Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, I finally went to Petco to get a few large crix (1 in). The thing is, my bullfrog, which is about 2 inches (not including legs), won't eat them. I've seen it eat grasshoppers way larger than 1 inch before, and I've noticed that it's a bit bloaty too. Either that or it's getting really fat. It's not eating the crix even though I prod the crickets to make them move in front of my bullfrog.

Couple things it could be.

The most likely and also the most obvious is the frog isnt hungry. Bullfrogs eat a lot but even they do become full. If he has eaten heartily in the last couple days he may just not be all that hungry. I have many frogs or various types. I feed them 2-3 times a week. Some of them dont always want to eat. I just keep an eye on the ones that didnt want food and make sure they eat next time. If they do, great. If not then I will take a closer look and make sure everything is in order. But its not unusual for an otherwise healthy frog to refuse food from time to time.

Prodding the crickets into his face is not going to help. If anything it will make him less likely to eat. Im sure he sees them. He just may not want them. I would remove the crickets from the tank, wait a day or two and try again.

May as well go ahead and check and make sure the frog is in the proper conditions. Clean water, land area, maybe some hiding places, etc.

Now the bloating. More likely then not your frog is juist fat as everyone overfeeds their frogs (And snakes, and lizards, and kids, you get the idea). However there is an ailment that frogs get which causes bloating. Not too much is known about this. Some people think its an infection out of control and others think it can have something to do with the conditions the frog is living in. Its possible the water quality may bad, another good reason for cleaning the tank. Use dechlorinated water as frogs and other amphibians are sensitive to these chemicals. It could also be an impaction, something the frog ingested that got stuck. Its really hard to say exactly what it is. Hopefully hes just chubby.

If the frog appears ok and is moving around normally then hes probably just a little fat. If he continues to refuse food and looks even more bloated than he may be sick require further treatment.

The thing is, I fed it last Friday and then I was out for the weekend. I tried feeding it on Monday but it wouldn't eat, so I kept trying yesterday and today. It could be however, that it isn't hungry because I fed it worms daily for the past month or so. And even then it took the food each time. It could possibly be that the crickets are too big for it, because when the crix run over the it when its resting, it gets startled and hops away. I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days and hopefully it'll take some food by the end of this week.

Another thing I've noticed is that it occasionally opens its mouth really widely and then blinks. Could it be gasping for air or something like that? I hope it's not anything serious.