Hi everyone, I was hoping I could get some advise. I've had a green tree frog for about a year. Last Tuesday when I got home, she was at the bottom of the cage, looking very dried up and thinner than usual (she was kind of a fatty before). She also had what looked like an abrasion on one leg. I thought she was dead at first, but when I picked her up, she moved a bit. I cleaned her up, and bought a small plastic cage for her so I could bring her with me to work to keep an eye on her. Wednesday I was certain she would die, but I sprayed her with water about once every hour. By the end of the day, she looked good as new. She still looks really good, and her leg has healed, but she's very thin. She hasn't been eating at all. I put in one medium cricket and 2 of the microcrickets that I keep for my dart frogs. That was last Wednesday, and the crickets are still alive and well. I've read about manually feeding frogs, but I'm scared of hurting her. Is there some other food she might be more likely to eat?

Unfortunately, I'm in the process of being laid off... so taking her to the vet isn't really an option, financially. Any advise would be appreciated!

what is the tank like?

do you normally mist he enclosure?

is there a water dish in there for it?

what are you feeding?

lighting/ heat lamps?

substrate?

all the info you can write down will give us a better idea of whats going on.

This is the information for where she was before she got sick:

what is the tank like?: 10 gallon aquarium with a mesh top.

do you normally mist he enclosure?: yes, but it's pretty dry here during the winter, so it may have gotten too dry for her with me at work all day.

is there a water dish in there for it?: yes

what are you feeding?: medium sized crickets from the pet shop

lighting/ heat lamps?: red heat lamp that the guy at petsmart recomended. I plan to get an undertank thing like my other frogs have, because the lamp seems to dry it out a lot.

substrate?: soil. I think this may be what caused the problem. I bought it so that I could move from fake plants to live (which, I haven't done yet). The package said there was nothing added, but the first couple weeks it was in there, I had a fruit fly problem (frogs sure didn't mind the extra snacks though). It's the only thing that has changed recently, besides the weather. I used dry moss up until about 2 months ago when I made the change to soil.


And this is the information since moving her:

what is the tank like?: smallish habitrail type container. Large enough for her to have a branch to climb and stuff.

do you normally mist he enclosure?: yes

is there a water dish in there for it? yes

what are you feeding?: There is 1 medium cricket and 2 micro-crickets, but she has not touched them.

lighting/ heat lamps?: no, but I have the tank on a shelf in the bathroom. It's always very warm and very humid there.

substrate?: damp paper towls

i don't know much about the health of frogs but I would just like to advise that if the crickets are still in the enclosure or container with her i'd take them out. crickets can nibble on your frog causing further stress or injury, especially if she's not interested in eating them. good luck, i hope someone else can help out.

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Thanks for the tip. I sort of wondered if that may have been what happened to her leg in the first place. But, I just went to change the paper towels in her house, and the big cricket was gone, so I guess she finally decided to eat it. I'm just surprised she went nearly a week without eating. Hopefully she keeps up with eating, since that was my main concern. She's looking good, other than be somewhat thin.

im worried that having put the enclosure in the bathroom was a bad idea.
the humidity level will change so much in there. (i.e. taking a hot shower or bath).

do you have a humidity and temp. gauge in the tank?

if her skin was dried out, the heat lamp you had on there might have been too strong. did you place in the middle on the mesh screen, or to the sides?

i would keep her confined to her ten gallon tank. moving her around so much is going to make her feel insecure, and she wont want to eat, thus making it easier for problems to occur.



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The Underground Tomato |

First of all, do you have a thermometer and a hydrometer. If so what do they normally read day and night? If you do not have this you need to get one.

Frogs NEED humidity and proper temps. Without this, they will die. If your guy was dried out at the bottom, this is a problem. You said the top was mesh? Cover all the mesh but where your heat source is. This will keep the humidity in.

Adjust your heat as needed until you get the proper temps.

Also are you gut loading your crickets and dusting them with vitamins before feeding/ This is very important. Pet store crickets are pretty much water since all they get fed there is potato. Feed your crickets yummy veggies and your frogs will do much better. Also dust the crickets once a week in a calcium/vitamin powder.

Here is a very good care sheet for green tree frogs. Read it to see if what you are doing is correct or not and make adjustments as needed.
Amphibiancare.com >> Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea) Care

ALSO, i noticed you said you added dirt for live plants. I would suggest compressed coconut husk substrate instead. What you bought, is it organic? Any type of fertilzer or pesticide will kill your frog. not to mention if the frog injest some of it, they can become impacted and die. Has your frog pooped since you moved it?

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Her usual 10 gallon tank has the necessary thermometer and hydrometer, and I do gut load and dust the crickets. I have the top of the mesh covered to help hold humidity. I mist with a water bottle every morning, then when I get home, and then again before bed. I think it was just a particularly dry day.

Tomorrow I'm going to the "special" pet store (the one that sells the micro-crickets) and I'll see about buying a better substrate, so I can clean out her old tank and try moving her back there. Keeping her in the bathroom is only a temporary fix, but she has looked better every day since being there, so I don't think it's causing any issues.

I'm feeling better about her now that I know she has at least eaten. She hasn't "looked sick" since Friday or so. For a few days she was bright green, but normally she is a dark greenish brown. She has been back to greenish brown, and looking very alert at night, rather than sickly. oh yeah, and yes she has been pooping.

Thanks everyone for the tips

yes, i would switch out that substrate. And do read the care sheet. Its very helpful. What are your daytime temps?

also, if you think she is dehydrated, pick up some CLEAR and UN-FLAVORED Pedialite from the grocery store. Mix it 50-50 with water and have her soak in it for an hour. Do this twice a day. You can make her soak in it, by putting it in plastic ware with a lid and then shutting her in it. Then she has to soak.

And if she still has a sore on her leg, you can put a bit of neosporin on it, as long as its the kind without the pain reliever.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I read through that and other care sheets before I made the step of buying the frog. It's always helpful to refresh on that stuff though

Daytime temp is usually around 75-80 degrees. Night time is a little lower; I rarely check in the middle of the night, but most mornings it's around 70 or so. The humidity usually stays around 80%. I wish I had thought to check what the humidity level was the day I found her looking sick, but unfortunately, I didn't.

I don't think she is dehydrated anymore. She really looks good now, like her old self again. Her leg looks like it has already healed, except a white-ish marking on her knee. umm... if frogs have knees

Tomorrow I'm going to redo her 10g tank. Going to clean it really good (and yes, I know, No soap!) and put in new substrate. Hopefully she will be happy to be back home and will start to eat more.