Froglet rescued in bucket of water

[charlamanda]

On Sunday 8/15, after it began to rain, I walked around the yard to check on the hundreds of froglets that have recently left my pool. I found a small 1/2" baby floating lifeless in a bucket of water. I tried several timed to scoop baby out, but it wasn't moving ay all. When I finally did get it the baby grabbed onto my hand w/1 leg and to my shock it pulled itself upright and sat up. I carried it back around the house and brought it in, in a cool whip container w/holes in the lid. The froglet just calmly sat in my hand and then in the container without moving, just sitting. I had no food for it;nor had my 33 gal fish tank ready, so I fixed up a small oct tank 6" in diameter and about 12" high. I caught a small moth I've seen others eat around my front door and put it in the tank with the froglet. The baby sat at the edge around to top I covered with a screen and sat on the fake and wandering jew plant I put in the tank but barely moved all night and did't eat the moth. Today I am concerned becaus it looks thin and I am sure hungry. I brought it back outside to hopefully let it hunt for food, but just sat on a leaf. I want to make sure it eats so I put it in the coolwhip container again with a cricket and am hopping for the best. I think, once I make sure baby has eaten, I will put him above my front door where many of the other froglets have taken residence and are growing quickly.... any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've posted this twice before but I can't find my posts, so if you responded to those please repeat your advice here so I can find it. Thanks

[charlamanda]

Update...After about 1 hour w/cricket it seems only concerned w/getting out through the plexiglass top. I added 2 more babies and five more crickets to increase the odds and incourage the original froglet to hunt. It's not going well, all the frogs, which I forgot to mention are all Gray Trees froglets, are all climbing to the plexiglass top, I've now covered with a towel, and none have eaten the crickets, which are definately small enough for these babies. Should they have been interested in the crickets? How long do they take to eat them? What do I do if they don't eat? How can I get their attention to the food and why are they so concerned with escaping and not eating? This is much more difficult than I expected! I have 9 rabbits, 3 dogs, 5 cats, and I had hundreds of fish, and even a cawfish, so I am familiar with caring for pets and am very patient, but am becomming concerned with these stubborn and uncooperative little fellas. I do want them to to survive and willing to do anything to help them.

[Julia]

It takes time for frogs to settle into their new homes before they eat. Sometimes it can take up to week. During this time I would recommend putting them in the 33 gallon tank with all the appropriate conditions.
http://www.frogforum.net/tree-frog-c...ysoscelis.html

It would probably help them settle in if you handle them as little as possible. Are you planning on keeping them as pets? Or just trying to fatten them up to release them back outside?

[charlamanda]

Hi Julia, . Since I hadn't had anything set up and the froglet hadn't eaten I decided to let him go in a blackberry bush in my yard under the bug zapper. There are several froglets and 1 adult that stay there and eat well from the bugs hanging around the light. The baby seemed to be much better after his near death experience and after the honey bath became much more active. I was trying to get it to eat before I let it go so I knew it fed, but baby was very stubborn. I have been keeping an eye on the little guy who is still in the bush. I didn't realize they could go long without eating, I was really concerned when they didn't go after the crickets and moth. Thank you for that info, most appreciated.

[charlamanda]

there are some pics of the rescued froglet. the first is from yesterday in the containerw/crickets and on my leg w/thumb for size. the last is today(tues) on the leaf.

[charlamanda]

Yesterday, Tuesday 8/17, baby hadn't moved, got real thin and turned black on it's leaf. I got concerned so I moved him/her to the window above my front door where the light attracts lots of bugs and where there are many other froglets. I kept and eye on baby who, even at night, didn't move and was black. Then around 10-11pm began to catch a few bugs that was in range. After a few catches baby turned green and actively hunted in the window. I am so relieved. Earlier in the day I looked around for the fatest and largest froglet I would take in as pets. I found 2 that fit the bill and have them in the smaller tank untill I get the bottom material today. They are both looking well and I think they will do much better than Baby.

[charlamanda]

I saw baby last night again on the front door. It's still looking thin and dark, but active and eating. I am still not too sure this froglet is out of the woods yet, but I am glad to see it hunting and eating and where I can keep an eye on it.

[Deku]

I think thatd be a tree frog. Anywho... Its very small... So id say feed it fruit flies. Go to a petstore and buy them. Or just catch em yourself. Leave a jar with an orange in it and make sure it has a mesh. The flies will pass through the mesh. But when you want to catch em in. You can get the lid and itll take time for them to get out. Make sure the mesh is small. Like pinholes.
Because it needs to eat small foods.
Good luck hope this helps.

[Eel Noob]

Hope it's doing well. If it still looks sick I would suggest taking it back in and try feeding it. Make sure it's eating and healthy before you releasing it.


It's usually better to house young/small, especially sick animals in a smaller enclosure and upgrade as they get better and older. It's easier for them to find foods and you to monitor their conditions.

[charlamanda]

Thank you for your suggestions. I let baby go on either Mon/Tues in the yard. The next day when it hadn't moved much I moved it to the front door, where it was eating, but still thin and very dark. I saw baby on the door last night and was active, light green, but still a bit thin. I have been watching him/her daily and it seems to be actively hunting bugs and very slowly gaining some weight. I have my 33gal tank set up with several larger froglets in it, I have a smaller tank, so if baby seems to be struggling I will take it in and care for it', either as a pet or until it has fattened up and grown a bit larger. Luckily baby has remained by the front door where I can watch it. Thanks again.

[Kurt]

Its very small... So id say feed it fruit flies. Go to a petstore and buy them. Or just catch em yourself. Leave a jar with an orange in it and make sure it has a mesh. The flies will pass through the mesh. But when you want to catch em in. You can get the lid and itll take time for them to get out. Make sure the mesh is small. Like pinholes.

I would not reccomend collecting your own fruit flies. The reason being that they actually fly and thus are useless for feeding to frogs. They are too hard to manage and get into the the frogs enclosure.
The fruit flies you buy are flightless (or least they should be). They are far more managable then the wild fruit fly.

[charlamanda]

Friday Aug. 27th, it has been cold(between 40' night-65' day F) and raining for the past 5 days, but yesterday it cleared and slightly warmer (47' n - 76' day). Around 6:30pm, last night, I found Baby and his/her companion at my front door and I was shocked how thin they both are. Since it has been colder there has been very few bugs around the light and much less for them to eat. Several days ago, before the rain, I took in Baby, it's companion and another smaller frog and tried to feed them some waxworns in a container I now refer to as the "dining room". I left them in for about 1 hour, but none ate and I returned them to the front window. Yesterday I bought more crickets and again tried to feed them with no luck. I am very worried about these 2 froglets, baby is small enough to sit on the tip of my pinky with room enough for it's companion about the same size. I live in the middle of a forest in a lake community surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of state forests. I have called every pet store within 50+ miles and none carry fruit flies. I don't think these froglets will last too much longer without some kind of intervention on my behalf. Here are my questions......Should I take them in and put them in the small terrarium I had set up for the two original frogs I took in as pets and keep them seperated from the others in the larger tank? Should I continue to try to feed them the smaller wax worms and crickets, even if they have not eaten them on my prvious attempts? Under these conditions can I try to catch some fruit flies? They had been catching small flying bugs around the window, so I truely beleive they will catch them. I would catch the gnats, etc. in a small container w/screen top, then put the froglets directly into that container taking them from their tank for dinner. I already have 8 froglets in my tank, ranging between 1/2" and 1" & very chubby, and I don't want to add anymore unless I have to. They are all eating very well, are becoming easier to handle and seem content..as far as I can tell anyway. Baby is so small that several I have could possibly eat them. BTW...I do have another large tank and as they grow I will set up that tank and move 4 of the 8 from the existing one to prevent over crowding. After I fatten Baby and friend I plan on re-releasing them, but keep a close watch over them. I think 8 are more than enough to handle as pets, but if they continue to decline I will keep them to ensure their survival. Thanks all for your help and suggestions and to this site, I could not have done any of this with out it.

[Kurt]

You can mail order fruit flies from Josh's Frogs.

[charlamanda]

Thanks. I went to Josh's Frogs and the cultured fruit flies will take about a week according to their details. I am going to order them anyway with the vitamins and calcium. I hope they will last long enough to get them. In the mean time I am waiting for them to hop to the front , checking every few minutes or so, so I can catch them. I will then continue to try the waxworms and crickets. It is going to get hot by monday and after all the rain we've had there will be swarms of small flying bugs around the front they can, hopefully, catch and eat plenty. I really hope they make it they are unbelievably thin. Thanks again.

[charlamanda]

Finally.. last pm I managed to get both frogs after waiting for almost 6 hours. Here are a few pics of Baby's friend who looks as bad as baby. This frog doesn't get as stressed so I only took it's pics and put baby directly into the tank. I have them in the small tank together and ordered the fruit flies from Josh's Frogs. I again tried to feed them the smallest waxworms & crickets I could find that they could easily eat, but they just were not interested even after 3 hours in an opaque tub w/ lid holes. Should I continue to try to feed them daily? or leave them alone until I get the fruit flies on about Monday/Tuesday? My camera takes lousy pics of anything small and close, but you can see how tiny and thin this Gray tree froglet is. Any other suggestions to help these guys????Please! I want to save them and return them back to the front door.

[charlamanda]

BTW...you can scroll up to see a pic of Baby only a week or so ago for a comparison of how thin it's gotten and the reason for my concern.

[IgbyKibbits]

I don't have any advice, but wanted to say how touching it is to hear you fighting so hard to keep these little guys alive. Cheers to you!

[charlamanda]

Thanks. I am a sucker for anything alive..people, bugs,frogs, deer...etc.All but 4 of my 25 pet are rescues and last week I found a praying mantus in walmart I took home and let go in the woods. It is a thankless life so it is very nice to hear someone appreciatating my efforts.

[charlamanda]

Last pm I tried yet again to feed baby and friend, but still no luck! They are slightly larger, probably due to the increased humidity in the terrarium. They are still moving some, but i've noticed not climbing much.....could this be to much energy expended? We'll, I have kept seperated the 3 very small crickets they can eat, so I don't have to try to seperate them out of 50+ crickets, and I will try again tonight and every night until I get the fruit flies. If anyone has any suggestions that may help PLEASE let me know, I really don't think these guys have much time left.

[IgbyKibbits]

These guys are obviously a LOT smaller than Kibbits when he was sick (he was a 1-year old WTF), but, one thing we did (and something I think kept him alive for as long as he did without eating), was make a VERY mild pedialyte dilution in his soaking pond. The pond was about a 1/4 cup of treated frog water. To that, as instructed by the vet, we put in 0.1 ml of clear pedialyte. (You can find it in the baby aisle at the grocery store). The pedialyte provides electrolytes, and can help to encourage eating, and help with potential dehydration. Given their size and fragility, I would guess that you need to dilute it much more than that, but that's the only advice I can think of to help them get through the night.

Hope that helps!