# White Tree Frog is Not Pooping



## Yoki97 (Sep 26, 2021)

I'm in a bit of a pickle right now where my white tree frog won't poop. It has not pooped for over two weeks.

Normally I'd be able to smell the feces, and I found droppings every other day. 

I have had the frog since the beginning of September. She was an adult when I bought her and I had no problems with her whatsoever.

Her diet consists mainly of superworms and mealworms. I do understand that that's not the best thing a frog can eat, but my dubia roaches are way too big to feed her and as I live in Iceland it is incredibly difficult to find anything else. I've had the frog for almost two months and in that time I have spotted crickets ONCE in the only petstore that sells these things and there was one cricket in the box.

Her diet consisted of superworms mostly before I got her anyway and there were no problems. 

I have not changed much about her enclosure except for adding a drainage layer. I am still waiting for a heat mat as they did not sell those in my pet store, so I had to order one online. I will be able to regulate her temperature at the start of November (hopefully) when I get the mat as of now I keep my entire room warm and the temperature goes from 25°C-29°C.

I have not changed the type of water I use, and I know the previous owner used the same type of water. I have not changed the substrate since I got her (it's a bioactive enclosure with isopods and all that) and the only thing that's different is the water bowl she has right now. Is it possible that the water bowl is too deep? And she can't comfortably poop?

But then again I did occasionally find droppings just near the place shee sleeps during the day and not in the water bowl.

I have tried giving her a honey bath once since apparently it's supposed to help, but she did not poop either and I don't want to stress her out by constantly giving her baths.

Should I just wait? There are no vets that could help me here. I can't change her diet and even if I can buy some sort of powder to put on the food to help her poop, I'd still have to wait until it gets here and that will probably take a month if not more.

Also. Do I stop feeding her until she poops, or do I continue feeding her? I've been giving her one super worm and 3-4 mealworms twice a week. 

Does she look bloated? Or just normal?.

















Anyway. Thanks for your help. If you need any information about the enclosure, you can find them here: First White Tree Frog - Questions and Concerns

If there are still some questions you have to give me a better answer I'll provide them to the best of my knowledge.

Thanks again.


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## Tomaskas (Jul 5, 2010)

Hi!

This seems to be an impaction issue. But without a vet check it’s hard to confirm.

The first thing to ask yourself is if you’re 100% sure that she’s not popping. My Whites Tree Frogs poop doesn’t smell when I open the enclosure, and it’s only small so sometimes finds it’s way into the soil and water without me noticing it.

If you’re certain that she’s not pooping then there could be a few

White’s Tree Frogs fall under Ferguson Zone 2 regarding UVB. Is she getting a full 12 hours of light (including the UVB)? And a warm spot provided by light (different from an ambient temperature provided by a heat mat, as Infrared A has shown to heal and aid in digestion and only really comes from heat lamps and not heat mats)?

There is so much research on how lighting is ultimately one of the most important aspects of animal husbandry. I recommend listening to the recent Animals At Home Podcast, chatting to Dr Frances Baines - she does a really good job of making it simple to understand. It can be found on YouTube.

These animals come from Australia, where it gets VERY bright, VERY hot and they can get a LOT of UVB. So light may help.

In terms of the diet, you’re right that super worms and mealworms aren’t the best. There could be a buildup of chitin (exoskeleton) in her body.

If you’re going to continue to feed her these worms, I recommend only feeding the worms that have freshly mounted. They will be very pale, and this is because their exoskeleton hasn’t hardened yet.

Although it is probably best to not feed for a little while, until you figure out why she isn’t pooping.

A way to 100% absolutely be certain that she’s not popping would be to put her into a quarantine tank for a few days with minimal decorations and damp white paper towels as substrate. This way if she does a pop you’ll certainly see it.


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## Yoki97 (Sep 26, 2021)

Tomaskas said:


> Hi!
> 
> This seems to be an impaction issue. But without a vet check it’s hard to confirm.
> 
> ...


Just as I was about to reply, I decided to mist the enclosure and change the water dish. When I lifted the water dish a little something rolled down the substrate next to it. I have never been happier to see poop in my entire life 😅! And you're totally right, they don't smell at all.

I guess I was just worried because the first couple of weeks I had her, her droppings smelled as awful as dog/cat droppings. The moment I stopped smelling the stink I thought she stopped pooping. I guess I also do have a ton of isopods in there (and I just witnessed a TON of Dairy Cow babies in a little air pocket that they made against the glass in the substrate) so maybe they're just super good at cleaning it up.

In any case, she seems to be fine. No prolapses and a normal sized dropping.

Regarding your UVB question, she is getting full 12 hours of UVB. I have the ExoTerra ReptiGlo 5.0 which is apparently the newer model of their ReptiGlo 5%. I was told by some people on the internet as well as the owner, that the UVB should be between 3-5% and when I said 5% at the pet store, the guy gave me the ReptiGlo 5.0. It's on a timer so I know that she's getting full 12 hours of UVB. Unfortunately, the ReptiGlow bulb does not offer a lot of heat. It does warm a bit, but nothing major. I am currently looking to design a shelving unit with space for a heat lamp and UVB light and overall a bigger enclosure for her.

I am currently in the process of breeding superworms, but that will take some time as just a couple of days ago three pupated into beetles. They've hardened and are black, but I was told it could take a week or two for them to start reproducing, and then for the eggs to hatch. I will definitely take it into account later when feeding her, to just give her paler "just molted" worms whenever possible.

I am a bit sour that I can't find any other feeders that would suit the frog better. As I mentioned I have dubias, but most of them are as long as the frog itself. I am hoping they will start breeding, but I can't provide good conditions for that to happen so I'm not too hopeful.

Were it in my hands I would honestly not have imported the frog here since the selection of food, enclosure accessories and overall access to a vet here is so scarce if not impossible to find. But I saw it on my country's equivalent of a craigslist and I thought I'd adopt it and give it the best home I can provide. It was later I learned all the hardships here.

I'll do my best. I'm currently waiting for a heatmat and thermostat. I will look into basking lamps online. Any you recommend that work good with a heatmat? I am getting all exo terra stuff, so maybe a basking bulb that's compatible with that? I dunno how much I can hook up to the thermostat, but I'm getting a hefty one that can handle 600W so maybe multiple items (I hope, because I'll have to provide one to my African snail soon too).

Since you seem to know a lot about Whites, this is her enclosure as of now. I am thinking about removing the rock (even though it seems she likes to sit on top of it during the night and hunt from there) and adding a ton of branches. But she seems to be cozy in her corner, so maybe instead of removing the rock I could just provide some sort of ledge closer to the UVB and make it so she can also go underneath it if she wants to hide. I was thinking of adding more pothos plants too. I had one tucked in the upper corner next to the rock and she liked to sleep there under the leaves, but I had to move it when I was putting the drainage layer in and I damaged the roots so it died. Any case. Frog seems to be fine. She acts the same way as always and I found some droppings so I guess everything's okay. I'll still stay vigilant, but I can relax a bit now.

















Thank you again for your answers. I'm new at this so I'm stressing out a bit when things like this happen.


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