Puck's terrible twos

[Lija]

Everything seems good given the changes you are making already! When he starts eating you will need to add multivitamin powder once a week.

Can you describe how exactly the feeding time looked like when he was eating, are you doing anything differently? Anyhow once you fix temps, leave him alone for a day and try to do exactly how you did when he was eating, don't annoy too much though. And please update us on a progress

[stopbuffering]

I did get the multivitamin the second week when I realized I had forgotten it. I had planned to give it to him a few days after he got the second calcium feeding, but of course that never happened. But yes, I will make sure to do that as well.

To feed him I usually had to find him, which involved gently feeling around with the scoop until I saw something move under the dirt. I uncovered him and he usually hopped out of his space. One by one I would catch a cricket and hold it in front of his face with tongs. He'd jump and catch them. Once he even jumped a few inches before I even got the cricket to his mouth. Sometimes for the last cricket I would just let it loose and drop it near him then "herd" it with my tongs to keep it close and he'd eventually catch it. He would eat about 3 or 4 before he'd bury himself when the next one came near, so I'd stop and leave him. I did try to feed him every day, and what I described above happened every other day. The other days he'd just rebury himself so I'd leave him alone.

[Lija]

You know what else you can do, you can take some dirt out so he can't burry himself fully, but the layer is just enough for him to burry himself with eyes sticking out. This way his stress levels will go down as you don't need to get him out of his hiding.

[stopbuffering]

That's a great idea. I'll see about getting some of the dirt out. Thank you.

[stopbuffering]

Sorry if you'd rather I not post twice in a row, but I wanted to provide a quick update:

Everything was set up last night and it was pretty smooth running. I actually woke up a few times during the night (not planned) and checked on Puck and the tank to make sure everything was fine, and it was. Also, I'd like to note, that last night was the first time he didn't completely bury himself. Ever since changing the light he has been only burying himself up to his eyes, instead of hiding himself completely. I'm going to try and feed him tonight.

I did have a quick question about vitamins and the like. I have the ZooMed Pacman Frog Food. Hopefully I can get him used to eating from the tongs again (he didn't seem to have a problem with them before, I just didn't own the food when he was eating) so I can start adding that to his feeding. From what I've read, it can basically substitute insects, but I don't plan to do that. I'm just wondering if I fed Puck this food twice a week if it would provide him with the vitamins he needs.

Also, is it even good stuff? I bought it partially because if I went away for a weekend and needed someone to take care of him I know a few people who would, but they'd prefer to feed him the frog food and not worms (though they'd feed him worms if that's the only option). Thanks!

This is the website that shows the ingredients

[Lija]

Yes that stuff is ok to feed occasionally, myself I prefer samurai pac food for these very occasional days when I'm out of worms in a fridge. They can write whatever they want to make it more attractive for customers, but real thing will always be the best.

no, you still need to get multivitamins, the best staple for them is nightcrawlers, they have the best ca:P ratio and are easiest to digest.

That sounds great that he is not burying himself anymore, meaning he feels safer and ready to chomp on some food. Try to offer some tonight, hope he will go for it.

[stopbuffering]

He ate! I was feeling so sick because he wouldn't eat even after correcting the temps and humidity. I started trying to find a Vet that I could talk to (not that I don't love your advice, but I was hoping for someone I could visit and talk with and possible bring Puck to make sure nothing else was wrong). But he finally ate! He ate a few pieces of nightcrawler. I am still going to find a vet, since it wouldn't hurt knowing where one is, and I'll probably let them know what happened just in case this was a fluke or something, but I'm so happy right now. And by he just ate, I mean I finished feeding him 5 minutes ago.

I was also able to get a few more pictures of him if you were interested.





Edit: I did also want to add that I have found a number of vets that will work with amphibians around me, I just need to figure out which ones are worth the drive. I'm also waiting to hear back from two (but it's the weekend, so I probably wont hear anything until tomorrow).