[Indoraptoad]

I woke up this morning and went to check on my frog, I misted the enclosure, as the humidity was in the low 70’s, but then found my tomato frog. He was dead, and dried out next to the cage. I have no idea what killed him, I’ve been regulating temperature and humidity well, and I’ve been feeding him a couple crickets dusted with repashy calcium powder. I got the frog from pet supplies plus 4 months ago. He grew quite a bit since I had gotten him. Lately, though, I’ve been seeing him a lot less frequently. I used to see him every day-every other day, now I go weeks without seeing him. The crickets get eaten, and I asked about it, and people said it was normal, but to still check on him. The monthly soil change was soon, anyway, so I did a soil change as I could not find him. I make sure to wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling him(which is only in soil chances). He seemed fine, just covered in lots of dirt. After the soil change, I put him near the water dish, in case he needed water to drink/clean himself. After the soil change, I, again, went weeks without seeing him. I assumed it was normal, as people had told me, and went on as normal. It is almost time for the next soil change, so I was looking towards seeing him again. Yet, I found him dead. He is very brown(I assume it’s dirt), his eyes are foggy and brown. He’s also dried and stiff. 2 crickets remain alive, from what I see, so I assume he didn’t eat last night. I am very sad, and just want to know what could’ve killed him, or what I could’ve done wrong.

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Perhaps -- and hopefully -- a keeper of this species will comment, but it sounds as if the substrate was too dry. Hiding, burrowing, and dried out after death all point in that direction. Posting more details (temps, substrate type, photos of everything, detailed description of viv, etc) might help knowledgeable keepers (which I am not one) troubleshoot with more accuracy.

dried out next to the cage.

Assuming this is some sort of typo. If not, the frog died from drying out outside the viv.

 

[Indoraptoad]

I posted this very shortly after the death. He was not dried out and stiff. It just looked like it due to him being covered in dirt. Also, the water bowl was dirty with dirt and sphagnum moss, so I assume he went in it overnight.

 

[Imatreewaterme]

Sorry for your loss and try not to be hard on yourself. Use it as a learning experience and try avoid any potentially hazardous conditions going forward.

Ricky