# Inability to Climb



## Guest (Mar 12, 2008)

Hello all, 
My male D. pumilio or O. pumilio is about two years old now. When I first got him, I got him with his sister which died within days with symptoms of calcium deficiency, stretched legs, stiff body. The boy however was better off and climbing around. Yet all that time I noticed he was exceptionally secretive, and front toes were always stuck together. Eventually I got another female, very healthy, and she is sooo much more active than he is. She uses all levels of the viv.
For the last 9 or so months I have noticed that the male spends all of his time on the ground level. I thought he was just being shy except that last week I decided to try an experiment. Catch him and place him on the top of the viv and see how well he gets around. Oh boy, he stayed up there the whole day, in just one ledge. He could not climb down. He tried jumping to other spots, his jumps lacked distance and accuracy. He eventually let himself fall down level by level until three days later I found him on the ground level. During the entire time, I saw him hunting, he could not jump from leaf to leaf, climb the glass, or even climb the background of the tank. He simply cannot move around as well as the female. She is not aggressive to him at all. When I first introduced the female, he would sing everyday, I have not heard him sing in 10-11 months. He still seems healthy, but has not gained weight since my switch over to larger flies. The female has. 
I do see him hunt and eat every time I feed them, which is something I could not do in the first year I had him. 
I feed with Calcium + D3 and Vitamins that are not older than 6 months on the shelf, Herpitivite and RepCal. Captive bred individual, only 2 years old or so. 

Is this a matter of failure to flourish?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If the issue was calcium deficiency then any damage to the bones and joints is permanent. 

Ed


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2008)

Thank you Ed.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If he hasn't gained weight then he might not be getting enough calories to support courting (which is very energy expensive). Try setting up a feeding station on the botton of the tank to keep the flies down where he can access them more easily. 
Get a little weight on him and let the humidity drop for a couple of days and then really mist him and see if he starts to sing again. 

If you add leaf litter to the bottom of the tank, you can provide ovipositioning sites down low where he can court the female.. this will increase any chances of reproduction. 

Ed


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2008)

Thanks again. I always keep leaf litter. 
Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the flies in one spot? I usually dump as many flies as I can right in front of him, and for many days afterward I see many flies on the ground level. But the feeding station is a good idea. Is this simply a petri dish with fruit flies, so he learns where to go when food is served? Or is it meant to keep the flies in one place until he can reach them?


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Try an orange slice.


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## MattySF (May 25, 2005)

Placing a slice of fruit down on the ground level will he keep many flies close by.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I use slices of orange in shallow plastic dishes so the frogs have ready access and I tend to leave them in until the larva begin to pupate. The dish helps keep the larva in one spot.

Ed


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2008)

Oh wow, thanks!!


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