My dumpy white wont eat

Question
QUESTION: We love in NJ, and added a dumpy white to our family in July, it is now February.  He stopped being active and eating a couple of weeks ago. Although his tank has a heater, it was located next to a window in our kitchen and the glass was ice cold.  I moved the tank to another room, away from any windows.  The temperature has been steadily staying at 80.  He still is inactive; and very disinterested in crickets.  I've tried to 'wake him" and get him stimulated and then have put him back into his tank with crickets, but he curls right back up and his eyes gloss over.  He has not had a cricket in about 14 days!  Do they by change hibernate?  Hi have not read that anywhere..am I bothering him when I try and "wake" him?
I am very concerned.
Thanks;
Elle

ANSWER: Hi Ellie, They do not technically hibernate but they do aestivate which is a period of dormancy they enter during the cooler, drier winter months.  Reptiles and amphibians often follow these natural rhythms even when their environment is artificially controlled and they are not exposed to temperature and lighting changes. In your case, your white's did experience a period of cooler temperatures and shorter days which likely triggered this behaviour. It is quite normal for them to enter this dormancy and is actually important to their breeding cycle. He may remain in this state for 2 or 3 more weeks.They slow down metabolically during this period and do not feed or lose an obvious amount of weight. You can start to bring him out by gradually increasing his ambient temperature to around the mid 80'sF and also increasing his daylight hours with artificial lighting. A little extra misting will help by signaling the end of the "dry season". Once he is awake and active again (with suitable temperatures) then you can start providing food.

Signs of illness in tree frogs are blotchy colouring (he may be darker during dormancy which is normal), obvious weight loss, lesions (check his underside for these) and being awake and in the water during the day. If you are not noting any of these then I really suspect that he is in a dormancy period.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you; that does give me some relief.
the temperature has been around 80 consistantly;
I have been afraid to shut off the heating pad at night because it does get cold in tech house.  As far as the artificial light; I have always been on a schedule with him on that; on at 7:30 am off around 7:30.
One quick question about the food...do I keep trying to introduce crickets? I am so nervous to starve him.
Thanks again!
Elle

Answer
Hi Elle, As long as he has access to some heat then you can offer a few crickets. I am assuming that the 80F is the general, ambient temperature and that the area right near/over the heat source is a bit higher. I like to give them a "hot spot" in the mid to high 80'sF. If the 80F is the area directly on the substrate over the pad you can raise the temp. just by thinning out the substrate slightly over the pad.
Don't put in more then 2 or 3 crickets and make sure they have a food source in there as well. A bottle cap with crushed cereal is all you need. Starving crickets will start nibbling on the resident lizard/frog, especially a sleeping one, if no other food source is available. You might also want to put in just male crickets if you don't mind the noise. You may find your enclosure over run with baby crickets if you put in females ( or males and females) that remain uneaten. The female crickets are the ones with the long "stick" protruding from their back end.