Feeding Whites Tree Frog in Feeding Container?

[Alyssa Martin]

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for getting a Whites Tree Frog to eat in a feeding container? Is this something the species does or it is something that's a hard no for them?

I don't mind feeding crickets in his cage, but I always find escapees. Which isn't horrible just mildly annoying since the frogs are in my room. My leopard frogs have no issues with eating crickets in a feeding container, but my Whites Tree Frog could care less.

I don't think it's stress because as soon as I open the lid he climbs onto my arm willingly, so maybe from being set down but not from me handling.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Alyssa

PS I use a latex glove for handling so touching isn't a concern.

[elly]

Could it be a general lack of appetite? I do have one white's that is kind of clumsy reaching for bugs, but he can get them out of the container sometimes.

[Alyssa Martin]

Could it be a general lack of appetite? I do have one white's that is kind of clumsy reaching for bugs, but he can get them out of the container sometimes.

It could be. I feel like when he get's into hunting mode at nighttime he gets pretty amped up and excited for the crickets, and always eats them. However some nights not so much. He is VERY clumsy lol. This was part of my reason for the question as he climbs down on his rock hide and stalks for crickets. But he just kinda flops after them not very effectively so I don't think he eats as many as he really should.

Thanks!
-Alyssa

[Larry Wardog]

I think it's more risky to feed the Leopard Frogs in a different setup. I had a large adult and took him out to catch fish and such but as I saw as time went on the frog was stressed out when he had to eat outside of his enclosure. Leopard Frogs are a very nervous frog and the less you take them out the longer they will live. All my White's have been interested in hunting no matter where they eat. They are confident frogs actually very opposite of leopard frogs. My Gray Tree Frogs might actually hold the answer to your question lol so my smallest male I took out to feed and he didn't want to eat the Crickets. As soon as I put him in his enclosure he caught one. What I have found is with wild frogs and toads some will not accept food in other setups they prefer to hunt and will not adapt. My one female American Toad will not eat in a 10 gallon tank but my largest toad a male will eat anything. Some wild animals are just picky and will not take food unless it is on their terms. I have found this with various amphibians. Where did you get your frog from?

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[Alyssa Martin]

I think it's more risky to feed the Leopard Frogs in a different setup. I had a large adult and took him out to catch fish and such but as I saw as time went on the frog was stressed out when he had to eat outside of his enclosure. Leopard Frogs are a very nervous frog and the less you take them out the longer they will live. All my White's have been interested in hunting no matter where they eat. They are confident frogs actually very opposite of leopard frogs. My Gray Tree Frogs might actually hold the answer to your question lol so my smallest male I took out to feed and he didn't want to eat the Crickets. As soon as I put him in his enclosure he caught one. What I have found is with wild frogs and toads some will not accept food in other setups they prefer to hunt and will not adapt. My one female American Toad will not eat in a 10 gallon tank but my largest toad a male will eat anything. Some wild animals are just picky and will not take food unless it is on their terms. I have found this with various amphibians. Where did you get your frog from?

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I think I have very odd leopard frogs then. They have no objection to be put in a different feeding environment. I put a gloved hand near each one and they just hop on my hand like my Whites Tree Frog does. As soon as my hand is hovering over the feeding container they hop down and eat all the crickets up no big deal. I will continue to monitor them however, I haven't been feeding them in a feeding container lately since my Whites Tree Frog won't and they rarely catch crickets in their vivarium. However by the time both are done in the feeding container not one cricket is left.

I will take up your advice and monitor them when I do these feedings. They seem to thrive in the feeding container, but I think this may have to do with them being captive bred and kept in a small container and feed similar to this via the breeder. They seem like confident frogs as opposed to being nervous like I keep reading. Perhaps due to them being young and adaptable as opposed to being an adult?

I have seen both of them stressed before, due to an emergency evacuation. But thus far I can't see any stress when the feeding container is brought out. I again will monitor and terminate this method of feeding the first sign of stress.

My Whites Tree Frog seems very confident (you should hear him croak his soul out at night!) and hops on my hand anytime I'm near. He's not a fan of being away and will do anything to stay on me (Normally I would say due to the height but his cage is higher then me so idk why he likes to ride on my shoulder.) He super cute he just curls his little front and back legs and sits there watching you, he's a very funny frog. I try to limit handling time with him since he would chill with me all day if I let him, he doesn't like being put down. Which brings me to the point of saying that he has a high vantage point in the feeding cage and he doesn't seem stressed when in there. He just could care less about eating the crickets.

When he's in his enclosure he tries to catch the crickets but he has a hard time doing so. I may try a reptile carpet instead of his eco earth because he always ends up with mouthfuls of eco instead of a cricket. This was part of my hopes to get him just to eat in a container but I think he just prefers not to.

The Leopard Frogs are captive bred from one of my mom's (she's a teacher) students. Who got one of the tadpole to frog kits and didn't realize the amount of space and care they all would need, after realizing that you can't release captive bred Leopard Frogs here.

The Whites Tree Frog was from a pet store, I don't buy pets from the pet store ever because I don't agree with the practice but my mom feel in love so I got him. He had been there for several months and was marked severely down since nobody wanted him. Don't know why though perhaps because he wasn't cute and little anymore? When I first got him he was 2 1/4" inches long but might be more now? He croaks so he may be full grown or close to unlike the other little whites tree frogs in there. He's such a chill little dude I love him!

As far as my research tells me and the employees, the Whites Tree Frogs are all captive bred, as there's no need for wild caught with these guys. He was previously housed with 2 others (when I adopted him, I'm sure there were way more) and I think he wasn't getting as many crickets as the others because they were very fat whereas he wasn't. He's gained weight now and is doing good but I would like to make sure he does have the ability to eat as much as he can (in terms of him being a good weight not obese.)

Thanks so much,

Alyssa

[elly]

If your frog continues not eating you might eventually want to try getting a poop sample from him checked out, that is if you can find an exotic vet that sees frogs. My small White's has been very energetic even when not eating for a few weeks at the time. It turned out he had parasites and since that's (hopefully) been taken care of, his appetite has improved though he's still small and clumsy.

Your frog sounds adorable.