Clumsy, undersized (?) WTF

[elly]

I got Julep when he was about seven months old, so now he's approaching two years old and he's a couple centimeters smaller than my three year old WTF.

The thing that worries me is that he tends to miss food I hold out to him, even when it's right in front of his face. He'll strike off to the left or right of it. As far as I can tell his eyes look clear and healthy. He jumps and climbs and has a pretty healthy appetite.

Tank temps are 70-75 lately, humidity about 60%. He's fed crickets and dubias dusted with Repashy Calcium plus. Water is tap treated with dechlorinator.

[LilyPad]

I wonder if he was suffering from MBD before you got him and so you're still seeing the effects. Are you using UVB lighting? If you are, are you using a coil style? I heard the coil style can be damaging and/or irritating to tortoise eyes and wonder if it would have similar effect on frogs. I switched to the tube style for our tortoise once I read that. I'm not sure if they would have a low uvb version for tree frogs though.

If you're not using UVB, maybe try switching up the supplements a bit. I use a vitamin (reptivite) twice a week and a calcium +D (repcal + D) three to four times a week.

Otherwise, I would say that he's probably just a clumsy guy. Is this the one you had to treat for parasites? Perhaps that affected him in some way.

[elly]

Thanks. I never treated him for parasites, so that's a bit odd. I do have a coil-shaped UVB light. To tell the truth it took me a few months to get it, maybe that affected him?

He just looks so tiny next to my other male White's but he's always been active.

[LilyPad]

Okay, I thought you treated one but I may have been mistaken. Honestly, if he's healthy and active, and not getting progressively worse, I would not worry about it. I would just keep an eye on it to make sure it's not getting any worse and start changing things up if it does.

[elly]

You were right: I treated the other frog and he seems fine and healthy now.

[Lija]

Can I just add regarding UVB tubes vs coil shaped lamps.
Well first of all to get any benefit UVB lamp has to be replaced every 6 months ( or when the effectiveness is gone confirmed by UVB meters) and a frog had to be within a range of emittance.

tubes distribute light more evenly and there is more chance for a frog to get a benefit, while coil shaped lamp emits light in a cone shape and for a frog to get a benefit it has to be inside that cone and as close to a middle as possible. So the chance is even with UVB light present a frog doesn't get any UVB or very little.

It seems your frog is just clumpsy though if he is stunted with MBD deformations not much you can do other then just help him get that food in.