Handfeed White tree frogs everyday?

[Ava Golden]

Hi,

I used to always handfeed my two WTF since they were babies because I am always worried that they swallow substrate while chasing (I read once that they could die if they do and it is not an option to take that risk).

I already try to leave the crickets free in the terrarium but always had bad experiences, like the crickets hidding and dying under the substrat or in the terrarium decorations and my frogs couldn't manage to eat them.

Also had bad experiences of crickets escaping in the house, even if the terrarium seems to be well close.


I try to remove substrat and put a carpet so the crickets cannot hide but I had to replace it several times a weeks as my frog pee on it and it began to stink.


It's been 4 years that I feed them that way but that is not very convenient as I always have to stay awake until late in the night because the wake up only when it's dark. It also take a lot of time because I have to feed both and they take few minutes between each crickets.

Is anyone lives similar situation?

It begin complicated when I have to be away from home for a few days as I don't have a lot of person in my entourage who is willing to feed frogs!

I already tried in the past the feeding bowl put that was not a success as the cricket, either escape from the bowl, or got crush under one of my frog sitting on them...

Thanks a lot!

[elly]

You don't have to feed them every day, (not saying that's what you're doing- I can't tell.) But it's better for them to have a day or two between feedings to digest.

you could try conditioning them to wake up earlier by waking them up early in the evening and offering them crickets then. Mine usually wake up around 6pm because that's when I feed them.

[Ava Golden]

You don't have to feed them every day, (not saying that's what you're doing- I can't tell.) But it's better for them to have a day or two between feedings to digest.

you could try conditioning them to wake up earlier by waking them up early in the evening and offering them crickets then. Mine usually wake up around 6pm because that's when I feed them.

I feed them every other day but sometimes every day since they take a long time between each cricket, I sometimes give them only 2 or 3 crickets per session because after that, they refuse to eat more, except if I insist a lot or wait couples if minutes then try again.

[HerpetologyBarbie]

I personally play music and mist them to wake them up. I feed my other reptiles and come back when they're all up and about. I tweezer feed too every third day and as much as they will eat.

You could try putting them in a tub each with holes in it, chucking some crickets in there with your frogs and check in on them to make sure they're hunting and eating a satisfactory amount. That way you can do other things in the mean time before putting them back in their enclosure before bed.

[Ava Golden]

I personally play music and mist them to wake them up. I feed my other reptiles and come back when they're all up and about. I tweezer feed too every third day and as much as they will eat.

You could try putting them in a tub each with holes in it, chucking some crickets in there with your frogs and check in on them to make sure they're hunting and eating a satisfactory amount. That way you can do other things in the mean time before putting them back in their enclosure before bed.

Thank you,

haha I find funny that you spray them to wake them a little bit! Us humans would sure not love that!

putting them separately in a small empty terrarium is a good idea, I already tried it once when one of my wtf wasn't feeling well, but it wasn't a success. I will maybe try again but I also would like to try again the bowl feed

[irThumper]

Do you have them on a 12/12 lighting schedule? You could try accustoming them to an earlier on/off schedule. My guys are lights on 7 am and off 7 pm and everyone is usually awake and fed by 9 pm. I hand feed, bowl feed and loose feed, depending on the individual frogs and the tank set up. My newest youngest pair of white's tree frogs, Bok and Choi, actually wake up about an hour or so before the lights go out, so I go ahead and feed them when they are awake... Bok likes to chase his crix around the cage, so I toss his in loose. Choi, on the other hand, prefers to go eat his out of the bowl, and is always waiting on the rim for me to dump them in. Bok & Choi are on paper towel substrate with artificial plants, a pvc hide, a textured round glass cricket bowl, water dish, and a square glass "cave" in a (for now) 12"x12"x18" Exo-Terra. My Amazon Milk frogs used to bowl feed, but they have become so spoiled they refuse to eat that way most of the time (sometimes they still do) and insist I hand feed them each cricket! They are on reptile carpet (I just rinse it in hot water, qive it a quick dip in 10% bleach solution, then soak the heck out of it in extra dechlored water every time it's cleaned) and have pvc hides, a square glass cave, a big glass casserole dish "pond", fake plants, and an upended 2.5 gallon tank with a water dish on top in a 18"x24"x24" Exo-Terra. My other guys have similar set ups. Little Jelly Bean eats what I throw in front of him, and if it gets away he hunts it down (he's on paper towels), Lucy prefers her crickets handed to her (though she will bowl feed), Shirley and Martha both hand feed or loose feed (they have outgrown their cricket bowl) but Shirley has pre-existing digestive issues from a past coccidiosis infection, so if she eats too many crickets, or they are too large, she will irritate her gut and she will pass bloody mucousy stool (she was tested clear of parasites). I need to try to limit her crickets and hand feed them to her, while Martha prefers to hunt hers down and gobble them up, so dinner time can be the challenge with the two of them in the same tank (they are on paper towels too). My other problem child is Honey-Lime... he also suffers from digestive issues due to coccidiosis (got him and Shirley together), and he has to be compelled to eat or he won't touch anything. Found this out after his tank companion, Lucy, looked like she was ready to explode while Honey kept getting thinner-- she was eating everything! So Honey is taken out and made to eat directly by hand. He refuses to eat more than 1 cricket at a time (and I have to generally take the hind legs off) every other day or two, so I have to make sure the crickets are gut loaded on "Super food", which I mixed up from Fluker's dry hi cal cricket chow, Waggoner's color free fish flakes, Reptoboost, and Zoomed PacMan food.

[Ava Golden]

Hi,
Yes I have them on a 12/12 lightning schedule, 8am to 8pm but yes I could set it earlier like 6am to 6pm and hope them will really get up.

Oh you have a lot of different routines with all those babies as they all have different needs.

If I understand, you never use substrate in your tanks? I thought of doing that put I wasn't sure if it was good for the frogs since maybe they won't feel like they are in a real wild environement anymore.

Your little Honey only eat one per day? one of mine, Golden, sometimes only eats one per night and I feel really bad for this, thinking maybe it is my fault since I am the one who got her use to not hunt. I sometimes wake up in the night to try to get her eat at least another one.

Out of the subject, I can't manage to put a profil picture or to upload pictures in a photo album, I will do a test here because I heard that it should works when we use the Tapatalk application.





Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

[irThumper]

You have beautiful frogs!

I try to get Honey to eat one every day, but sometimes he will refuse to eat anything at all for up to two days... Sometimes it takes me up to 10 minutes or more to get him to eat 1 cricket, and after he's had that he will absolutely refuse to eat a second one. This is the reason I make sure his crickets are super gut loaded on the most nutritious food and supplements possible so it's passed on to him.

Since I've had so much trouble early on, winding up with parasitized frogs at purchase (also had one of my fav frogs wind up with irreversible recurring prolapse and had to put him to sleep) that I have opted to only use materials that are easy to sanitize or to switch out, like the paper towels. They seem to be totally fine with it, as long as they have everything they need for water, hides, heat/lighting and humidity.

I don't use Taptalk, but I know there have been photo posting issues here for a long time now, meaning I don't think the photo albums are able to be updated at all :/ You could try making a blog just for pics of your frogs though I think.

[Krispy]

That cuddy picture is too darned cute. I have to use photobucket btw. Total pain.

Crickets do suck. Im glad my killer attack dogs provide entertainment as they eat the stragglers... perhaps a small dish deep enough so they cant hop out?

[Ava Golden]

That cuddy picture is too darned cute. I have to use photobucket btw. Total pain.

Crickets do suck. Im glad my killer attack dogs provide entertainment as they eat the stragglers... perhaps a small dish deep enough so they cant hop out?

Thank you! Yes, I will try the bowl feed!

[Ava Golden]

[QUOTE=irThumper;266852]You have beautiful frogs!

I try to get Honey to eat one every day, but sometimes he will refuse to eat anything at all for up to two days... Sometimes it takes me up to 10 minutes or more to get him to eat 1 cricket, and after he's had that he will absolutely refuse to eat a second one. This is the reason I make sure his crickets are super gut loaded on the most nutritious food and supplements possible so it's passed on to him.

Thank you! Yes, I will try to post a thread with pictures of my babies.

What do you use for nutritious food? I use Exo terra Calcium Powder Supplement, and Multi Vitamin Powder Supplement. Is there something better? And it is okay to use them on a regular base? (not to much?)

Thanks!

[irThumper]

What do you use for nutritious food? I use Exo terra Calcium Powder Supplement, and Multi Vitamin Powder Supplement. Is there something better? And it is okay to use them on a regular base? (not to much?)

Thanks!

I dust the crickets every other feeding with Reptocal, I tried Repashy's Plus but the frogs didn't care for the fruit flavor. I feed the crickets a mixture of Fluker's high calcium dry cricket chow, Reptaboost & Waggoner's dye free fish flakes. I also add regular Cheerios to the diet once in a while, and have started adding dry tadpole food to the mix. I'm experimenting to see what the crickets thrive on and will make them more nutritious for the frogs, since they are my staple food source.