# Frogs & Toads > Fire Belly Toads (Bombina) >  My FBT wont eat its been a week.

## Nikoruscene

I've been feeding my FBT crickets switching from large and small. Now she isnt eating. I would put 2 crickets in there one large one and one smaller one. She just avoids them. Should I try wax worms?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I've been feeding my FBT crickets switching from large and small. Now she isnt eating. I would put 2 crickets in there one large one and one smaller one. She just avoids them. Should I try wax worms?


I don't have FBTs and am no expert, but you could try earth worms cut into pieces about an inch in length or just buy red wigglers and see it she takes to them. Wax worms are a good treat food, but not a good staple. They're mostly fat and empty calories. Try the earth worms or red wigglers. :Smile: 

Hope this helps and she starts eating.

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## Kristen87

> I've been feeding my FBT crickets switching from large and small. Now she isnt eating. I would put 2 crickets in there one large one and one smaller one. She just avoids them. Should I try wax worms?


How long has it been since she last ate and what size/how many did she eat at that time? What substrate do you have in her enclosure? Have you tested the temps and humidity?

Edit: I just saw Grif's post above mine, and if he doesn't seem worried then I wouldn't be either :P Was just going to try to get some more info so that someone like Grif could answer you haha.

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GrifTheGreat

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Kristen's questions need answering as well. Answer her questions and try the worms like I said. This is very important. There is only reason for concern depending on how long it has been since your frog has eaten and I would describe in detail how your frog is acting.

Keep us posted.

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## Nikoruscene

its been about a week since she ate. i try to feed her between 3 small crickets in the morning and at night, or two large crickets in the morning and at night. last time i fed her i fed her one large cricket at nite and since then she stopped eating. the past few days ive been putting one large one and one small one in her 10 gallon terrarium/aquarium so she would have a choise between the two but she just hops away from em and stays in her water side of her habitat. over all shes still acting fine she keeps bounceing around when i talk to her lol. she doesnt look any skinnyer. today she climbed to the top of her tree and hung out for a while. 

i have a stick on thermometer on her terrarium so i can tell the temp but havent checked the humidity. the land side of her habitat has gravel with frog moss on top. she also has a chinese hut to hide in and a tree to hide in and climb on.

can i get earthworms or red wigglers at petsmart? would i need to coat them in calcium powder before feeding them to her or attempting to feed em to her  :Frown:  and would it be best if i get some feeding forcepts?

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## Nikoruscene

just went in and checked on her and it looked like she folded herself in half... her head and back feet almost touched. she did it once before and i freaked out and kinda poked her then she went back to normal

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## Han

Temps? Ventilation? Lighting? Waterlevel?

Han

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## Nikoruscene

temps range around 75 degrees 

i have a 60 watt daytime bulb and night time bulb that i switch between. its been getting chilly in my room so been using those. 

have a terrarium screen lid.

water level is about a half inch deep with declorinator in it.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

That almost sounds like a defensive stance. You know to warn predators that they are toxic by exposing their belly coloration. How often you you clean the water or do partial water changes to eliminate amonia buildup?

Large crickets may be too big. I would stick with small and medium.

You can get both at earth worms and red wigglers at Petsmart.

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## Nikoruscene

honestly i do a full change every week. i cleaned her water today. it looked kinda cloudy which was weird cause i had just changed it saterday.

i also got her some better rocks for her terrarium. the ones i had i got from walmart and they would keep sticking to her belly to stop that i had the frog moss. since i got her the brighter rocks she seems to notice the crickets better but she still hops away from them. as soon as one touches her she twitches and hops in the water.

i usually stick with the smaller crickets but when i got them most of them were way too small. 

its weird tho she will like bend her head and back feet backwards she almost looked like a dried up corpse O_O but when i touch her she goes back to normal.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

I'm not sure what's going on with her. At first I thought she may be having seizeures, but she wouldn't snap out of one just because you touched her. The description sounds like a defencesive posture or warning stance. I don know what she would be percieveing as a thrwat other than you and if you've had her for a while she should be used to you by now.

I'm just not sure.

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## Nikoruscene

i dunno. the 2 times she did it i wasnt in the room. even though i have 7 cats i only let in one and i always supervise the cat.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> i dunno. the 2 times she did it i wasnt in the room. even though i have 7 cats i only let in one and i always supervise the cat.


I hope someone with more experience with FBTs will be able to help otherwise you may have to take you frog to a herp vet.

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## Nikoruscene

man i hope it doesnt lead to that. i went to petsmart today tried to get her some food alternatives one was telling me to get blood worms and one said wax worms. im all confused to what other food to feed her.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> man i hope it doesnt lead to that. i went to petsmart today tried to get her some food alternatives one was telling me to get blood worms and one said wax worms. im all confused to what other food to feed her.


Did you ask for red wigglers or earth worms? Wax worms are food items used for a treat due to fat content. Blood worms would be fine as well.

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## Nikoruscene

oh forgot about those. i just checked on her and she finally ate!!! i had one large cricket in there and its gone. i guess she wasnt seeing it well or something. good thing i got those brighter safer rocks!! im gonna give her one more and see if she eats it. im gonna check up on the red wigglers and earthworms when i go in there next just in case. thank you guys soooo much for the advice.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Your welcome :Smile:  keep an eye on her.

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## BigBlue83

how is the little froggy doing???

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## Han

> temps range around 75 degrees 
> 
> i have a 60 watt daytime bulb and night time bulb that i switch between. its been getting chilly in my room so been using those. 
> 
> have a terrarium screen lid.
> 
> water level is about a half inch deep with declorinator in it.



A 60W daytime bulb might be too hot for a 10 gallon set-up.
You need light, no heat: fluorescent tube. Watertemp should be
70F max. Waterlevel is far too low, should be at least 5 inches!
Bombina are aquatic and should be kept that way.
Skip the declorinator, just leave a bucket of water alone for some 3
days before using it.

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## Nikoruscene

Celeste is doing okay. she ate 1 large cricket 5 days ago and 1 large cricket 3 days ago but she stopped again. i changed that bulb and instead im using just a regular light bulb that is i think 40w. ill be sure to add some more water now that i know that. what if i have hard water problems should i still use the declorinator?

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## Nikoruscene

i just added some more water. she didnt seem to like how deep it was. she swam straight to the shore. 

ive been trying to feed her in a different tank with a drenched paper towel. when i try to feed her in her tank they keep drowning plus i keep having to take out her hut, tree, and drift wood just so that they dont climb all over her stuff where she cant find them.

shes also been hideing a lot is that normal?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Celeste is doing okay. she ate 1 large cricket 5 days ago and 1 large cricket 3 days ago but she stopped again. i changed that bulb and instead im using just a regular light bulb that is i think 40w. ill be sure to add some more water now that i know that. what if i have hard water problems should i still use the declorinator?


You will be better off using the de-chlorinator. Evaporation does not remove heavy metals and chloromines that will still poison your frog. It would be a very bad idea not to de-chlorinate you water. I suggest you keep doing so.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> i just added some more water. she didnt seem to like how deep it was. she swam straight to the shore. 
> 
> ive been trying to feed her in a different tank with a drenched paper towel. when i try to feed her in her tank they keep drowning plus i keep having to take out her hut, tree, and drift wood just so that they dont climb all over her stuff where she cant find them.
> 
> shes also been hideing a lot is that normal?


She is probably hiding because of the light. Is the light brighter than the other one you had?

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## Nikoruscene

no not really. its about the same.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> no not really. its about the same.


Hmmm something is probably causing stress, but I'm not sure what.

Keep a close eye on her.

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## Nikoruscene

Celeste is acting a lot better. 
last time i got some food for her they didnt have any small/medium crickets that you get in the black bin. so i got her some small/medium crickets that are in the boxes. i actually thought they were almost too small. but last nite i put 10 small crickets in her feeding tank and she ate 4 of them. shes been hanging out in her water now and she will go on the land too. but she now doesnt spend all her time hideing. 
so im thinking shes alllll better! lol. 

i think she knows i was worried about her and she happy that im taking good care of her cause when i go in there and call her name she will hop around and just stare at me LOL. shes such a sweetie. ive also been talking to her a lot more which i guess she might have picked up on the good vibes.

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