Rescued a sick FBT, won't eat. Any help would be great!

[leo]

That's the only thing they have I'm afraid.

I'm quite deep in this monetarily already. It's not clear yet whether he'll live as it could still be a parasite. As time goes on I may consider getting one.

[privet01]

Looks like the sphagnum moss I'm using. Just doesn't look packed down. Not sure if it matters. Some think that they'll get impaction from ingesting the moss too.

As for lighting, you don't have to get one of those expensive UV lights. GE publishes the spectral graph produced by the different phosphor coatings in their fluorescent bulbs. Some don't have any UV and others do. The graphs for the ones that do, look very much like the spectral graphs the high dollar UV bulb produce.

You can get bulbs for about $8.00 US. General Electric (GE) puts the spectrum codes on most all their flourescent bulbs usually after the product code. These are the codes that I found that put out UV:

sp41, spx41, sp35, spx35, sp30, spx30.

GE's aren't always the easiest to find as Phillips seems to dominate in my area, but I did get mine at Home Depot.


But don't feel pushed to spend money. They can tolerate less than ideal conditions. Take a trip to any franchised pet store and see how bad they provide for them.

[monster]

The one thing I find the most from the green sphagnum to the white is that the white New Zealand sphagnum moss is almost scentless compared to the smell of the green. When I had my fire belly toads I bought the green the first time I went moss shopping, couldn't stand the smell so I took it out. I went back and got the white and what a difference.

[privet01]

Actually I was wrong. When I was over by the FBT's viv, I looked at the package with the unused brick of moss . What I have is from Exo-Terra and they call it Forest Moss. Claims to be "totally" safe for all sorts, including frogs. It's worked well for me ever since my first FBT six or so years ago. It does strong smell when you get your nose in it, but it's a individual thing as to whether it's unpleasant of not. I do have to replace it about two times a year as it starts to rot eventually.

[leo]

privet,

Yeah that's the exact kind of moss I had to buy. He spends much more time on the land now than he did before so I assume he likes it too. It doesn't smell bad to me. Infact that was the effect I was going for because I grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee and it's almost like a little patch of home in the city.

Thank you all very much for your help! I'm glad I've been able to get it right.

[jasonm96]

Privet,

Fire belly toads are diurnal toads that are well known to bask. They do best under UVB lighting and it's not like a UVB bulb costs a fortune. Also, I'm not sure but regular shop lights might produce the wrong rays and be dangerous, it's better playing it safe and getting a bulb you know what it emits and how much UVB. http://www.exo-terra.com/en/explore/uv_rating_index.php

Exo Terra claims that moss is safe but I've had a horned frog get impacted on it and I had to bath it and it crapped out the fibres within a few hours. I fed the frog with tongs but because the moss is so lose and has small strands it's easily picked up. Sphagnum or cushion moss is best

[privet01]

Well remember the OP said he's spent about as much as he wants to budget on this fbt's care for the present. So $8.00 as opposed to $50.00 might be managable.

I'm just talking about a 15 watt T8 bulb that fits most standard Aquarium light kits for ten gallon tanks. It's not like I don't know what "rays" it's putting out. As I said, I found where GE publishes on their website the spectrum analysis for the different phospor coatings they put in their flourescent lights. And comparing them to what I can find out about the specialty bulbs that are sold specifically to give UV to your herps and such, I find the price more to my liking.

Just because FBT's or any other frog likes to bask doesn't mean they need a special basking light outside of what illuminates the rest of the viv. They just need a special place to do it such as a taller rock that gets them closer to the light source.

And from the looks of the OP's tank it's not more than a 10 gallon tank which also is the size of mine. Additional light sources are going to add to the heat in the viv, which in a 10 gallon adds up quickly. FBT's don't need additional heating. Mine do fine between 68F and 74F. And colder won't hurt them either as one of the ways to get them to breed is to stick the female in a container and leave her in the refrigerator for a few days.

Now if you are talking additional basking lights in a larger viv, I'm all for it. Just so long as the overall temp in the viv is able to stay low. They are not tropical pets.

As for impaction...... well I'm sure every one that keeps herps for long enough will have one get impacted. Sure we can try to minimize the chance, but still it's going to happen.