my bull frog is skinny

[aluras]

Hello,
I have had this bull frog since it was a tadpole, I have fed it mealworms and crickets often, and still he/she is very skinny, I dont know what I should or could do. any advice on feeding would be great. shoud I take him/her out and feed her/him in another encloser without water? should I try to force feed? not even sure how to do that with a frog.
He/she still seems active but looks skinny to me, any advice would be great and helpful.
I keep packmans and pixies but they are totally different.
thanks so much
~Aaron

[Heatheranne]

Please answer these questions and we will try and help.... Please number the answers. Thanks.


“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.

[aluras]

Thank you, I usually feed the little one crickets or meal worms, which is difficult it an aquatic set up. I threw in some b.dubia and b.lateralis smalls and they were eaten after a short time. I dont know if he is just picky or what.
1.plastic tub about 10gal
2.none.
3.Id say around 85%
4.78-80 day time night is probably around 71 at night.
5.tap, washington water I dont believe has floride or anything in it.
6.none
7.I have a floating store bought pad. and I turned over decoration that comes out of the water. Very simple
8.small crickets,meal worms
9.dusted meal worms every third time with cal/vit d3
10.nothing special,just light from the house and turtle tank he sits next to
11.zoo med heat pad
12.ate yesterday,before that im not sure
13.no
14.
15.since turned into froglet maybe 6 months
16.since tadpole
17.guessing wc, bought the tadpols online and it was not specified
18.crickets/mealworms/redworms grown in another container. nothing used for treat until I tried dubia and lateralis
19.only when changing the water
20.living room corner, high traffic, but is not disturbed often that I know of.
21. I clean the water out once a week. and check on the uneaten food a few hours after it is put in. if not eaten i usually take it out. sometimes I leave it in till the next day.
I hope this hepls out, like I said he ate yesterday and he seems to be growing, just looked really skinny till yesterday.

[Heatheranne]

For # 5. Tap water - do you use dechlorinator for the water? Dechlorinating all tap water is a must. Chlorine in local city water is toxic to amphibians. You could also use bottled spring water, but not distilled water and not regular bottled water. Dechlorinating drops are quick and easy. You can get it in the reptile section or the aquarium section of any store, even Walmart. I use Stress Coat, but there are several brands.

Food - try using less mealworms and use more crickets. Add in some cut pieces of night crawlers. Use the calcium with vitamin D3 powder every other feeding. Get some reptile or amphibian multivitamin powder and dust his food one day a week with it. It's easiest if you choose the same day each week. He may need some vitamins. Night crawlers will help too.

I feed mine on his big rock cave. It sits in the water but he eats from the top of it. It took him a few weeks to realize his food was always on the rock, but now he sits and waits there. It helps keep the calcium and vitas on his food too (instead of it rinsing off in the water). Only bad part is the calcium on the rock, but it's worth it for him to get what he needs.

[Heatheranne]

Oh, yeah. You can feed them guppies, if you know they are from a clean source. I just let mine swim about.

Mine loves freshly molted (just shed their shells) dubia roaches. They're his favorite .

[aluras]

thank you for all the good info I love your set up and your big albino, he is a beauty. what kind of lighting do you have in there? and how old is he? Thanks again, Im going to have to revamp some things.
~Aaron

[Heatheranne]

You're welcome. I keep a shallow area on the left for him to get out of the water if he'd like.

My lighting is not bright enough to keep his water plants healthy (water lettuce). The aquarium plants do fine though. I have opted to buy new floating plants from time to time vs. get a brighter light, to protect his albino eyes .

I am not sure how old he is. When I purchased him from a local pet store he was 3/4 the size he is now. He should be about full grown now. They only live about 5 years +/-. I wish longer.

He's a nice big male and he loves to sing. He vibrates the water he's so loud, ha ha! We love him .

Do you have any pictures of yours?

[Psychotic]

I feed mine red minnows! I get 10 and just put them in the water and let the frogs eat them as they will. Also bullfrogs can eat a lot. Even by babies will gobble up at least two good sized crickets at a time. I never give them mealworms anymore. Most of them would drown before they would be eaten because they don't move enough for my frogs to really notice them.

Also if you have a flat area, you can put in a short bowl with bugs in it. Bullfrogs are pretty smart and will see the bowl as a source of food and start eating from it in no time! Just put the bowl in with bugs and then put the frog in front of it so he can see inside. He should get the idea. All mine have taken to it instantly lol!

[aluras]

All good advice, I need to go and get some fish.

[aluras]

turn out he is not a fan of fish, I dont think I have ever seen him eat, I know eating happens, I put food in and food does not come out......but I have never actually seen it eaten....kinda funny

[Heatheranne]

Lol! Mine wouldn't eat in front of us for about a month when I first got him. Now he doesn't care and he waits at the front glass for his dinner.

It's funny, I never see Bully eat his fish either, but they randomly disappear. Put a dubia in though and he stares at it, waits, and pounces every time . I always joke and tell him it's time for his steak dinner .

[Bombina Bob]

If the bullfrog is still skinny, Ive fed my bullfrogs crayfish and they get fat really easy