Naughty Mercutio!

[Ribbitmethis]

This morning, when I checked Mercutio's viv, he was gone! After 20 minutes of sifting through the substrate, plants, and nearby furniture, I caught him on top of the TV. He almost gave me a heart attack with that stunt! My heart is still beating really fast. After I found him, gave him a bath, and stuck him back in his cage, I duct taped all of the edges of the plexi to prevent further "field trips."

In other related news, I watched him shed last night. That was SO COOL!!!

Mercutio loves climbing the glass.

[Paul Rust]

That is a horrible feeling isn't it...lol Not long ago i was watching television and to my horror I saw one of my R.amazonicas hopping through the living room. I had fed them about 45 minutes earlier so he was out of his controlled environment for a long time. My son leaped across the room with a glass and trapped it. I'm glad it all turned out ok for you.

[Ribbitmethis]

Mercucio may need to be renamed Jesus Houdini... He got out again, and my boyfriend realized his absence at least two hours after his second disappearance. We did not find him until another two hours passed, and when I found him I was fully under the impression he was dead. He was very dry, curled up in the position he sleeps in behind the computer fan vent of our desktop. I put him in a bowl of tank water and sat down for half an hour to cry (thinking the entire time I was just in denial and going to end up with a bloated dead frog). I went back in to take him out and bury him when much to my surprise (and cynically thinking that this was just the universes' sick joke to make him almost look alive again) his legs were no longer curled under him, and his body was filling out again. I picked up the bowl, and he moved his arm! I was still being cynical and thinking it was just the small water current I had made through moving the bowl, but set the bowl down anyways as there was a spark of hope. A few minutes later, he moved again. I started misting him, and an hour later he made a leap out of the bowl (at which point I put him in a taller container. It took a full hour for him to be able to open his eyes (he just did so fully). I haven't gotten him to eat yet, but sent the boyfriend out to get him some prey much less likely to bite him than crickets for when he does. He's now almost back to full strength, and is making big leaps when he spots an opening in my defense.
I am planning on staying up all night with him tonight to make sure he makes it through, then I'll take him to the rep vet (they were closed by the time I knew he was alive) for a checkup tomorrow.
He will not be going back into the tank until I get the weak point fixed (front door was secured with duct tape, he squeezed his way out).

[Hannah Wilbanks]

I am so glad that you found him, and that he seems to be okay!! My little guy escaped from his feeding box a few weeks ago, it took us thirty minutes to find him. He had decided he wanted to check up on our milk snake. Thank goodness he couldn't get into the snake tank! We now put the lid on his feed box while he is eating and remove him to his vivarium immediatly when he is done.

[IgbyKibbits]

I'm so sorry to hear about your ordeal and I hope that he is okay!!! I know how helpless you feel in these situations : ( Please keep us updated (poor little guy)!

It sounds like you are doing everything you can for him, and so glad that you found him!

I'll keep little Mercutio in my thoughts and hope for a good update!

[Ribbitmethis]

So far, Merc is doing okay. He hasn't eaten yet, is sleeping a lot (not really surprising though, he's most active between midnight and 4am), and I haven't been able to move him back into his cage yet. I am remaking the doorframe for the front to hopefully be froggy proof. It should be attached tomorrow as the curing needs to finish.

[charlamanda]

I am glad you found him and hope he's doing better.
4 days ago I had all the froglets(8) in the "dining room" container and decided to add more crickets....BAD IDEA! When I put the crickets in the "dining room" my cats run to watch them hop around in it. This time one of the froglets decided it was time for an adventure and leaped out of the container directly onto the cat!!!!! The cat ran off before I could grab him with the froglet stuck to his side, "Tiger" was scared this thing jumped at him and ran around in the basement for about 15 minutes before I could catrch him. When I did...no froglet. Now I am on my hands and knee searching through boxes, clothes, you name it to find this froglet. Devestated I returned to the rest of the buch to finish adding the crickets and close up the container. I sat for a minute to think of what to do next and then....a froglet sat there looking at me from the ladder about 3 feet from where I sat. I was so relieved, but Tiger, the cat, wasn't so understanding, I guess chasing after him really upset him.

[IgbyKibbits]

I really hope to hear little Mercutio is doing okay, especially after you lovingly watched over him through the night! Keep us updated! We're all pulling for him!!! (and wishing you luck on your "escape-proof" home!!!)

[Ribbitmethis]

So far, so good. The new-and-improved-hopefully-escape-proof-door goes on tomorrow. It's really pretty. I made what basically amounts to a picture frame for the front door, and the top and bottom will be pressure sealed with a piece of rubber tubing cut in half. I moved him into the tank with the duct tape setup for a little while tonight under careful watching, and will move him back to the temp setup before I go to sleep. I feel horrible for having to keep him in a smallish (though larger still than was at the pet store) plant-less setup.
I am still worried about him not eating. Has anyone found anything that encourages a frog to eat (other than just sticking it in their face)? I heard someone mention that they pop the heads off of mealworms and rub the juice on the frogs lips... (do you know how hard it is to control a thrashing mealworm after the head's been cut off?!? Sure, they're not big, but I've got a bit of an overreaction twitch when it comes to small wriggly things in my hand... almost threw it by accident). Also, how long can a frog go without eating and will they eat if very hungry if they're still stressed? I know better than to force-feed him... don't want to break his little jaw. Merc hasn't eaten for about five days.