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Dead Frog - anyone know what might have killed it?
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Dead Frog - anyone know what might have killed it?
#1
I have a dead Red-Eye on my hands, and I've never seen anything like it. I have them near my darts, so I want to make sure nothing gets passed around. Normally when a frog dies (at least the couple that I have had that died in the past), they tend to dry up, turn brown, etc... This Red Eye stopped moving and breathing, but looked normal. It stayed like this for hours. I put it in quarantine because I truly couldn't tell if it was dead, but by the next morning it had "melted" onto its leaf. The weird thing was that it was still green, and you could still see the coloration on the flanks. I do not know enough about disease, etc... (working on it). Does anyone have any ideas what this is/how I could protect my darts and prevent a similar occurence? I am trying to add a picture as an attachment, but keep in mind this is after I froze it for a day, so the whitish coating is frost.


Also, since this is my first post, let me introduce myself. My name is Chris, and I live in San Antonio (although I am from Oregon). I am working on my PhD in biomedical engineering at the health science center here. I had about a hundred different frogs of assorted types when I was in high school (in Oregon), until an ice storm knocked out power for 8 days. I boiled water every 2 hours for 8 days which I put into closed containers in the vivariums to try and keep everyone warm, but unfortunately the sub freezing indoor temperatures took a toll and I lost most of my frogs. I largely stayed away from frogs until recently (worried about a similar incident). I decided to get back into it as a hobby during grad school, and recently set up my vivariums. I have a sexed pair of azureus, a sexed pair of cobalt tincs, 2 juvi leucomelas, 2 juvi blue/black auratus, 2 juvi green black auratus, and 5 red eyes. I also have a pair of terriblis and a pair of red galacs coming in next week. All of the darts are from Patrick Nabors and all seem very healthy (I've had them about two months now). So that is a bit about me and my frogs, and I would really appreciate any ideas on what happened to my red eye.

Thanks!
-Chris
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#2
Bad news: a second frog died tonight. It is wierd- his eyes are wide open. He looks completely normal-very green. If he weren't laying flat on the ground, you would think he was alive. I put him on a wet paper towel and into the fridge to send to Dr. Frye along with fecals, but I don't know if I can ship him in time with the holiday. I am really worried about this spreading to my other frogs (if it hasn't already). When I picked him up to put him on the towel, I noticed a very small little bug-looked like a tick, except maybe 1/10th the size. My fiance did research with fruit flies a while ago and said it looked like a mite. Do mites have an effect on frogs, and could this be the problem? Is there a way to treat my frogs and the fruit flies? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. I am separating the frogs, but I would hate to lose anymore if there were a good way to stop it.

Thanks!
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#3
After getting out an ophthamoscope, I could tell that the bug was a mite for sure. Looked kind of like this http://res2.agr.ca/lethbridge/scitech/kdf/mites.gif
I also read that ivermectin is effective. If so, what dose, and how do I give it. Should I treat my nearby darts as well as a preventative measure? I've already decided to send the fecals of all my vivs for examination as soon as I can (Tuesday). Is it possible that these mites are existing in my vivs but are not the problem? Also, I did change the watering/misting schedule a few days ago. I have a system that mists and then small air tubes that feed water into plants on the back wall. Originally I had this system run for 1 minute, six times a day, but my vivs just seemed too moist. You could never see anything, and the soil was completely saturated-the plants also seemed unhappy. I changed it to two 1.5 minute mist/waterings a day about five days ago. Could this be the culprit somehow? I doubt it since the vivs still stay moist all day, but just want to provide all the info. ANY help or ideas anyone has would be appreciated.

Thanks!
-Chris
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#4
Chris- Im not the one to help you with these problems.. But Im curious to know how your other frogs are doing..
Maybe this "bump" of the thread will get someone to read it and get you an answer.?..
Sorry to hear of your loss.
-Frank
[Image: Frank4.jpg] [Image: frank1.jpg]
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