Certainly, you must ensure perfect feeding, maintenance, and care of your dart frog. But, sometimes you may notice that your dart frog is not eating. So, we’ve found some factors which can be responsible for your dart frog’s distaste.
Dart frogs don’t eat when they’re under stress. Also, their hibernation can be a good reason for this. They also seem uninterested to eat due to bacterial and viral infection. Their sickness leads to the distaste for foods too.
We’ve summed up the main reasons. But you might have further questions related to these reasons. That’s why let’s jump into further details in this article.
Stress
A very common reason, why your dart frog is not eating, can be the dart frog’s stress. Your dart frog is probably under stress. Whenever the dart frog gets stressed, they stop eating.
If you get a new dart frog in the tank, it needs some time to adjust. The dart frog doesn’t get comfortable in the new environment from the very beginning.
These can also put stress on them. As a result, the dart frog might not eat anything.
If you’re wondering what else causes their stress, here is a small list.
- Overcrowding in their tank or vivarium
- Being attacked by other dart frogs
- High temperature or hypothermia in their vivarium
- Low humidity in their vivarium
- Due to excessive handling
- Afraid of people
You might know that the dart frogs are aggressive amphibians. Keeping different types of dart frogs together in the same vivarium can be stressful for them.
This overcrowding puts a stressful effect on their health. Thus, the dart frogs seem uncomfortable. As a result, your dart frog is not eating.
The next concerning reason for their being stressed is high temperature or low humidity. In captivity, the dart frogs need to have the same temperature and humidity similar to theirs in nature.
You must be aware that your dart frog needs 72-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Overheating above 80 degrees Fahrenheit can put severe stress on dart frogs.
Again, hypothermia or sudden fall down of temperature make them stressful. After all, dart frogs are pretty sensitive to temperature change.
Thus, your dart frog becomes stressed and doesn’t eat.
The same thing goes with low humidity in the vivarium. The humidity should be constant at 80%. Otherwise, this puts a stressful effect causing your dart frog’s distaste.
Also, your dart frog doesn’t like much to be held in the hand. If you do excessive handling, they can be in stress. Force eating is also responsible for this too.
Sometimes, the dart frogs are afraid of humans. It can make them stressed. Thus, they do not eat properly. In this case, you can cover their tank for some time. Leave the room too.
If stress is the reason, the above-mentioned situation is accountable to why your dart frog isn’t eating.
Hibernation
Hibernation can be the reason why your dart frog is not eating. Hibernation means a way of conserving energy lowering its metabolism.
Usually, we notice wild animals hibernating for lacking foods or adapting to adverse weather. But, we’ve found out that some species of pet dart frogs have hibernation too.
When your pet dart frog is in hibernation, it usually doesn’t eat anything.
Now, you need to understand what are their signs of hibernation. If you detect their signs, you’ll understand that your dart frog isn’t eating due to their hibernation.
Signs of hibernation are here.
- Looks like living dead
- Stops breathing
- Drops heartbeat
- If you increase the tank temperature, the frog will respond and jump away as their body temperature increases.
So, these signs will help you understand your dart frog is in hibernation. Hence, you need not worry if your dart frog is not eating. After all, it is hibernating!
Bacterial Infection
Have you checked out whether your dart frog has a bacterial infection or not? Perhaps this is the reason why your dart frog is not eating.
Due to bacterial infection, your dart frog’s health suffers. They can be stressed due to this too. As a result, your dart frog is not eating and its health deteriorates.
The key reason for bacterial infection is lack of hygiene. The growth of bacteria and mold in the substrate can cause bacterial infection of your dart frog.
So, you need to learn which symptoms denote bacterial infection of your dart frog. To enlighten you, we’ve pointed out some symptoms of bacterial infection. Here it is :
- Your dart frogs show distaste or fail to eat
- Remains fatigued
- Sudden weight loss
- Having cloudy eyes
- Edema
- Lumps or marks are seen in their bodies
- Other irregularities on their bodies
If you notice these symptoms, you’ll precisely understand why your dart frog isn’t eating. Thus, don’t delay. Rather, rush to the veterinarian or professional to seek treatment for your dart frog.
Viral Infection or Sickness
Your dart frog will show various unusual behavior if it falls sick. Among them, not eating anything is a primary sign.
Despite taking care of your dart frog fully, it can get sick. Again, your dart frog can get sick due to a viral infection transmitted from other dart frogs.
For this, you need to detect if your dart frog is sick, observing a few other symptoms. Some signs of its getting sick or viral infection are:
- Not eating
- Soaking in the water much more than usual
- Seems listless
- Inactivity
- Unusual marks on the skin
It often gets hard to identify if the dart frog is sick or not. It is better to contact a veteran to ensure if the reason for its not eating is sickness.
Final Words
The dart frogs are very exquisite pets that are easy to maintain. But, we often fail to ensure their every need and comfort. Thus, they show their discomfort and illness by not eating anything primarily.
So, take a good look at the mentioned factors of this article to know why your dart frog is not eating.
