# Frogs & Toads > African Bullfrogs >  Frog turning pale getting very worried.

## Deepooki

My frog is turning a pale yellow color. She also hides a lot and only eats if the food is right next to her or I unmask her shelter. I use the same water for misting as and her dish which is a great value brand ozonated spring water. I use eco earth and have 14 watt t8 daytime bulb so it doesn't dry her up.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> My frog is turning a pale yellow color. She also hides a lot and only eats if the food is right next to her or I unmask her shelter. I use the same water for misting as and her dish which is a great value brand ozonated spring water. I use eco earth and have 14 watt t8 daytime bulb so it doesn't dry her up.


Answer these questions http://www.frogforum.net/african-bul...enclosure.html and repost your answers here in your thread.

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## Deepooki

I changed the lighting to something a lot less bright. I also wiped her down with cotton ball soaked with a 20 percent propylene glycol and 80 percent water solution to rid any bacteria or possible contaminants externally then let her bathe in a honey and water bath for a few hours. She seems a lot better now actually.

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## Carlos

No idea where you got advice to rub your frog with an organic alcohol  :EEK!:  ; but please do not do that.  You need to read this article:  Frog Forum - African Bullfrog - Pyxicephalus adspersus - Care and Breeding and answer the below questions that Colleen/Jerrod linked in order for us to understand what is the problem.  Thank you  :Smile:  !

*“Trouble in the Frog Enclosure”* 

The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure?

2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences?

3. Humidity? 

4. Temperature? 

5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish? 

6. Materials used for substrate? 

7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. - How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv? 

8. Main food source? 

9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often?) 

10. Lighting? 

11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure? 

12. When is the last time he/she ate? 

13. Have you found poop lately? 

14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) 

15. How old is the frog? 

16. How long have you owned him/her? 

17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred? 

18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats? 

19. How often the frog is handled? 

20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area? 

21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

by Lynn(Flybyferns) and GrifTheGreat.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I changed the lighting to something a lot less bright. I also wiped her down with cotton ball soaked with a 20 percent propylene glycol and 80 percent water solution to rid any bacteria or possible contaminants externally then let her bathe in a honey and water bath for a few hours. She seems a lot better now actually.


Never allow any form of alcohol to come into contact with your frog. It will kill the frog even diluted. Alcohol was once used to euthanize amphibians so please don't ever do that again.

Answer the questions posted. About the light. Less bright also usually means less powerful which means less heat. What is the temp within the enclosure please? Cooler temps can have an effect of their coloration as well as mood, stress, changes for adaptation, etc.

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## Deepooki

1. Size of enclosure? 10 gallon

2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences? 1, not applicable

3. Humidity? 75

4. Temperature? 78

5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish? Great value brand ozonated natural spring water for both mist and dish

6. Materials used for substrate? eco earth coco fibre (brick not loose)

7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. - How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv? Washed with dawn dish soap  

8. Main food source? crickets 

9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often?) Calcium dusted crickets every monday. 

10. Lighting? Previously t8 14 watt. Currently 8 watt straight tri tube cfl 

11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure? exo terra watt 4 watt underneath tank and a mini parabolic heater attached to a generic thermostat and probes heating the side

12. When is the last time he/she ate? This morning

13. Have you found poop lately? Yes not very much though. 

14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) 

15. How old is the frog? almost a year

16. How long have you owned him/her? 3 weeks

17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred? Captive

18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats? Earth worms

19. How often the frog is handled? At most probably every 3 days 

20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area? My bedroom so low?

21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) water changes once every 2 days during feeding time to avoid dead crickets in water full cleaning once a week.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

I would recomend using a dechlorinating agent to treat the spring water just incase.

Your temp isn't high enough. The frog needs 80° to 85° during the day. 78° is an acceptable night time temp.

Spot cleaning and water changes should be daily, but substrate and enclosure cleaning should be once per month. You handle the frog too often which causes stress.

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## Carlos

You already got some good recommendations, will discuss a couple of issues below  :Smile:  .




> ...
> 5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish? Great value brand ozonated natural spring water for both mist and dish
> Bottled water for human consumption can be treated and over filtered until it's not good for frogs.  Recommend use dechlorinated tap water for both mixing with substrate and frog's water dish.  Can use distilled or R/O water for misting to avoid watermarks; but avoid spraying frog with it. 
> 
> 6. Materials used for substrate? eco earth coco fibre (brick not loose)
> Mix per no. 5 above until it's slightly damp and clumps in fist without dripping water out.
> 
> 7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. - How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv? Washed with dawn dish soap
> Cleaning anything for a frog enclosure with any kind of soap or detergent is detrimental to frogs.  You can sterilize item by either baking in oven for one hour at 250F and letting items cool overnight.  If non-porous can also soak in a 10% plain clorox solution followed by thorough rinsing with water and a final rinse with 4X concentrated dechlorinated water.
> ...

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## Deepooki

Ok thanks guys. I have a question though about the heating pad it only heats the tank to 70 degrees. I don't understand why that is bad on the hot area of the tank.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Ok thanks guys. I have a question though about the heating pad it only heats the tank to 70 degrees. I don't understand why that is bad on the hot area of the tank.


Normally you have to use a heat lamp in tandem with the UTH. Incandescent bulbs produce far more heat than CFLs or standard fluorescent tubes. You may want to switch to incandescent lighting rather than fluorescent.

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## Deepooki

I originally had cfl lighting but it was near impossible to keep the humidity. A person at at the pet store recommended wet towel but i could sill barely  hit 70. My frog is doing much better. I stopped using that water and she seems fine now. I switched to dechlorinated tap water. Wasn't sure what dechlorinator to get so I got nutrifin. I didn't want to use the API stuff I had from my fish stuff because it is a year old. I tested the water from the bottles the GH and KH must of been way to high it was 180 GH and 240KH or above my tester won't go higher(API 5 in 1).

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I originally had cfl lighting but it was near impossible to keep the humidity. A person at at the pet store recommended wet towel but i could sill barely  hit 70. My frog is doing much better. I stopped using that water and she seems fine now. I switched to dechlorinated tap water. Wasn't sure what dechlorinator to get so I got nutrifin. I didn't want to use the API stuff I had from my fish stuff because it is a year old. I tested the water from the bottles the GH and KH must of been way to high it was 180 GH and 240KH or above my tester won't go higher(API 5 in 1).


Glad your figured it out.

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## atlpiggy

> Glad your figured it out.


Where do you suggest putting the heat pad then??

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Where do you suggest putting the heat pad then??


I have a large heat pad since my Giant is in a 22 gallon. I have it on the back wall on one end of the tank. There should always be a temp gradient within the enclosure so that the frog can choose whether it wants to be warm or cool. Ambient air temp should be consistent or have a very low fluctuation. You could do the same, but what are the measurements of your Heat Pad?

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## atlpiggy

> I have a large heat pad since my Giant is in a 22 gallon. I have it on the back wall on one end of the tank. There should always be a temp gradient within the enclosure so that the frog can choose whether it wants to be warm or cool. Ambient air temp should be consistent or have a very low fluctuation. You could do the same, but what are the measurements of your Heat Pad?


 I believe 8x12

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