White's problem...minor for now.

[daziladi]

Brit I have two WTF as well, in a similar sized viv... believe me they get a lot more active right before feeding day. Hunting for food maybe? I feed them 8 crickets each about every 5 days, dusted once per month. I feed in two different plastic containers... bf drilled holes in top for air flow and I mist right before placing them inside. They will sometimes leave a few crickets uneaten so I'm guessing they're satisfied. Another thing I just remembered... Chester used to be a bump on a log and never did any antics until I got SqueeG in there with him... now he's all over the place! Ginger could be right about them sensing each other. Hope this helps.

[Kisa]

Brit I have two Whites Tree Frog as well, in a similar sized viv... believe me they get a lot more active right before feeding day. Hunting for food maybe? I feed them 8 crickets each about every 5 days, dusted once per month. I feed in two different plastic containers... bf drilled holes in top for air flow and I mist right before placing them inside. They will sometimes leave a few crickets uneaten so I'm guessing they're satisfied. Another thing I just remembered... Chester used to be a bump on a log and never did any antics until I got SqueeG in there with him... now he's all over the place! Ginger could be right about them sensing each other. Hope this helps.

This does help a lot, thanks Daz! I really like hearing other people's WTF experience. I also feed my big guy in a seperate container, he has bad eyes and I find he's not very good at hunting, so when I go to feed him I take out his carrier, mist, put him inside and dump on or two crickets in there. Right after AI put him back in his viv. Mostly after feeding he's less active, probably cuz he has a full belly. He gores through period where he won't poop, and right now it's bee a while. Thinking about trying a warm soak again to get things moving...

Thanks for the insight! I hope they're as excited as I am to be put together! I really want them to get along. XD

[Dog Shrink]

I wouldn't be too worried about the not pooping thing too much as he is on a reduced diet, his body is likely using everything you're feeding him right now. Also he's kinda lazy. Movement makes movements in animals. The more active he is the more regular his GI will stay. I'd get him out for a lil free fun time maybe in the sink or tub or something and see if that helps. If not the soaks certainly won't hurt.

I bet he's hating the diet... like Garfield says "Diet is just DIE with a T in it" I think the worst part about diets is the body basically has to reach kind of a "starvation" mode before it'll start working off it's own fat cells, which causes the weight loss. At least when humans need to diet it's usually because we're eating too much of the wrong food but for an animal who's diet we control, the food quality isn't the issue so much as the food quantity. How much/often was he eating before his deit versus how much is he eating now?

[Kisa]

The more active he is the more regular his GI will stay. I'd get him out for a lil free fun time maybe in the sink or tub or something and see if that helps. If not the soaks certainly won't hurt.

At least when humans need to diet it's usually because we're eating too much of the wrong food but for an animal who's diet we control, the food quality isn't the issue so much as the food quantity. How much/often was he eating before his deit versus how much is he eating now?

He's pretty active around his viv right now, he spends all the waking hours we share climbing around the front of the cage usually so I'm not worried about his exercise so much anymore. He used to be the laziest thing in the whole world and then suddenly he changed and was all over the place, crazy active. XD

I feel so bad for having to put him on a diet, but it's hard for me to justify feeding him normally when I know he's so overweight. The last thing I want to do is starve him, but also I don't want him getting sick again and for WTFs, weight is a big factor in illness since they become obese so easily in captivity. I know they're supposed to be a little chunky, and I like that about them, but he could definitely stand to loose a few grams. I think when I have the time I'm going to grab a gram scale so I can measure his weight better. The last tim ehe was at the vet he was around 70 grams I believe...which is 15 grams over the ideal weight for White's, as I've read. I just wanna get him down to about 60 grams and then the diet will be over. I just want to avoid health complications at all costs.

When he was at Petsmart (I bought him 3 months ago tomorrow), they were feeding him 5-8 large crickets a day. That was just way too much. When I brought him home he was all flab, and the tank he was in didn't allow him anywhere to climb (it was just a small critter keeper in the back room with a water bowl and a place to hide), so he spent the first one and half months I had him sitting on the floor of the tank, never even trying to climb. The illness probably affected this as well...

I cut him down to three crickets every two days and when he seemed to still be gaining weight I cut it to every three days. That didn't work so I moved to two large crickets every two days and now I feed him one large or two medium every three days, plus the occasional waxworm, if he decides to eat it, that is.

Th bring down in his food intake was very gradual, I don't feel like going from two to one in such a span of time is hurting him in anyway. Maybe he's hungrier now, but other than that he should be fine. The larger crickets I'm feeding him he has to take in two bites anyway, they're bigger than his mouth, but he gets 'em down quicker than they realize where they are. XD;

When I feel he's lost enough weight (though he is climbing successfully now without sliding down the glass and having to dismount...) I'll bring the food intake back to normal.

Id there something better you guys think I should do? Maybe increase the number of days between feedings but also increase the crickets? Like two large every five days...? Or decrease the number of days? But that means he'll have less time to digest. I could give him one large or two medium every other day, but then again that would be increasing the food intake.

Based on my situation I am definitely willing to take advice if anyone has it, though I feel like what I'm feeding him now should be ok. Check out pictures of Mr. Campbell in my album, he's obese for reals.

[Dog Shrink]

Generally in terms of dieting you like smaller meals more often rather than occasional larger meals. Food coming in will fuel the metabolism which in turn burns the calories. If he's doing well on a feedinge very 3 days schedule thats great but I just know I read you thought he was getting grumpy from lack of food so maybe smaller meals more frequently would be more his speed. Will he eat any other type of feeder aside of crickets?

[Kisa]

Generally in terms of dieting you like smaller meals more often rather than occasional larger meals. Food coming in will fuel the metabolism which in turn burns the calories. If he's doing well on a feedinge very 3 days schedule thats great but I just know I read you thought he was getting grumpy from lack of food so maybe smaller meals more frequently would be more his speed. Will he eat any other type of feeder aside of crickets?

Oh I see what you mean. I'm not sure if he's getting grumpy per se...I don't remember saying that but if I did sorry. XD; I must've changed my mind between now and then.

I actually have only tried feeding crickets, wax worms, and meal worms. He ate the meal worms and wax worms with no problems and the crickets he'll always go for. I haven't tried anything else similar to crickets though. I think about cockroaches from time to time but end up being too grossed out. >>

[Leefrogs]

were not talking about a people diet here...........

Whites of adult size should be fed twice a week
She's doing it right!