[InvertGang]

Is it safe to completely change the substrate of a quarantine tank every day? Or is the daily moving procedure too much stress for the frogs?

My African reed frogs (hyperolius concolor) finally came in and I'm looking to quarantine them. They were wild caught so I'm assuming they're going to have parasites.

I saw a study where they used daily enclosure cleaning to reduce parasites in frogs (https://meridian.allenpress.com/jhm...1/A-Comparison-of-Two-Treatments-for-Nematode). They did it for a whole month and found that parasites can be managed with that daily cleaning.

They changed the substrate and cleaned the enclosure with mild soap every day.

I'm concerned though that it may do more harm than good to move them around so much.

What are your thoughts?

 

[InvertGang]

What are you trying to accomplish with the quarantine?

Is it to prevent disease / parasite transmission to your other animals?

Personally, the idea of continually removing frogs from a tank to change the substrate sounds overly stressful especially on frogs that were wild caught (one more reason to buy captive bred frogs ).

Unfortunately there aren't any captive bred reed frogs available where I am. I fully agree that captive bred is superior.

The goal is to reduce or eliminate parasites to stop them from infesting the paludarim they're going in. I read that once the parasites get in the substrate and such, they become impossible to remove without tearing down the tank. I want to prevent this as much as I can.

I'm also hoping to provide any offspring to my local reptile store (though breeding isn't the goal), and don't want the offspring to be infected with the parasites their parents brought in.

 

[InvertGang]

If you're assuming that the frogs are parasitized or carrying other pathogens (which is a fairly reasonable assumption, not only because they're WC but because they passed through the retail system), and you're concerned about cleaning them up before they enter their permanent housing (also reasonable), it follows that you'd need to attend to all potential pathogens (not just nematodes in one genus).

For that, diagnostics and targeted treatment would be necessary. If it turns out that the frogs have Strongyloides and nothing else, then the hygene treatment with followup testing sounds like one possible treatment plan. The odds of the frogs carrying that genus of parasites and nothing else might be pretty low, so using this treatment as the sole shotgun method doesn't sound very prudent. Whether the hygene treatment has the same results with other intestinal parasites is very likely an open question, and it certainly doesn't address other pathogens.

Would using a broad spectrum nematode/parasite treatment work as an alternative?

Fecal tests are very expensive where I am. It's about $200 per frog, and an additional $100 for each follow up fecal test. Especially since abdominal cavity nematodes like Foleyellides sp. are common in hyperolius concolor and don't show up on fecal tests.

With four frogs, I can't afford to do $1200 worth of testing and treatment. I'm looking for something I can do that will help, but I also understand if there are residual parasites with an untargeted treatment.

Does that make me a bad potential owner?

 

[InvertGang]

My frogs came in, they're so cute! I got my quarantine tank set up with some fake plants and a little water bowl. I put some mesh over the lid to make sure they don't get their toes stuck against the hard plastic slots in the lid.

I've decided to observe them for a few weeks. See if they're eating, see their poop is normal, etc. If they seem off or their poop doesn't look good, or they're not eating, I contacted a few vets nearby and found one who will look at them for a fair price. Then I can get a diagnosis and treat if needed.

In the meantime, these guys are so cute. Hopefully they are in good condition and I won't need to take them to the vet. I'm ready for that if needed though.