Toad can't seem to catch his food, suggestions?

[wolfiea1]

Hello for the last 2 weeks or so, my toad seems to be having some trouble catching his food out of the blue. He looks fine and acts the same, he just can't seem to stick anything. He still catches some every now and then, but most of the time he misses or they don't stick. Could he be developing vision problems? Is he sick? Thanks for any inputs.

[cobra1264]

Couple of questions
what species?
how old?
is his tank big enough?
is he shedding?
is the humidity (if needed) correct?
Is he eating a diverse diet of bugs?
Does he have enough hiding spots?
is he the only one in the habitat?
is their discoloration in the eyes?
what kind of substrate are you using?
what kind of cleaners have you used for cleaning his cage?

[wolfiea1]

He's an American toad
I'm not sure about age because we found him, but he was about the size of a loonie when we got him, and I've had him since September.
The tank is a 5 gallon, but I take him out to feed because the crickets/worms hide before he can get to them in there.
I realized he started shedding around the time of the post, but he's mostly cleared up now.. just his toes have a little skin left.
His tank is always really warm and moist.
I feed him crickets and sometimes meal worms, but he's been having worms for the last couple weeks.
He has a cave to hide, but he usually just buries himself.
He's the only one in the tank.
His eyes are crystal clear and same as usual.
I believe the substrate is Exo Terra plantation soil?
I haven't used any cleaners other than hot water and cloth.

He seems to be completely fine other than the fact that he has trouble catching his food all of the sudden.

[Lija]

It can be short tongue syndrome. Are you supplementing food? With multivitamins in particular?

[wolfiea1]

I dust the crickets every once in a while with calcium supplement that I had left over from when I had geckos, about once or twice a week. I'm thinking that's actually what it might be, because watching him, he hits the bug but the bug just doesn't stick at all.. Should I start giving him the calcium more? What else does he need?

[Lija]

You need to get multivitamins. These are not calcium/d3 but it should say on a bottle that these are multivitamins. Try to dust every feeding for a week, see how it'll go. If ok, then dust food once a week, and fresh ca/vitd3 in between. Depending how frequently you feed, if not every day do the following:
first 7 feedings - multivitamins
then:
1. Nothing
2. Ca/d3
3. Nothing
4. Ca/d3
5.nothing
6. Multivitamins
repeat the cycle 1-6 further on.

Offer nightcrawlers instead of mealworms.

[wolfiea1]

Okay, I'll go to the pet store tomorrow and update on how he's doing after a few days.. Thanks.

[victorsgrace]

Hey I have the same problem with one of my Bufo bufo guys- a month ago it was so bad he didn't get anything to eat for a week, because he simply couldn't get it in his mouth. I did dust and tried dusting every feeding for him, with nightcrawlers (their stable food here), but he'd spend so much time working with it, that he'd rub off all the dust and actually just eat a little dust and no worm. Cutting the worm up didn't help either.

In the end I went out and caught some nightcrawlers and bugs from our forested area nearby. The feed here is gutfed with vitamins, but after he ate those it's now completely gone.

There's always the debate of wildcaught feedings or not, but with him it help. So I supplement with that now and dust.

Nice schedule, Lija, I'll try that myself.

[wolfiea1]

Sorry about not updating. I thought all was well, but apparently I was wrong. :/ I bought both powders and started dusting regularly, he was doing pretty good with eating until a little while ago. He tries to catch his food but gives up after a few tries of not being able to catch them. I'm getting desperate.. I tried force feeding him with the card trick (sliding a card into his mouth to open it and drop the food in) but he really doesn't like it and it's almost impossible to get anything in there. I think he might be to small for it too work.. I even tried mixing some of the powder in his water thinking that he'd absorb it while soaking, but that was just a hunch.. He's not going to get better if I can't get the powder into him. Is there any force feeding suggestions I can do?

[victorsgrace]

No, and you shouldn't give him a "powder" bath. You're very likely to clogg up his pores and cause and infection. I think you should stop by for the vet to have him checked over to see if it's parasites or lack of minerals/vitamins going on with him.