my green tree frog won't eat!

Discussion in 'Treefrogs' started by moongoddess, Feb 14, 2005.

  1. moongoddess

    moongoddess Embryo

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    I have a green tree frog that was housed with a frog of my old roommates. When I moved we of course had to seperate them and now I've noticed he won't eat anymore. I got him a new friend but that didn't seem to work either. I currently have him by himself (for about a day now) in a 10 gal tank. All he seems to do is sit at the top of the cage not even bothering to look at the food on the bottom, (crickets, mealworms, etc.) Does anyone know what else I should do???? Please help!
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. Hummingbird

    Hummingbird Well-Known Member

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    hi moongoddess!

    are you leaving the food in the tank or removing it after a few minutes? you need to leave it in there for at least a few days (i leave crickets in my tanks til they are eaten or die [i remove the dead ones asap]).

    also, are you absolutely sure he has not eaten? have you put, like, 6 crickest in the tank and after 5 days all the crickets are still in there?
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. nuggular

    nuggular Well-Known Member

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    I wouldn't give the frog that long to eat them. Crickets can be sorta evil and annoying to lizards and amphibians alike. If left in there to long, they can bite the toes of your animal, and even to the point of your animal missing digits on its feet. They can also be loud and annoying if they have wings and are chirping all the time. I would give the frog one day and one night to eat the crickets, then remove any uneaten ones in the morning. If he doesnt seem to be eating them, you can just keep trying that like everyother day. Eventually the frogs instinct and hunger should take over and it will begin to eat again.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. Hummingbird

    Hummingbird Well-Known Member

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    a cricket will not eat the toes of your animal. if your animal is being chewed on by the crickets, then there is something wrong with your animal. we leave the crickets is all our cages forever and nothing even remotely similar to what you described has ever happened.
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. moongoddess

    moongoddess Embryo

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    I've never heard of crickets eating an animal either, Hummingbird, but I do leave the food in there for him to see and eat and he doesn't seem to bother even looking for food. I've noticed changes in his behavior also. He used to be a ravenous eater and croak almost everynight, and I don't think I've heard him croak at all lately. Perhaps I sould reunite him with my roommates frog again and see what happens because seclusion doesn't seem to be working........... Anymore suggestions may be helpful as always!! :wink:
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. Hummingbird

    Hummingbird Well-Known Member

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    if the other frog is a different species, then i wouold not reunite them. it is not surprising that he has stopped croaking since you removed the other frog. frogs croak to set territory and call for the opposite sex. if 2 frogs are in one cage, they are much more likely to croak since they are sharing one habitat - they will be "fighting" for territory by using sound. if they have their own cages, they will not need to set the territory boundaries nearly as often (if at all). the fact that he is not croaking now may actually be a sign that he is under less stress than he was when housed with another animal.

    also, tree frogs are usually VERY nocturnal. i'd bet money that he is up at night when you are asleep. none of my tree frogs have ever moved until the lights have been off/no movement has occured for at least an hour. just because you don't see him move does not mean he isn't moving.

    so have you counted how many crickets you've put in and how many are left after 4 or 5 days, yet? also, the length of the crickets' bodies should be no more that 1/2 to 3/4 the width of the frog's head.

    keep us updated!
     
  12. nuggular

    nuggular Well-Known Member

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    well I have seen first hand acounts of crickets chewing off the digits of a leopard gecko and I have seen many posts about it happening to many other people. I would be very careful about leaving them in there to long. Overnight should be the most u leave crickets in the tank without getting eatin. They can also breed in your tank and then you have alot of little pinhead crickets all over the tank. I wouldnt have posted it if I didnt think it is possible, and believe me it can happen and its terrible. One leo I saw was missing most of 3 toes on one foot. So just be careful. ;)
     
  13. Hummingbird

    Hummingbird Well-Known Member

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    like i said earlier, the only way crickets would eat off the toes of an animal was if there was something wrong with the animal. i didn't say it was impossible - i said that that is unlikely to happen to a healthy animal. crickets will readily eat dead/dying/sick animals, but rarely ever eat healthy animals. also, healthy animals should be able to move away from, kick away, or eat any insect that is chewing on them. plus just because you see an animal that is missing toes does NOT mean that crickets ate the toes off. it seems like 1/2 the animals i see at petstores are injured in some way - even ones that DON'T eat insects (therefore they wouldn't even be in the cage to chew on the animal).
     
  14. nuggular

    nuggular Well-Known Member

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    I've seen many threads warning about it. I just wanted to put it all out there so people are aware of it. Have you ever been bitten by a cricket. I have like 3 times and it really hurts. They have powerful jaws. If a reptile was sleeping and a cricket took a bite out of the toe, the reptile would most certainly wake up and move away, but the damage is already done. I agree that most reptiles should be able to eat it or move away or something, and yes it would be more likely to happen to unhealthy animals, but it happens to healthy ones too. Oh well I guess we disagree on this one.
     

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