Can't figure out why White's not eating well

[wyattladd]

Hi,

I can't figure out my son's White's Tree Frog. Temp is 82 and Humidity is 40 (although this morning it was 50) and is a 10 gallon aquarium until we can find a bigger used home. Here's kind of a history of what we've done with him as we've learned more about his care. We've had him since November.

- Heat mat on bottom with some plastic plants, bamboo piece and bark piece along with the coco-fiber bottom and water bowl. He ate pretty well when we first got him and actively hunted when crickets placed in the tank. Continued this way until he became "lethargic". Not interested in eating much.

- Found out he needed more heat and moved him to floor near baseboard heater. He became more active at this point and began to eat better. Decided to upgrade his area to get tank up off floor.

- Bought a clamp type light with 45 watt bulb and pothos plant and sheet moss from Hobby Lobby. Covered floor with the moss. Cleaned the plant well and added it with moss covering the soil on the pot. He seemed to enjoy this environment and frequently sat on the leaves. Recently purchased digital thermometer/hygrometer to monitor the tank.

Now, he seems to hide under the moss in the plant and doesn't seem to want to come out. Son got him out one day (he was darker brown looking) and placed him in water bowl. He turned more green looking after sitting there. Later in the night, crawled out and went back to plant.

On several occasions during the past week, he removed the frog to a feeding container hoping that he would eat crickets that were inside. We varied the times we left him in there from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. The frog would usually "pee" and then not pay any attention to the crickets.

Last night decided to try a glass bowl for the crickets that people have talked about. He put 2 crickets in the bowl next to water dish and there was no evidence that frog got to the dish or even saw the crickets.

So, what are we missing? He seems like he looks okay and is healthy. Or is this just the occasional behavior of this frog? (Or perhaps it could be that he just gets "terrorized" whenever my son gets him out!) Anyways, we're at a loss as to why he's not more active.

Thank you in advance for any responses!

[amisbeef]

Hi there, first off I am sorry to hear about your frog not eating well.
There are two possible reasons I can think off which may contribute to your White's tree frog not being all that happy causing a lack of appetite.

I would personally say that a 45 watt bulb is far too high for a whites tree frog, possibly causing your frog to become quite dehydrated and possibly less active because of this. Your temperature seems normal however, but 45 watts so close to the frog in such a small tank may cause some problems.

Having moss completely covering the base substrate may also cause some problems for your frog as the moss retains alot of moisture. Whilst this is useful for keeping the humidity up in your terrarium, the peptides released from your whites tree frog to kill threatening microbes on his skin may begin to build up in the moss. A small amount is barely harmful to your frog, never mind humans, but if it starts to build up it could cause your frog to feel a bit unwell. However, I don't know how often your change the moss in your tank, so this may not be an issue. The coco fiber enough is good for keeping the humidity up in your tank, personally I use coco fiber substrate and moss in some of the hides.

As your humidty in the tank is not too high, I would say that bacteria harbouring itself in your vivarium is not a large possibility, so bacterial infection is less likely to be bothering your Whites tree frog.


These are just educated guesses as to possible problems, however my frogs do go through periods of just not eating, sometimes because of stress - too much handling, or being moved around often - and sometimes without any plausable explanation.
Everything else you are doing is correct in my eyes, and you seem to be taking very good care of your Frog, so I wouldn't panic too much.
Perhaps, try feeding your frog other foods, such as meal worms, or wax worms. When my frogs go a few days ignoring their crickets, I'll offer them some worms and they won't say no.

Good luck with your frog, and I sincerely hope everything is okay!

[wesleybrouwer]

My best guess would be you are keeping him/here way to dry.

Seeing the substrate and moss, the humidity seems rather low.
This seems to be confirmed by you're frog hiding underneath the moss,
this may mean two things:

1. Underneath the moss it is a little more moist, so he seeks refugee there
2. The temperature is lower under the moss sheet, altough they might withstand 30 degrees celcius, so my guess will be it is because of the humidity.

My guess would be he is very inactive as well.
Try raising the humidity by spraying and watch if he/she will get more active.
If you get the frog active again, he/she might start eating again.

Is the frog in hunger strike for long? Maybe it is needed to let it hydrate,
i believe you guys use electrolite with the bathing for that purpose,
but you can better ask someone who knows good brands around you;re country for that purpose when needed

[wyattladd]

Thank you for the responses about the heat/humidity effects of the bulb. I have been experimenting with the bulbs. I put in a 25 watt incandescent bulb and that seemed as if it might also have been uncomfortable for the frog. The temp stayed around 82 and the humidity was still dry even though we misted regularly. Then I switched to a 9 watt compact fluorescent bulb. That stays around 73 with 50% humidity. I may try a 15 watt incandescent bulb, just to see if I can raise the temp a bit, but not dry it out as much.

The good thing in all of this is that after I switched to lower watt bulbs, he has been coming out more at night and 3 nights in a row he ate crickets! So thanks again for your help!

[amisbeef]

So glad to hear things are much better