housed separately. Each enclosure was 10g, to try and see if it makes a difference, i have moved them each into their own 5.5g (today). Each enclosure has eco-earth as the substrate, each of them have a large but not too large water bowl, small plants to hide by (but not over crowded), backgrounds to feel enclosed and not overwhelmed by space, perfect heating and light (temp)... I have not changed up their diet, feed them the same variety i have since i got them two+ yrs ago. I haven't moved them or had anything happen to effect them in any way. This is the first time this has ever happened.
My male albino has started eating by tongs, so i have been feeding him diligently. My female green will not eat by tongs, ive rubbed her mouth, kept her in a container with food, tried many things, but she refuses to eat. Shes practically a skeleton and she is the worse of the two. I have even taken up soaking them in warm water to see if that will help with anything. I'm kind of desperate. I have quite a few pacman frogs, i have had them for quite a long time, these are the first two i have ran into that are just stubborn when it comes to eating.
Does ANYONE have any suggestions on how to plump them up? Like i said, ive tried different housing, they have many food samples to choose from, ive soaked them, etc... Im hoping someone has possibly a food that they might really take too that's out of the norm and that is healthy. Or maybe someone has a trick... Anything will help.
I work at a pet store, have much experience, and i have many reptiles of my own. Been a reptile owner for years.

[cjbage]

I am just a newbie when it comes to this but, how is your humidity? And have you tried earthworms? not red wrigglers, they leave a foul smelling mucus and some frogs will refuse those, but non dyed non scented ones, from like walmart bait section, the canadian ones ?

[Ponyo19]

Humidity is perfect. Like i said (not to be rude), i have several others. I've been doing this for awhile. I work at a pet store so ive tried both worms before. Doesn't like either, and forcing a worm isn't something i want to do. But thank you.

[DVirginiana]

Can you put some pictures of them up? Without more information it's hard to say what may be causing them not to eat...

Regardless, if the frog really looks like a skeleton then you are probably at the point where you'll have to try force-feeding regardless of whether you want to or not. I believe someone on here posted some sort of tutorial on how to safely force-feed awhile back? Don't know where the link is, but someone else will probably post it.

Also, you can try f/t silversides (the San Fransisco Bay Sally's Silversides seem to be the best/safest for animals that can be potentially sensitive to salt or thiaminase content). The strong smell will sometimes encourage them to eat. Not something to be used as a staple, but my pac gets them as treats occasionally.

[cranwelllover]

Remember not to use tap water (duh but can be overlooked). If they're stressed then a deeper substrate (I put mine in 4 inches) should be implemented. I have a background covering 3 sides of the 5 gallon tank so my cranwelli feels safe (gets stressed easy). Keep them in a dark place! Stress is one of the biggest killers! Please force feed them some earthworms...I'm sure after some time they should come around (if you take extra steps to lower stress). Barrack used to be really stressed but after taking some steps in lowering his stress and a few force feeding sessions, he came around! Good luck and if it doesn't seem to work after two weeks then see a vet cause it's prolly a disease...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GrifTheGreat]

Have you ever had them checked for worms or protozoa? Does their skin appear dry, are they burrowing down and keeping their eyes closed or squinted, any unusual bowel movements(runny, bloody, full of mucus), very foul smelling urine?

How long has this been going on? You will need to force feed the frog. Ultimately I really suggest a visit to the vet for an examination.

[MrsPacman]

First and foremost, you must consider what the others are asking - is it possible she has parasites, or is impacted and not eating due to that? If you aren't sure, then a vet is recommended, and these problems need to be addressed first. If you can confidently answer no, then you need to force feed. I have a frog that has not eaten since October. I gave him regular soaks, and still no luck. the end of Jan, I began force feeding once a week. At first, he just let it happen, but after a couple weeks, he would struggle (indicating to me he was regaining strength). I force fed and soaked regularly for about 6 weeks. Guess who's eating on his own and gaining weight? What I think happened with mine is that he aestivated over the winter, and failed to "wake up."

There are some videos on youtube on force feeding. What I did was place the frog in a corner, or blocked him from backing up with once hand. I mixed pacman food with water until it was roughly toothpaste consistency. (I recommend zoomed to get the gooey-ness) and loaded it into a syringe, without a needle. I rubbed his lips until he opened up - you have to be a little assertive to get them to open up, but remember that you are trying not to damage their little mouth. And squirt it in. If she's able to spit it out, then make the food mix thinner. Some is bound to be spit out, but as long as you got some in there, I called it a success.

I force fed and soaked him weekly in slightly elevated temp range 82-85. I think the combo was what helped, soaks did not work alone.

[cranwelllover]

Go to a pharmacy and get an oral syringe. It'll probably be free. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk