Hi everyone, first time poster here. Long story short, I’m a first time frog keeper and I am having trouble with one of my two colonies dying off. Here is the general information:
1. Dendrobates auratus, “Ancon Hill”. I have had them for about 3 months or so, and they came from my local exotic pet store.
2. Day time temperatures are around 23 degrees C, night temperatures drop to around 17 C at the lowest. The lights are not too hot and are quite a distance from the frogs.
3. Humidity in the vicinity of the probe never drops below 95%. I can assume that in other areas the humidity is less, as the probe is in a sheltered location away from heat lamps. The tank is an exo-terra medium tall, 60x45x60 cm. The lid is full screen. There were 5 frogs in there, around 5 months old I assume.
4. I am feeding a mix of regular and small fruit flies 3 times a week. I try to feed so that there are only a few flies left by next feeding. I am dusting, rotating through repashy calcium plus, calcium plus, nutribal each feed and then repashy vitamin a (retinol) once a month. The supplements are 2 months old or so, stored in the fridge.
5. 5 frogs to start with, all bought at the same time.
6. Yes, when a frog is about to die they adopt a hunched stance with their body parallel to the ground, instead of sat upright. They become lethargic and stop eating, then go very thin and die. All this happens within 2 days. I had five frogs, and now have 2 with one in the process listed.
7. No, I don’t handle my frogs. Nothing has been sprayed or used near the tank.
8. I’m not sure how to add them (not the best with tech) so I will try to describe. I have a heavily planted tank with cork bark tubes stuck with silicone to the background, and several smaller pieces on the ground for them to hide in. There are plants in the openings of the cork bark pieces on the background, and many plants providing ground cover. I also have a large, horizontal piece of cork bark that sits around the first 1/3 of the tank’s height, wedged against the glass. They can also hide inside this. Finally, I have a thick layer of leaf litter that they can get into, and a small water dish.
Additional info:
All of the frogs appear to die in the same manner described above, one after the other. One died when I first got them, with a break of two months or so before the rest have started to go. I left the silicone for a week before I put the background in, and it was aquarium silicone. I got all the plants from a reptile store. According to the store the frogs were “wild farmed”. I have an automatic misting system. I also have another setup done exactly the same as this one, and none of those frogs are dying. I have not noticed anything unusual in their droppings.
I hope this information is enough to help track the issue down. Thanks in advance everyone.
1. Dendrobates auratus, “Ancon Hill”. I have had them for about 3 months or so, and they came from my local exotic pet store.
2. Day time temperatures are around 23 degrees C, night temperatures drop to around 17 C at the lowest. The lights are not too hot and are quite a distance from the frogs.
3. Humidity in the vicinity of the probe never drops below 95%. I can assume that in other areas the humidity is less, as the probe is in a sheltered location away from heat lamps. The tank is an exo-terra medium tall, 60x45x60 cm. The lid is full screen. There were 5 frogs in there, around 5 months old I assume.
4. I am feeding a mix of regular and small fruit flies 3 times a week. I try to feed so that there are only a few flies left by next feeding. I am dusting, rotating through repashy calcium plus, calcium plus, nutribal each feed and then repashy vitamin a (retinol) once a month. The supplements are 2 months old or so, stored in the fridge.
5. 5 frogs to start with, all bought at the same time.
6. Yes, when a frog is about to die they adopt a hunched stance with their body parallel to the ground, instead of sat upright. They become lethargic and stop eating, then go very thin and die. All this happens within 2 days. I had five frogs, and now have 2 with one in the process listed.
7. No, I don’t handle my frogs. Nothing has been sprayed or used near the tank.
8. I’m not sure how to add them (not the best with tech) so I will try to describe. I have a heavily planted tank with cork bark tubes stuck with silicone to the background, and several smaller pieces on the ground for them to hide in. There are plants in the openings of the cork bark pieces on the background, and many plants providing ground cover. I also have a large, horizontal piece of cork bark that sits around the first 1/3 of the tank’s height, wedged against the glass. They can also hide inside this. Finally, I have a thick layer of leaf litter that they can get into, and a small water dish.
Additional info:
All of the frogs appear to die in the same manner described above, one after the other. One died when I first got them, with a break of two months or so before the rest have started to go. I left the silicone for a week before I put the background in, and it was aquarium silicone. I got all the plants from a reptile store. According to the store the frogs were “wild farmed”. I have an automatic misting system. I also have another setup done exactly the same as this one, and none of those frogs are dying. I have not noticed anything unusual in their droppings.
I hope this information is enough to help track the issue down. Thanks in advance everyone.
