# Super skinny frog



## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

my dart frog is super skinny, I feed him a lot but many of the flies get away before he can eat them. Can I put him in a small temporary container, for about 20 mins, and add a ton of flies to fatten him up?
I attached the container I’m thinking of using, I will of course clean it.
I have a photo of him in the past, and now. He got skinny when I missed a few of his feedings, and now he is not regaining the weight. Please help, im very worried about him.
For any other info, I feed him flightless fruit flies, and I dust them with repti calcium.


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

This frogs looks dangerously underweight. The repti calcium you are using isn't providing the nutrients that the frog requires. The majority of us use "Repashy calcium plus" as our supplement.

What I would do is set up a feeding station where you place a piece of banana on a margarine lid before you put the flies into the tank they will then congregate around the banana giving the frog a known place to get food and they will tend to stay there to let him eat them.


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

fishingguy12345 said:


> This frogs looks dangerously underweight. The repti calcium you are using isn't providing the nutrients that the frog requires. The majority of us use "Repashy calcium plus" as our supplement.
> 
> What I would do is set up a feeding station where you place a piece of banana on a margarine lid before you put the flies into the tank they will then congregate around the banana giving the frog a known place to get food and they will tend to stay there to let him eat them.


Ok, thank you so much! But what is a margarine lid?


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Mitchthefrog said:


> Ok, thank you so much! But what is a margarine lid?


It's a plastic lid from a margarine container, like a yogurt container (not sure what they call margarine in the USA lol).


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

fishingguy12345 said:


> It's a plastic lid from a margarine container, like a yogurt container (not sure what they call margarine in the USA lol).


Ohh will this work too?


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

And while your here, is this culture dead? Or can I still use it?


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Mitchthefrog said:


> Ohh will this work too?


Looks like it will work


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

fishingguy12345 said:


> It's a plastic lid from a margarine container, like a yogurt container (not sure what they call margarine in the USA lol).


We call it margarine lol

Edit: Now that I say this I realize some Americans call it butter because they were raised wrong. Sad.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

I second everything said here. Change to repashy calcium plus asap. You can get it at petco or petsmart if you don't have a reptile store close.


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

JasonE said:


> We call it margarine lol
> 
> Edit: Now that I say this I realize some Americans call it butter because they were raised wrong. Sad.


Yeah, it’s butter lol


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## Chris S (Apr 12, 2016)

Margarine is similar to butter, and used in the same manner, but is made from vegetable oils.

Butter is made from animal milk!

I would get a fresh culture, that one looks a bit nasty.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Chris S said:


> Margarine is similar to butter, and used in the same manner, but is made from vegetable oils.


More importantly, margarine is made of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Which is bad for your heart and causes colon cancer.



Chris S said:


> I would get a fresh culture, that one looks a bit nasty.


I agree. Get a fresh culture and some real butter.

I think this guy's probably going to be fine if you get him the right nutrients and get him feeding regularly. Check his temps and make sure the humidity is good. If you don't already, get some isopods in there so he can have a constant food source.


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## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Another tip, when you leave home for more than two days, punch a hole in the top of an old fly culture that's still producing some flies and drop it in the enclosure. The flies will trickle out for them to at least have something to eat while you're gone.


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## bssknox (Apr 24, 2017)

If you don't have any other cultures going at home right now I'd grab two new ones. Ideally with one already producing and then scoop a healthy portion of larvae from the second and place on that dish you have.


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

bssknox said:


> If you don't have any other cultures going at home right now I'd grab two new ones. Ideally with one already producing and then scoop a healthy portion of larvae from the second and place on that dish you have.


How would I do this without flies going everywhere


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## fishingguy12345 (Apr 7, 2019)

Mitchthefrog said:


> How would I do this without flies going everywhere


Do it outside where it doesn't matter if some escape


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## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

There's an important opportunity here to note that putting too many flies in with a reticent eater or when compromised is not an effective approach, and often has an adverse effect. 

Re containment of a frog, or actually any small prey species is a little acclimation art form. Its good to see if they 'take' to its correctness in being an unstressful situ before adding food.


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## Mitchthefrog (Feb 1, 2021)

The banana now has fly larva in it, can I just leave this be so my frog can eat the larva to fatten up?


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