# General Topics > Food, Feeders, Live, Frozen, Culturing, etc >  Fire-belly toad won't eat

## busytiredmom4

I just bought 2 fire belly toads from a pet store and they were the only toads in the tank.  I brought them home a day apart and the 2nd toad (Sissy) adapted fine and eats like a pig.  The one I'm concerned with (Fuego) has never eaten since I bought her (over 2 weeks).  They fed them crickets at the store and that's what I feed all my herps.  She hasn't lost weight and she doesn't look different.  She is very skittish, unlike her more friendly sister.  They have a large clean tank and they spend most of the time soaking.  So the crickets don't burrow in the substrate, I take my frogs out and put them in a seperate tank with the crickets so they can just chow down and then I just put them back.  Out of 4 frogs/toads, Fuego is my only problem.  Can anyone help me?  I love these guys and I want to make sure they're happy and healthy. I was thinking she's maybe stressed?  She doesn't act stressed, except she scares easily if you approach her tank too fast, but she's never had an owner since birth. HELP!

----------


## GoldenBellTreeFrog

Hmm, Seeing as you only just bought it, stress is probably the most reasonable explaination for it not to eat, try leaving it in your seperate feeding tank with a cricket while you walk away and leave it for a few minutes by itself with the cricket, it may get scared with you near it/watching it.
If it still won't eat then you will probably have to force-feed, 2 weeks without any sort of meal is a long time, it's going to need to eat soon.
If force-feeding fails then try taking it to a vet or pet store.

I hope i helped and hopefully it will start eating. (:

----------


## busytiredmom4

> Hmm, Seeing as you only just bought it, stress is probably the most reasonable explaination for it not to eat, try leaving it in your seperate feeding tank with a cricket while you walk away and leave it for a few minutes by itself with the cricket, it may get scared with you near it/watching it.
> If it still won't eat then you will probably have to force-feed, 2 weeks without any sort of meal is a long time, it's going to need to eat soon.
> If force-feeding fails then try taking it to a vet or pet store.
> 
> I hope i helped and hopefully it will start eating. (:



Good news for all that responded to my cry for help with my fire belly toad not eating after I bought her 2.5 weeks ago.  I bought some mealworms, placed in a dish, IN her own habitat (instead of taking out to feed in cricket tank) and she gobbled it up.  Then I placed crickets in her tank and she was instantly interested, which was far different than before.  She wouldn't even bat an eye if she was outside her tank.  What a relief!  I almost cried-almost when you've had a colicky baby that stops crying after a week lol (been there, done that).  So glad I didn't have to force feed her-that would've been hard for me as I love these little guys to death and don't want to hurt them.  I guess Fuego just likes her food in her own environment, probably just like it was at the pet store (don't know why I didn't make the connection before).  Thanks to everyone who had advice-you guys were lifesavers!  Love this forum-awesome people!

----------


## berksmike

Other things you can try are chopped up or small earthworms - when i had FBTs they loved them. Whiteworms and occasional waxworms or bloodworms good too. I used a shallow terracotta dish for the worms or they just tended to bury into the substrate before the toads could get to them

----------

Sunshine

----------


## Colleen/Jerrod

> Good news for all that responded to my cry for help with my fire belly toad not eating after I bought her 2.5 weeks ago.  I bought some mealworms, placed in a dish, IN her own habitat (instead of taking out to feed in cricket tank) and she gobbled it up.  Then I placed crickets in her tank and she was instantly interested, which was far different than before.  She wouldn't even bat an eye if she was outside her tank.  What a relief!  I almost cried-almost when you've had a colicky baby that stops crying after a week lol (been there, done that).  So glad I didn't have to force feed her-that would've been hard for me as I love these little guys to death and don't want to hurt them.  I guess Fuego just likes her food in her own environment, probably just like it was at the pet store (don't know why I didn't make the connection before).  Thanks to everyone who had advice-you guys were lifesavers!  Love this forum-awesome people!


Good to hear the advice given paid off. Stress is a huge issue with frogs. She most definetly didn't like to be handled being skiddish as you said and really didn't like being out of her secure home. Congrats.

----------


## busytiredmom4

> Other things you can try are chopped up or small earthworms - when i had FBTs they loved them. Whiteworms and occasional waxworms or bloodworms good too. I used a shallow terracotta dish for the worms or they just tended to bury into the substrate before the toads could get to them


I have been doinjg the same exact thing.  My fbts know now that when I put that dish in there, it's time to chow.  They love mealworms (even though I thought they were too big-guess not!).  The only things our local petstores have are the mealworms, waxworms and bloodworms, but they seem to prefer the mealworms.  They devour them.  I'm so relieved this little toad is eating-now you can't stop her lol.  Thanks for your help!  :Smile:

----------

