03-30-2014, 12:06 PM
If I bought my frogs from someone who tests their frogs and of course I own no other frogs so there wouldn't be any cross-contamination, then should I still test regardless?
Should I Test?
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Should I Test?
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03-30-2014, 01:40 PM
partsgal Wrote:If I bought my frogs from someone who tests their frogs and of course I own no other frogs so there wouldn't be any cross-contamination, then should I still test regardless? Short answer is yes. I test all my frogs even when the seller claims they test.
-Beth
03-30-2014, 02:13 PM
Thank you! I've been wading through all the testing discussions this morning, trying to make sense of them and sort it all out.
03-30-2014, 02:50 PM
It won't hurt by any means, it will just bring you extra peace of mind. If you have the extra $20 or whatever your vet charges, then why not? What if the seller did test their frogs, but perhaps they collected old fecal samples which would give false positives? If you have the extra cash, go for it.
Josh
03-30-2014, 03:04 PM
Good point Josh. Unfortunately the only vet in my area is a bit ridiculous so I'm looking through the mail-in options now. My local vet wants to see all of them in his office, with $30 for the first frog and a discount price of $20 for each additional. Has to see all of them and then the fecals are $25 each for just the chytrid test. And of course they want to individually test each frog.
 It seems I read somewhere that Dr. Frye (I think?) thought testing of a group was okay?
03-30-2014, 03:26 PM
partsgal Wrote:It seems I read somewhere that Dr. Frye (I think?) thought testing of a group was okay? If the frogs are / have been housed together then chances are that if one has cooties the others will.
brad
03-30-2014, 03:46 PM
It seems to be the general consensus that if one frog in a viv has something, they are all going to have it.
When I started out I was told all my froglets were tested and clean. Turns out they had a very low level of hooks (the seller was running their own fecals), and I ended up breaking down their viv, QT and starting again. It just depends on how cautious you want to be. I for one prefer to try and manage their health on the front end - tear down / rebuild is a pain in the rear if something flares up. Unlike you, I didn't find the forums until after I bought my first frogs...now I run the standard 3 clean fecals, 2 weeks apart on my incoming animals (live and learn). I use Dr. Frye @ ~$18 per sample plus shipping (it's about $20 for overnight for me). I also swab for BD and RV (though I am now finding out the swabbing protocols for both are actually quite different, so I'm not sure it's really as easy as BD and RV on a single swab). Those I run at least once on all incoming animals, though I have run them twice on my more recent purchases. I also try to swab a random animal every 3 to 6 months to keep an eye on things. Here are some links on sampling methods for BD and RV (I just recently read the RV paper - I had been following the BD protocol previously and screening that swab for BD/RV): http://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/images ... s_2013.pdf http://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/images ... elines.pdf Phil has a great QT summary here (you probably already saw it  ):viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4656
Jim from Austin | https://www.oneillscrossing.com/dart-frogs/
fantastica nominant | summersi | reticulata | A barbotini
03-30-2014, 03:50 PM
Erring on the side of caution sounds best to me for sure. I'm starting the viv build today and re-building at this moment doesn't sound like a bunch of fun, not to mention the expense. They are in a 10 gallon quarantine for now so they're secure and happy.
Yes, I did see that great thread by Phil! Thank you. And thank you for the links.
03-30-2014, 08:31 PM
There are a LOT of people who consider one fecal test "testing" or " clean". This is far from comprehensive testing. Frogs shed parasites at different times and levels.
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.
If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place. My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
03-30-2014, 09:06 PM
Thanks Rich. I believe I read three in a row clean as being the guideline? So if the second one were to come back positive for something then I would need three clean ones after the second one.
I must admit being confused on these different tests and am working on sorting them out. Is there a discussion somewhere on handling a PDF properly? How does one swab their mouth without hurting them? At least according to the links Jim so kindly put up that needs done. Fecals -- not a problem.
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