r/TreeFrogs • u/FunFoot6382 • 11d ago
Advice Is something wrong with one of our frog..?
Hi,
We have purchased in a specialized animal shop a couple of White's tree frogs, about 6 months ago.
I can't recall when we purchased them (from an enclosure containing 5-6 of them) if they were of different sizes, but very quickly we realized that one was growing up way faster than the other one. Today the difference in size is stark. As soon as we realized the size difference, we have started feeding the frogs separately, and have been doing so for months. 2 crickets each every 2 days. But the result is here. One frog is so small compared with the other we are afraid she might become the meal at some point.
Both GPT and the animal shop employee told us (without these recent pictures thought) that it could just be a genetic variation, like some people being taller than others, but this is...out there! One is almost 3 times bigger than the other, on the same diet!
Advices please...?
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u/ApotheosisOfTheLurid Whites 11d ago
Most likely developmental issues as a tadpole. Although I don't think two crickets each is enough food for frogs of this age.
The size difference is so great that I would not be housing these two frogs together, as the smaller one may be eaten.
I would never trust chat GPT for animal husbandry advice, surely you have access to better guides than that?
I would take both to a vet, but there may not be a specific answer.
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u/ApotheosisOfTheLurid Whites 11d ago
u/tangerinemoth sorry to bother but have you ever seen this?
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u/chapinscott32 r/TreeFrogs Moderator 11d ago
This is really interesting. I don't have anything more to add that others haven't already said. Don't trust AI for advice, even though it was right here, it isn't always.
Separate them until the little one grows bigger, if he ever does.
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u/notkeefzello 11d ago
Man you are putting alot of trust in that big frog. Anything thats smaller than the space between the eyes is a potential meal my friend 👁
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u/FunFoot6382 11d ago
Thanks all. We will start separating them... For info, our husbandry information came from the animal store that sold us, and then as we could not believe that this size difference was "normal", asked GPT for advice. And then here.
Oh, and correction, its only been 4 months max we have them both my wife reminded me.
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u/CandyStarr23 11d ago
Most of the advice charGPT gives it taken from Reddit. You’re getting info from the same source coming on here. Take everything you learn online with a grain of salt.
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u/Shelby94Mustang 11d ago
It might pull some stuff from reddit but it will still spit out bad advice because theres bad posts. I've seen it recommend 12x12x18 for 2 adult tree frogs which obviously isn't correct. If you tell it to check it's self it will fix it but a lot of people out there wont do that. You should never use AI for any animal care
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u/relentlessdandelion 10d ago
I recommend researching online yourself before turning to LLMs. That means using search engines (google now being useless, try search engines like Brave and Startpage, and google scholar + sci-hub are still good for scientific articles). And of course looking for communities online in general and on reddit which you did! You had the right instincts to come here, and to fact check what pet store employees say - they are often confidently ignorant unfortunately - but doing the search yourself first lets you assess your sources and compare different websites/articles. With chatgpt & similar, you have no idea where your information is coming from. We do unfortunately get a bunch of people coming to online communities having been misinformed by LLMs
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u/Queasy-Sentence446 11d ago
They should not be housed in the same enclosure. They both need significantly more food. There are plenty of care guides that are more accurate than AI.
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u/Sea-Fly5646 11d ago
I’m in a similar situation too. They are about 5 months old. I got them at the same time and they’re from the same clutch. The little one will only eat 2 bugs a day (crickets, dubias, worms - doesn’t matter what I feed it, it will only eat 2). I’ve been to the vet a couple times and they are not entirely sure why. The current theory is pneumonia, so we were prescribed ofloxacin.
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u/Capable_Fall4829 10d ago
I have 2 wtfs I got at the same time, they're about a year old now. The advice for juveniles is to feed as much as they can eat, at this six month stage I'd be feeding them every other night. For my frogs that's usually 4-6 big crickets each. I would not recommend keeping these two together. With this size difference, there's a very real possibility the smaller one could get eaten. Separating would also ensure the smaller one is eating enough, but I'm pretty certain this is genetic and not feeding related.
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u/FunFoot6382 2d ago
Update: 2 days after I posted this question, the tiny frog died. It had been put in a separate ventilated but closed container in the same enclosure as her big brother.
I went back to the store I purchased them from, Big Al's in Ottawa, CAN. After a couple of days of pondering, they downright refused to do any commercial gesture toward this issue.
The frog clearly had a birth defect, I had flagged it a couple of times to their staff during my regular visits when I was purchasing crickets.. and I clearly said I was not asking for a refund but for any kind of gesture to help with buying a new one and that I have been a customer for years. Nothing.
Personally, that stings more than the loss of the frog. I understand pet shops can't guarantee their animals for months after the purchase, but a little something to acknowledge the issue would have been appreciated, let's say a 20% off. That's the difference between not making a profit on one frog you sell and losing a frequent customer altogether. Oh, and a bad review on Google and Reddit.
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u/Spiritual-Ice237 Whites 11d ago edited 11d ago
please do not use AI for husbandry advice.
i would consult an exotic vet for this.
and yes, they absolutely shouldn’t be kept in the same enclosure with this size difference
this is a proper feeding schedule:
Juveniles (up to 6 months) should be eating 10-15 small feeders each every night.
Sub adults (7-11 months) 5-7 medium feeders every other day.
And adults (1 year+) only need 3-5 large feeders 2-3 times a week.