Frog Refusing To Eat

[TigerJack]

Hello. Well, I started out my new tank with one Betta and three african dwarf frogs. Right away the fish started eating all the frog food. After 2 weeks, 2 frogs died, I assume from starvation! So I finally put up a divider in my tank. Now the frog has all the food she wants, but she is not eating!! Every day I take out the slimey frog pellets and add new ones. I've tried blood worms but she doesn't eat that either. Honestly, I'm not even sure how she is still alive! Any advice??

 

[BigC]

Tried livefoods
Regards
C

 

[Tom81]

Hello. Well, I started out my new tank with one Betta and three african dwarf frogs. Right away the fish started eating all the frog food. After 2 weeks, 2 frogs died, I assume from starvation! So I finally put up a divider in my tank. Now the frog has all the food she wants, but she is not eating!! Every day I take out the slimey frog pellets and add new ones. I've tried blood worms but she doesn't eat that either. Honestly, I'm not even sure how she is still alive! Any advice??

Im no expert, at all, but i can think of a couple potential reasons.

Perhaps the pH of your tank water is not suited for the frogs, from what ive read they require fully cycled tanks.
Maybe stress, the frogs could have been stressed through transport. If your betta is very territorial, its dominance over the frogs could have stressed them and maybe even put them off their food as they may think they would have an angry betta after them if they tried to get any.

But like i said, im no expert.

How do you try and feed your ADF? Have you tried using tongs and moving bloodworms in front of them so they seem alive?

 

[TigerJack]

How do you try and feed your ADF? Have you tried using tongs and moving bloodworms in front of them so they seem alive?
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I've tried using a dropper to squirt the worms next to her but they keep floating to the top. I just bought new pellets but they float too! She does seem more active now that the divider is up so maybe she will relax and adjust.

 

[Jenste]

I wished I had noticed this thread earlier!!!

just a few questions about your frog and her setup so I can try and help as best as I can...

1) is your tank cycled? these frogs are EXTREMELY sensitive to water conditions.
2) how strong is the filter out put?
3) do you have a lot of plants (need to be silk or live to keep from tearing the webbing between her fingers and toes) and hiding places - - the more hiding places the better the frog is - they like to hide by nature and knowing there are lots of secure places around "should danger" arrive, the braver and more comfortable they are exploring their environment.
4) what exactly have you been trying to feed her and how often?
5) what is the temperature in the tank?
7) what are your current readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
8) what type of substrate do you have?
9) does she have any red areas on her body? tiny sores or spots?
10) how big is the overall tank and how much area (in gallons or liters) does the frog have to herself?

 

[TigerJack]

Hey Jenste. The tank is fully cycled. I did all that before I got my fishies. Not sure of the levels since I ran out of the test things. I'll have to pick up more.

I have a ten gallon tank that has a divider up now, due to the Betta. So the frog has prob 4 gallons to herself. She used to be on the filter side but I noticed she was having a hard time surfacing so I switched her to the other side.

Substrate is gravel. I used to have real plants but they all got moldy so I had to replace with plastic. So she/he? has a plant and a pot to hide in/behind. Plus she has a feeding dish where I put the food. I've given her frog bites, freeze dried blood worms and I just bought some reptile sticks. The only thing I've seen her eat is her own skin when she sheds! Lets see, the temp stays between 82-84.

No sores on her body!

Did I answer everything??

Oh, I usually feed her once a day. When I feed the Betta at night, frog still has her morning food.

 

[Jenste]

Hey Jenste. The tank is fully cycled. I did all that before I got my fishies. Not sure of the levels since I ran out of the test things. I'll have to pick up more.

I have a ten gallon tank that has a divider up now, due to the Betta. So the frog has prob 4 gallons to herself. She used to be on the filter side but I noticed she was having a hard time surfacing so I switched her to the other side.

Substrate is gravel. I used to have real plants but they all got moldy so I had to replace with plastic. So she/he? has a plant and a pot to hide in/behind. Plus she has a feeding dish where I put the food. I've given her frog bites, freeze dried blood worms and I just bought some reptile sticks. The only thing I've seen her eat is herr own skin when she sheds! Lets see, the temp stays between 82-84.

No sores on her body!

Did I answer everything??

Oh, I usually feed her once a day. When I feed the Betta at night, frog still has her morning food.

ok, a few things.

first, lower the temperature. It should be around 77*F for both species to be comfortable.
second, stop feeding the freeze dried bloodworms. these actually cause constipation and will put the frog off her food.
third, stop feeding for a few days. today is friday, so hold off until tuesday or wednesday. then try putting some thawed FROZEN bloodworms in the tank. chances are she will gobble them right up.
seeing you use Fahrenheit, can I assume you are in the USA? in that case, pick up some HBH Frog and Tadpole bites to be the main staple of her diet once she starts eating and use the blood worms as a treat.

she has had quite a few changes in the recent past and she could be having trouble adjusting. I also recommend more hiding places - even taking a few fake plants and letting the float around the surface - this will break up the light coming into the tank and will make the frog feel more sheltered. I leave a layer of live water wisteria floating in all of my frogs tanks for just this purpose.



ok, now lets sex her. are there tiny pink/gray/ or white bumps (one on each side) under her arm pits (will look like a pimple on each side of the body)? if yes, male. if no, female.

 

[TigerJack]

Thanks so much for all the advice! I will pick up some more plants and get frozen worms. I already have the HBH frog bites 8)

Not sure about the temp. I keep putting colder water when I do my water change but the temp keeps creeping up 8/

"She" does appear to be female because I don't see any spots. One of the ones that died had distinct white spots.

 

[Jenste]

ok - - how long do you leave your lights on, you may seriously want to reduce the amount of time - we need to figure out a way to lower the temp to anything under 80*. also, do not just keep topping off with cold water - - the constant fluctuation can put the betta and frog into shock...any change is best done gradually.

 

[TigerJack]

Ok. I turned the light off a couple hours earlier then normal and I still haven't turned it back on this morning. Right now the temp is at 80. I guess I had the lights on way too long? I usually turn them on around 7:30 am and turn off around 10 pm.

Sadly, my son's frog died last night. So now 3 out of 4 frogs died He has his own tank though so not sure what's going on with it.

 

[Jenste]

I thought you only had one left to begin with? or is this a different frog in a different tank?

We should get your water reading straight from the tap, and was this second frog tank filtered also? temp?

can you give me a run down of the two different tanks - all along I thought we were talking about 1 tank divided for a betta and a frog.

 

[TigerJack]

We were talking about one tank divided for one frog and one betta. My son has his own tank with his own frog in it and I was just mentioning that his died last night! His tank is a 5 gallon that has an air pump but no filter. It also has a heater that keeps the water around 78 F. I just find it very disturbing that we can't seem to keep them alive. Since his tank is smaller, I have my hubby do a water change once a week.

When you say to test the water straight from the tap, do you mean PH? I need a Ph test kit?


Also, as soon as I put the light back on in my own tank, the tank water went back up to 82. Should I just leave the light off?? This is getting very frustrating and my hubby keeps telling me to just get rid of my fish and call it a failed experiment!

 

[TigerJack]

Well, she died. She seemed to have bitten off her foot or something and by this morning she had died!

 

[Jenste]

I am so sorry

I have always found that ADF are very sensitive when it comes to frog species...their bigger cousins, ACF, seem much tougher...

maybe one day an ACF is something to consider? they seem to be much more interactive with their environment and due to their size seem to entertain kids more IMO

 

[TigerJack]

I think in the future I may get frogs again. Once I start working, I plan on getting a bigger tank. I may use my 10 gallon tank and devote just to frogs. Get a real nice setup and not have them stressing out about fish stealing all the food.