Feeding problems - white's tree frogs

[janer1114]

so - I tried spot feeding the frogs. the one who i've hardly seen eat ever, and wavers in and out of looking ok, started slapping the crickets away and making a tiny clicking noise. :-(

the other frog just ignored the crickets and tried to climb out.

i put 4 crickets in overnight as well as a dish of mealworms. the crickets were gone in the morning!! (that doesn't mean that the bad-eater got any though....)

i'm away for a little under a week now - light on a timer and someone coming in to feed and water them.

one one hand - i want to take good care of them and make sure i'm doing a good job
on the other - i think, they are animals who have instincts to survive and will eat when they're ready (so i'll provide the food and it'll happen)
on they other - they are little babies - maybe they didn't learn the right instinct - AW!!!



The one next to the nickel is Dumpy - the one who isn't eating well (I don't think it's cause I named him Dumpy...but, if you think I should change his name - perhaps it'll help!) The green one is Jim. How do you think they look? They hop and move around at night and bathe in their water dish....

Has anyone ever fed baby frogs pinheads before? I think going too small is not the answer - the mini mealworms I bought look too tiny, but the big mealworms look too big.

[mrk]

I know exactly what you mean, Janer! I worried about my little runt so much and tried everything I could, including searching everywhere locally until I found the Appetite Enhancer, and sometimes he would make me think he was coming around and then he would go days without eating (as far as I knew). I finally came to the same conclusion and am just leaving him alone but watching him closely to see if he looks skinny, stays active, has bright eyes, etc. Now that I finally figured out how to get an Avatar loaded (so proud of myself!), you can see my little runt in the picture. He actually has gained a bit of weight and may have gotten a TINY bit longer. As you can see by his buddy next to him who came from the same pet store at the same time, they have grown at remarkedly different rates. As for your little ones in the picture, I'm definitely no expert, but Dumpy doesn't look any skinnier than my runt stayed for quite awhile. Of my 5 (Named by my daughter after characters from the Goonies movie), other than the one who died (Data), Sloth is huge (but he started out that way), Chunk is shorter but fatter, and Mouth and Mikey (the other two in my Avatar) are close to the same size . . . and then there's Goonie (the runt)! I guess maybe its normal for them to grow at different rates, depending upon how well they hunt. As in nature, I guess some are better equipped to survive than are others. Its sure hard not to feel responsible for everything that happens though, isn't it?

[jjas12475]

Cut off the hopper legs!

[jjas12475]

On the cricket of course!

[mrk]

OOPS! Never thought of that but it should solve that problem. Thanks!

[Kisa]

I know it can be scary to get new frogs and have them quit eating on you, mine went through several phases while they were adjusting but like mrk said, it's probably normal. Unless you see some other physical indicator that your frog is sick you should just assume he's adjusting and maybe a little bit frightened or stressed out. I know both of my big White's went through phases where they stopped eating. Of course it was for short periods of time, but eventually they cam earound. Once they realize where they are and that you're not a threat to them they start to come around.

Just leave him be, but monitor him to make sure he's not loosing significant weight and believe in your little guy! Root for him and he'll come around.

[janer1114]

ok - he's losing significant weight. i can see his bones. he's not moving over the past 36 hours - much. he has been opening his mouth and wiping his face, which on another website says that means he's shedding - and I think I can see a bit of skin moving around. would he be lethargic and uninterested in eating when shedding??

[janer1114]

:-( ok - little guy who wasn't eating didn't make it. the appetite stimulator was on order, but hadn't arrived. :-( feel like a bad parent - but the other one is thriving and eating and doing everything a healthy frog is reported to do. i hope we have a good long time together.

i cleaned out the tank and made everything nice and fresh. had a little burial in the front yard under the tomato plant.