Hi everyone, this is my first post on a forum as well as my first amphibian, so I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or corrections.
My young Pacman frog, which I picked up on March 29th, has recently begun to refuse food. I decided I would feed him in a container separate from his vivarium in order to prevent the ingestion of substrate, and this worked perfectly for about 3 weeks. All I had to do was nudge him into the container and drop in a worm and he would eat immediately. About 2 weeks ago, he began to ignore the worm and/or poop in the container and attempt to escape, but he would eat successfully every once in a few feeding attempts. He became more and more difficult to feed, so I started experimenting with different feeders and methods. I've been trying to teach him to tong feed for the past week and a half or so but I have yet to have successfully gotten him to eat anything off the tongs, despite my persistance and following the instructions laid out in Ivory Reptiles' informative videos. It is difficult because he continually hops away or goes to bury himself when I wiggle the food in front of him or brush it against his mouth. As of right now the last time he ate was last Tuesday when I accidentally dropped a worm in his water dish while trying to tong feed and he decided to eat it.
Tonight and the night before I tried feeding him both worms and superworms, both in a separate container and in his vivarium, and both with tongs and without, but with no success. I'm starting to get very worried, as he is becoming visibly thinner.
1. Size of enclosure
3 gallons, about 14"l x 8"w x 9"h
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
One Pacman frog
3. Humidity
90-100%
4. Temperature
Around 81-84 F, however I suspect my temp gauge may be inaccurate and I have ordered several others that will arrive in the mail tomorrow
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
Distilled for misting and tapwater treated with Reptisafe for soaking
6. Materials used for substrate
Coco coir and sphagnum moss
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
Bioactive with live plants, springtails, and a terracotta flower pot as a hide
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
Plants were thoroughly washed and quarantined for several weeks, flower pot was rinsed thoroughly, substrate was moistened in tap water treated with Reptisafe
8. Main food source
Red wiggler earthworms
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
Reptivite every other successful feeding
10. Lighting
Indirect light from a nearby window that does not get direct sun
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
UTH attached to the side
12. When is the last time he/she ate
Last Tuesday
13. Have you found poop lately
He pooped yesterday during an attempted feeding
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
(Attatched)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
Frog refuses to eat and attempts to escape when fed in a separate container. When fed in the vivarium, the frog will hop away from the food when nudged against the frog's lips or wiggled in front of the frog's face. The frog has become noticeably thinner.
16. How old is the frog
A few months old, unsure of the exact age.
17. How long have you owned him/her
Since March 29th
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
Captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
Red wigglers as a staple, calciworms and superworms less often. The frog has not actually eaten any superworms and has only eaten one calciworm. I attempt to feed every night.
20. How often the frog is handled
I avoid touching the frog except to nudge it into a container for feeding.
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
Low traffic, in a corner in my bedroom
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)
Water is changed when it is dirtied, substrate cleaning is taken care of by the clean up crew except for occasional spot cleaning
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have also ordered some longer tongs to try as mine are quite short and they will arrive tomorrow as well. Would moving the frog into a smaller more simple setup be a good idea? Or keeping him on paper towels for easier monitoring? I figured that having him on a burrowable substrate would help to reduce stress as much as possible. There is nothing I can think of environment-wise that had changed significantly when the problem started. I have moved him between college dorms and home several times, but I can't imagine this would be the issue as he was eating fine after the first two big moves, and the problem began during a long stretch of time between the second and third.
Also, just a note: I know that I shouldn't include sphagnum moss in the substrate, but I had intended only to feed him in a separate container before he began refusing food.