I've been gut loading my crickets and nothing more, some of them grow to twice the size as I bought them just on Flukers alone! It's amazing how quickly those nasty little things increase in size. Sometimes I'm worried they're so big that my little (BIG) Brucey is gonna choke on them. D:
His tank is a standard 10g with a screen top. I have one 50w day light that I keep on until 6.30pm and turn back on at 6.30am and a 50w infrared light that stays on all the time. I only have the heating pad on (it's attached to the side, not the bottom, it kept falling off :/) at night when it's especially cold.
The temp in my room usually stays between 65 and 75 degrees in the winter. I have a lot of heating problems in this room because of it's close proximity to the neighbors (I only get a slight breeze in the summer and rain slants in through the screen in the winter, and in California the weather is insane sometimes, hot AND cold.) His viv is across the room from the window and high up on top of my entertainment center (principle of rising heat).
Yeah I know I've been paying him way too much attention, my bad. >>; I've just read so many horror stories online about people buying pets from chain stores only to have them pass away, and I really don't want it to happen to me. This is the first time I've had a pet that I'm solely responsible for so I want to make sure I treat him well, but I suppose I'm being paranoid.I caved in and covered the front of the cage with a towel so he can't see me anymore and I can't see him, but I do check on him through the side every once and a while to see him sleeping like a log. :/
Usually I do just dump the crickets in his viv and let him go, but I do watch to make sure he doesn't choke (some of the are SO huge I get freaked out. ><) but I have to remove his hiding spot and the stone bridge because the crickets usually flock their and get to a place where he can't catch them and he forgets they're there.
Yes that is my tubby little Bruce.; I brought him at the pet store that size and girl told me she was feeding him 5-8 crickets DAILY. I knew this was WAAY too much, the girl obviously didn't know what she was doing. >> But since I have cut it down to three crickets every two days. Do you think that's still too often for him to begin loosing weight? I don't want it to impede his climbing anymore than it already does. The one time I saw him climb, he attached himself to the glass but slowly slid down it until his butt was resting on the ground. Poor little fatty.
Maybe once he looses some pounds he'll be more active? I think that's the general rule when it comes with frogs AND humans. XD
Thank you SO much for the suggestions, I'll try to find a glass screen for the tank lid (hopefully that doesn't make it too much hotter in there) and maybe feed him less? Is 3 crickets every 2 days too much?
wow he does sound like a fatty
i like them chunky myself, they just look so cute like that, but yeah its not healthy for them. three every few days sounds about right, or maybe just three twice a week.
the only thing that concerns me is his tanks location, on top of an entertainment center sounds uncomfortable, with temp fluctuations if theirs a tv beneath him? or stereo? i dont think the sounds bother them but vibration would..vibration is irritating to amphibians..just a thought, including vibrations from pumps
your rooms temperature is fine, 65-75 is ideal
Alright I'll try two times a week until he slims down, then three crix every other day. I just want him to be able to climb around as a tree frog should!
And yes there is a TV beneath him but it's a small flat screen that doesn't heat up or cause too many vibrations, the top of the TV is a good foot away from the top of the entertainment center where his tank sits. I would definitely rather put him somewhere else but there is literally no other place to put him. Maybe if I bought a stan I could put him next to the E. center but I feel like that would be more uncomfortable for him. Where he is now he can't see the light from the TV at night and is behind my small iPod speaker system, so the noise is directed away from him.
I could do some experiments to see if the vibes from the TV and speakers reach where he is on the center. Would some picture help you see what I mean?
yeah pics would help
but it really sounds like a bad spot for him, noises dont bother them, but when there right there basically in with the tv feeling everything that goes on then its a different story, it just sounds very uncomfortable and not an ideal spot.
do you have a night stand or a dresser?
even a crate to place him on would be ok
i forgot the original post, but he was green in the store?
He was brown in the store. I got a brief look at him before I told the girl I wanted him and she rushed me out of the back room, but I'm sure when she handed him to me in the tiny container he was brown, poor guy.
Here's a link to a picture of where he's at, I still haven't figured out how to post them in message.
Viv location picture by Kisa6 - Photobucket
I know it's a little hard to see around my various video game and anime paraphernalia, but the iPod dock is on the left set of shelves, second tier down. His viv is covered by a towel, like I said before, but here's a picture of his set up inside from a few nights ago when he was actually awake.
Bruce's home picture by Kisa6 - Photobucket
I know it’s small, but as soon as I can afford it I’m going to get him a brand new Exo Terra tall, this is just to house him for the time being.
And I’ve only ever seen him turn slightly green while he’s sleeping (only on his face and legs, haven‘t seen him go all the way yet), never when he’s awake, whether I’ve woken him or he’s just done it on his own.
oh ok thats not too bad, the tv is small, it shouldnt put out massive sound and vibration or heat
no need to cover him with a towel for privacy
it seems like hes just meant to be brown, i like his color. no need to fuss over him, just put him on a diet slowly and he will be fine
maybe a few more plants to make him feel secure and thats about it. hes really cute
I know this is quite sudden, but now I am very worried that my Bruce might have dropsy.
I was changing his water today and noticed that he was lying slightly tilted to the side, on the ground. I moved the log hide he was lying under and noticed that one of his back legs and foot is swollen slightly. I know it is not good to panic prematurely, but I have researching frog diseases very closely since I got him and it seems like his condition fits the symptoms.
I know you said he was just fat before kittie, but looking at pictures since the day I got him I am now noticing that his belly is a little larger than it was. I'm not 100% sure if it's bloated or not, but this is very scary for me.
I have worked very hard to keep his habitat clean and quiet and comfortable for him, I've only had him for 2 weeks and one day (which voids my petsmart pet health guarantee, it's only 14 days) and have changed his water every day, kept the temp and humidity at the most constant levels I could and made sure that he was clean of any bacteria by washing all of his accessories in hot water and drying them thoroughly.
Here are some pictures, please help!!!!
20110103193543.jpg picture by Kisa6 - Photobucket
20110103180044.jpg picture by Kisa6 - Photobucket
This is a picture of him from behind his third day home.
Bruce Campbell - Butt picture by Kisa6 - Photobucket
awww
in pics one and three he looks just fat..like really really fat
the second pic his foot doesnt look right, not sure if its just the way the pic came out but if it looks red and swollen like that in person it would worry me too
i thought my baby frog had bloat when i first got him too, he just looked so swollen. now its been nearly a month and he looks fine, healthy and happy
i dont know much about frog diseases, and dont want to jump the gun, but just by his obesity alone if it were my froggy id only feed him about 5 crickets once a week until he slims down, his foot problem could be from his massive weight, kinda like an obese human would get edema..not sure if this can happen with frogs? probably not, but like i said i have no clue about diseases
i think you should start a new topic with those pics and see what the others say..if the red swollen leg pic isnt as bad in person than it is in the pic then take a new picture
That picture is actually a good representation of what his foot looks like right about now.
Thank you for the advice I will post this in a different thread and see if the experts or anyone else can give me advice.
This is just so upsetting. I would hate to think that I took an animal out of a safe healthy environment and put him into a place where he is in pain and discomfort. I just hope this is a passing thing and I have nothing to worry about.
So you don't think from the pics that his stomach is bloated at all? I can tell that he's a little fatter then when I first got him, but that could be just from the size and amount of crickets I gave him his first days here. I can't feed him again until wednesday so I won't know if he's still interested in food until then.
Thank you so much for your help Kittie, it really helps to talk to someone about things like this so they don't just sit in the pit of my stomach and eat away at me. I've only had him 15 days but I'm in love, and I'd hate it if he was in any unnecessary pain. I don't know what I'll do if something I did causes him to pass...I don't even want to think about that.
up date on this tread regarding colorchange hypothsis. It's been two days, I've put live feeders in there and I've found greeness increase a bit. Even lump is greener than being more olive. I think exclusively hand feeding was creating fights and stress between the two critters. I was gone all day and the house quiet, kermit was still a bit brown. They each have a good perch for pouncing on crickets, maybe some hintong was nessisary for happiness. I'll update in a couple days to color changes. I can't wait for breeding season to see who's a what.
A strange thing about the color change; I brought Bruce to the vet yesterday, and I know travel is very stressful with frogs, even for short distances (and especially with him riding in the tiny carrying case I had for him, just a small tupperware bowl I got him in at Petsmart), but when I pulled him out of the bowl he was as green as I had ever seen him. The greenness stretched all the way to his back and head then, even though I had only seen it ever extend to his face and legs. It was very strange because I thought green = good, but now it seems like green = bad. When the exam was over and I put him back in the bowl, he fell asleep on the ride home and went back to brown.
Either color in frogs is related to something we don't even know about, or Bruce is quite bipolar. Since the vet he has been his normal light brown, sometimes green on the face and legs.
But then again, this strangeness could also be related to his sickness. He could be changing due to some unknown factors related to this infection he has. I don't really know.
Just thought I'd add that little tidbit.
so is it an internal infection, bacterial, or.....? What did they perscribe? And,, aghh, worst if all, how much did it cost? And most important, are u optimistic ?
She wasn't sure because it was still in the early stages of the illness. She prescribed eye drops called gentocin solution and baytril, the antibiotic. I actually got a discount because I bought Bruce at petsmart so it was only $73 instead of $95 including the meds. The doctor was really nice.
It's really hard to be optimistic, but I'm trying my best. I know more than anything I just don't want Bruce to suffer, so I'm praying that he just gets better and we never have to go through this again.
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