Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone! I got a RETF a few weeks ago at a herp show. Since then, I haven't really noticed him eating at all. I know that they do a lot of sleeping and are generally only active at night or the very early morning. Every few days he'll be in a different spot of his cage sleeping, so I know he's moving around a bit. I put some crickets in a glass so they couldn't escape to see if he was eating, but all he did was climb in the glass to sleep and hasn't left, and didn't eat any of the crickets for that matter either. The temperatures are about 70-75 on one side of the cage and 80-85 on the other so he's got a nice temperature gradient going on, and the humidty stays around 50-70%. Is there anything I can do to get him to eat??? I'm starting to get really worried. I think he's only eaten maybe 3 crickets since I got him, and that's a total guess.

Thanks for any information you guys can pass along!
~AnnaLe~

If you could give us a rundown of your set up that might help. That way we can tell you if maybe there is something a little off with his enclosure or if it could be something else. How big is he? How does he look? Is he looking overly thin or anything? Sometimes it simply just takes a little while for them to get used to their new home, especially if they are wild caught. Have you tried anything other than crickets? If he's small you could always see if he'll accept some fruit flies or springtails. If he's an adult, house flies, meal worms (though don't feed mealies all the time, maybe just one a week to avoid any kind of impaction)even earthworms and moths might catch his interest if he's big enough.

Anyway, tell us about your set up, size, decore, substrate and such and we will all try to help you out.
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Heather

Well, let's see here...

S/he (not sure what it is ) is about an 1 1/2 long and for the first few days, he was a real deep dark green color, but now he's a bright almost neon green, like you see in the pictures. He is starting to get a little thin, and I'm worried about the little guy. I can always run up the street and grab a few earthworms to try, but I don't know if I can get him to be active enough to try and eat one.

As for the cage, he's in a 10 gallon setup with a base of river rocks on the bottom, covered by a layer of Fluker's moss. Then there's a waterfall in one corner of the setup and a tree branch in the other for climbing. I've got some fake vine/ivy plants attached to the top of the back of the cage for hiding in, and the cage is covered on 3 sides with a rainforest type background. (See picture below) You can see him peeking out of the glass that I tipped on it's side. I've been using an UTH on the tree side of the cage, and then I've got a 15 watt Red Light over that side for nighttime viewing. The temp on that side is between 80-85 and the waterfall side is 70-75.

(If the pic doesn't show up, try this link: http://www.geocities.com/darkphant0m/DCP_0185.JPG )

Thanks!

Temps sound good and all, you may want to think about upgrading him to at least a 20 gallon. The 10 gallon will be too small for him soon. Once they reach adult size they need more room and up is always better. So perhaps a 20 long tipped on it's side to give him height and climbing room. If he's feeling cramped, he may not feel like eating. Do you know if he was CB or WC? Try offering him something else to eat and if he doesn't start perking up a bit I'd locate a herp vet in your area and maybe have him checked for perasites.

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/
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Heather

I want to say that he was CB. The guy had about 15 of them when I bought him and they all looked really healthy and alert. We're getting ready to move here in a few weeks, and I will finally get a room devoted totally to my herps, so I will look into getting him a bigger tank. I'll try to get him to eat something else, other than crickets, and if that doesn't work I will definetly get him to the local herp vet.

Thanks a bunch for your insight!
You've been great!
~AnnaLe~

ANYTIME!!! Glad that I could help. I have 4 RE babies myself that I have raised from tadpoles. They are only just starting to eat. So I know what it's like to be a worried Herp Parent

Good Luck with the move and have fun setting up your new room!!! I'll be doing the same come September!
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Heather

You might try shutting your heat off at night so it gets a more natural nighttime cool down. And more leaves will make him feel more secure. I am concerned that you said the treefrogs looked healthy and alert. I have learned from experience that RETFs that are healthy should be curled up and asleep when you look at them in the case...unless you are going to the reptile swap midnight sale...frogs that are sitting with their eyes wide open or are on the ground ready to jump are usually stressed out real bad.

This is true, they aren't suposed to be awake during the day. I do know, though that when they are young or new to an enclosure they will be awake off and on through out the day and night until they are used to their surroundings and come to realize that there is nothing around to harm them. My babies are awake quite often during the day still, but they are spending more time asleep each week.
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Heather

How about Timmy? Is he OK? Does he still look like a sock puppet?

Timmy is doing very well. He is now eating like a champ and is just hysterical to watch while doing so. He pounces the pinheads like a cat would a mouse. You can watch him rock back and forth as if winding up then "boing" he dives on them with his mouth open and just snatches them up. I watched him just the other night eat 4 pinheads in a row before taking a break on a leaf. He does still have the "sock puppet" look going but he seems to be growing into it now. Here's a recent photo of him. It's a little blurry because he's become quite active and likes to jump on the camera lens, so I have to be quick to get the shot before it becomes and extreem closeup LOL

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Heather