# Sick and malnourished (rescued) FBT, please help!



## leo (Mar 19, 2016)

Hey all, thanks for reading.

I'm in a pretty awkward situation here, but before that, a little bit about me: I'm an experienced keeper of herps, snakes, fish, and generally anything that's kept in tanks or cages. I've been making aquariums and vivariums for a few years and I have about 7-8 tanks littered around my house with anything from leopard geckos all the way to an albino BP... I have a reputation in my town of taking in rescues and helping them get better.

That's why, when I rescued this sweet, skinny little frog, I was a little frustrated. I have read so many gosh darn care sheets and posts about caring for and preparing FBT diets, but for the life of me I cannot get this little guy to eat. I'll post some pictures once my internet decides to not be painfully slow.

Story time:

I rescued him from an old friend from high school who at first said that he didn't have enough time to care for his two FBTs and that they had stopped eating. A few weeks went by before we were able to meet up (5 hour drives suck) at which point he told me that the other frog had died and the survivor wasn't eating anything. This led me to believe that the two possibilities were A.) Horrible tank conditions and improper housing led to depression and stress in the animal, or B.) A parasite or other kind of illness had befallen this adorable little monster.

Tank set up:

Right now I have him set up in a spare 10 gallon that is approx. 3/4 land and 1/4 water with the deepest water level being around 1 1/2 inches - 2 inches with large rocks (bought from a pet store and rinsed then dried before being put in) to give the frog something to sit on so that he won't drown while giving him plenty of water to swim.

I live in a cold area of the country with central heat, but the temperature in my house drops anywhere from 55-60 degrees at night and around 65 - 70 during the day. I do have a small aquarium heater that I could use, but I got that as part of a previous rescue a few years ago and I don't know whether I'd put it and it would boil the water or something, so I elected to not use it.

The substrate is using small gravel as a base (cheaper) then using small to medium sized rocks on top (he can't actually touch any of the gravel so risk of impaction or ingestion is minimal at best, if not impossible)

I got a simple waterfall-style filter circulating the water.

Food:

Right now, I've got a small bowl of mealworms that are small enough for him to grab. They've been gutloaded with nutritional supplements. I chose mealworms as they are listed on many caresheets and I know that they have a large fat content. He really needs to fatten up because his body is like a stick, and in his condition he can't even eat mealworms hardly.

Behavior:

He's a pretty chill animal. Usually he spends him time in the water, usually right under the outflow from the filter letting the water run over him. I've seen him jump into the food bowl and lunge at a few worms. He's managed to grab onto one a few times but he never has the strength to get them down. From this, I do know that he at least wants to eat, but can't.

At this point, I am completely out of ideas and I would appreciate some help. I'll get some photos in a little bit.


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## cwebster (Mar 5, 2016)

Have you tried hand feeding him? Some frogs will grab a small cricket if you hold it in front of them, when it wiggles. I have also force fed frogs. One old pacific treefrog was really skinny. I held up crickets in front of him. He ate one after another, six the first day, and now is eating cheerfully by himself, after three days of encouragement. They were small two week crickets. Also I have force fed frogs over the past 20 years when needed, especially really old frogs, to stimulate their eating. You gently hold the frog, open their mouth gently, and quickly slip a tiny cricket in. That is kind if a last resort though because it is traumatic. Usually a cricket or two gets them eating again. There are rescue formulas at the pet store but I haven't had luck with those. Hope your frog starts eating soon.


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## leo (Mar 19, 2016)

I've tried to hand feed him a worm a few times but he didn't seem interested in it. This was also my first time setting up a half and half tank so I had a few failures that required a total cleaning of the tank (The internet lies, coconut fiber is not a good substrate for semi aquatic habitats) so he's been transplanted a few times and i didn't want to push it and cause more stress for him. I'll try getting a small cricket in him.


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## leo (Mar 19, 2016)

cwebster, I grabbed hold of one of my smaller crickets and just held it in front of his face. He wasn't really digging it at all. I eventually started to prod his mouth with the insect and he in fact grabbed hold of it and ate it. But I think he was actually just trying to bite me, just he got it instead.

He sat there with it in his mouth for a few seconds, trying to get it out until he relented and just swallowed it. I'm thankful that you suggested that, but I don't know if it'll be enough. Couldn't get him to do it a second time.


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## cwebster (Mar 5, 2016)

So glad to hear he ate something. Would let him rest then try again tomorrow. If he is like a starving person too much food at once is overwhelming. Hope it will stimulate his appetite.


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## cmk (Aug 29, 2014)

I would say if you have any vet that can run a fecal test, do it. Check for worms. Normal price for a fecal is 30, but theyll want an exam for around 60 too. I lost two cobalts that were good for a year then stopped eating and died. One right after the other. And it was worms, a vet visit and some panacur would have saved them.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The low temperatures in your house aren't a concern. I took care of a group of fire belly toads that for more than 15 years were kept at @65 year round with access to a small basking area. 

These small toads learn to cue in on specific people as a source of food, I've had them literally jump at me with an open mouth and tongue extension as if capturing prey just by accessing the enclosure. The size of your hand can be a stressor initially with getting it to eat. Ideally some 8 inch long tweezers can make the process easier for both of you. 

Ideally if you are buying crickets from a local pet store, you should feed them for at least 48 hours to replace lost fat, vitamin and mineral reserves (and no, I'm not really referring to gut loading which is the about the nutrition in only the digestive tract of the insect, I'm referring to bringing the whole cricket's nutritional value back up to baseline). 

If the toad is severely emaciated then there is a risk of what is known as refeeding syndrome. 
When nutrients are in the blood stream, and need to get into the cell, a number of them require transport which involves energy and ions. When a severely emaciated animal suddenly gets a bunch of nutrients in the blood stream, the sudden movement of those nutrients into the cells depletes the circulating system and the result is the animal goes into shock and dies... With amphibians, the current recommendation is to feed no more that 50% of the estimated caloric need/day until the animal stabilizes (this can take several weeks to happen). 

As a result you may want to avoid offering foods that are very high in calories for at least the first few days and then limit the amount fed. 

some comments 

Ed


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## leo (Mar 19, 2016)

Hey everyone! Quick update on this little guy:

He is a voracious eater! I went to petsmart yesterday and got some feeding tongs to help him eat, and I accidently dropped it in the cage and as soon as it started moving on its own, he pounced and chowed it down immediately.

I also bought a brick of sphagnum moss and laid it down in his substrate. He loves it and now I can feel comfortable dropping multiple crickets in and walking away, there is now no possibility of him ingesting the gravel and I think he'll be alright with regular feeding and love.

Here's a few updated pics:





































The only problem is that he seems to be REALLY bad at catching anything as if he can barely see it. Is this normal?


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## cwebster (Mar 5, 2016)

He probably is still recovering from near starvation. He should get better at feeding himself soon. What a gorgeous little guy! Thank you for rescuing him.


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