Deaths due to expired supplements...

[Dane]

Over the past 3 months, I've lost: 2 Bribris, 1 fant, and 2 Panguanas. Some got a little thin before kicking the bucket, others were still fairly plump. I was racking my brain as to what could have caused it. They were all in QT when they died, and were supposedly all clean. I didn't think to check my supplements until last week, when I found that my calcium had expired in October. Needless to say, I tossed it right away, and bought all new Repcal/herptivite. But seeing that I can't afford a necropsy right now, is this a feasible explanation for my losses?

[RichFrye]

Dane ,
My guess is that your cal "expiring" in Oct. was probably not the issue.
What feeders do you use?
Bacterial/viral infections are a couple biggies for taking down frogs quick. If they were all in QT , and something "bad" was in the air when feeding or whatever, virus or bacteria can move very fast and deadly.
BTW you can contact my brother for necropsy/histiopathy prep and "save" the frog if you can afford to run tests at a later date.
Sorry to hear about the deaths. Good luck.

Rich

[Dane]

Thanks, I did contact him, and he concluded that it was likely viral also. It sounds about right, considering that the shoeboxes were all on the same shelf. I feed almost exclusively with flies, but substitue pinheads every once in a while. Either way, everything gets fed from the same sources. I suppose bacteria is another likely cause. I know that bacteria can build up quickly to dangerous levels in QT enclosures with paper towel substrate etc. The second pang died yesterday evening, or this morning, so it might already be too late to keep it from extensive decay.

[RichFrye]

Yeh, You have to find and preserve them ASAP after death. Tough most of the time.

Rich