# My Dart Frog Won't Eat



## Jessiebarny7 (Jan 5, 2021)

Hello everyone, I purchased a Yellow Back Tinc a few months ago and the past few days it has either been missing fruit flies or just not eating. He is sluggish, hides a lot and I'm very concerned. The tank is read by a digital thermometer with a probe in the soil which is 70 degrees. I've checked it in multiple spots and it reads about the same I also have a fogger which I turn on in the morning for about an hour and then in the afternoon. The other day I found him floating in a water dish with a slimy residue on him and I thought he was dead. This is my first dart frog (I keep mostly snakes and lizards in my collection so this is a new world to me) and I don't know what else I can do to fix this. Any help is appreciated! I want to do right by this little guy!


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

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Answer all these questions as best you can (cut and paste -- please don't quote because that makes it hard to read the responses): 1. What species ? How long have you had the frog(s) and where did you acquire them ? Were they WC (wild collected) or CB (captive bred)? 2. What are your...




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## Jessiebarny7 (Jan 5, 2021)

1. Yellow Back Tinc. 3 months. That Pet Place (Lebanon County Pennsylvania)


2. Day time and Night time temp 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Landlord makes me keep all reptiles/amphibians in basement so it cool. Have a heating bulb over the tank.

3. Humidity is at around 80% I use a fogging system 3 times a day for about an hour. My water is tap water treated with reptisafe. Tank is a 10 gal with ecoearth and sphagnum moss substrate, live plants, hides, water container. Lid is open mesh but covered half way to keep Humidity higher.

4. I am feeding around 50 fruit flies every other day. Dusting with calcium. I never thought to check its freshness.

5. No tank mates, tank was newly purchased

6. The frog started to miss the fruit flies which was uncharacteristic. Then he stopped eating the past 2 feedings. He also was floating in his water dish with a slime on him but not before he was already acting differently.

7. I never handle him unless absolutely necessary. But thinking about it, I did recently spray paint in the same room that the frog is in.

8. Can you take pictures of EVERYTHING ? The frogs, the enclosure ? Take numerous pics of everything - that will be of great help


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Foggers and heat lamps are not good tools for dart keeping, and should be corrected soon, but they likely aren't causing the behavior you're seeing now. Does the heat lamp emit light? Is it on 24/7? Is it controlled thermostatically? 



Jessiebarny7 said:


> Dusting with calcium.


What brand/product?

Post pics, please, too, as soon as is convenient.


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## macg (Apr 19, 2018)

What supplement are you dusting with?


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## jeffkruse (Jun 5, 2018)

Heat lamp! Misting for an hour! I would suggest no heat lamp and only mist for 10's of seconds several times a day assume you have an enclosure that can hold moisture.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

jeffkruse said:


> Misting for an hour!


Fogger, not mister.


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## Tijl (Feb 28, 2019)

If a frog starts missing flies (50 a day is a lot btw?!) it's cause if a vitamine deficiency. Your supplements are probably incorrect and or not kept fresh and or refrigerated. 

Everyone will recommend only giving Repashy supplements : Cal+ everyfeed and once a month VitA+. Get these asap and don't use annything else for your frog.

You are unaware that you are 'choking' your frog 3x a day for over an hour by using a fogger. Please don't ever use it again, it has absolutely no benefit for the frogs. 

The humidity should always be 65-90% max and your temperature needs to be higher if you want to keep your frog healthy. This needs to be perfect! 


Please also post some photo's of the enclosure asap. It will probably have some issues aswell.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Unheated Pennsylvania basement - that is your chief problem. Hard to imagine a single bulb is keeping the tank at 70F. Dart frog temp should be closer to 75F


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## photoj (Apr 1, 2020)

If he is missing fruit flies that is generally a sign of STS aka sticky tongue syndrome or more importantly a toungue that is not sticky thus doesnt capture flies. This is typically a sign of a vitamin A defficiency which if not remedied can cause a quick demise. I would provide the typical Calcium with D3 and add extra vitamin A. I recommed Repashy Calcium Plus daily along with Repashy Vitamin A adding the vitamin A for several days then a couple times a week to it improves. Typically vitamin A is added once a month for breeding and twice a month for problem egg layers. 
Misters do not provide enought water in the habitat for the frog or for plants. They need to be misted with water a couple times a day. Clean water is essential if you have standing water in the vivarium. Many keepers only rely on misting to provide water in lieu of standing water in a dish as dishes can harbor bacteria and cause problems for frogs. 
Good luck!


Jessiebarny7 said:


> Hello everyone, I purchased a Yellow Back Tinc a few months ago and the past few days it has either been missing fruit flies or just not eating. He is sluggish, hides a lot and I'm very concerned. The tank is read by a digital thermometer with a probe in the soil which is 70 degrees. I've checked it in multiple spots and it reads about the same I also have a fogger which I turn on in the morning for about an hour and then in the afternoon. The other day I found him floating in a water dish with a slimy residue on him and I thought he was dead. This is my first dart frog (I keep mostly snakes and lizards in my collection so this is a new world to me) and I don't know what else I can do to fix this. Any help is appreciated! I want to do right by this little guy!


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## photoj (Apr 1, 2020)

Note, heat lamps create a extreme heat zone approaching the lamp, this zone which will exceed 80F and may have a surface temp at the vivarium top can be lethal. Heat lamps are for reptiles and hazardous for dart frogs.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

photoj said:


> I recommed Repashy Calcium Plus daily along with Repashy Vitamin A adding the vitamin A for several days then a couple times a week to it improves.


Calcium Plus and Repashy Vitamin A should not be mixed, as the D and A compete for digestive uptake. 

The symptoms, given the history, could also be a sign of hypocalcemia, too, so such a radical dosage of Vitamin A (which would compound hypocalcemia) is questionable without vet diagnosis.


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