[Guest]

My eldest mint Terribilis (9 months) died this morning. This entire weekend he was acting crazy every time I entered the room, or poked around in his tank. He would start freaking out, jumping all over the place. He was even jumping into the walls in a erratic mannor. I found him this evening, when I returned home, floating in the water freature. I do not know if he drowned or died independently and then fell into the water.
I did not think there was anything seriously wrong, because he is fat and looks healthy. The only problem was numerous scratches and other markes he obtained from jumping into things and hiding in really tight spaces between rocks.
I am not sure wether I should fill the water are with gravel so my three other frogs do not encounter the same fate. If he was sick why did he look so healty? And should I be worried about the health of my other frogs? I have kept them all in a 30 g tank with an average temp. of 76 since may 2004.

 

[Dane]

Darts can easily die from untreated lacerations or skin abrasions.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the input Dane, but the skin abrasions on my dart were not sever enough to cause death. I just recalled that about three weeks ago I found a bloody fecal from this frog. Is this a clue as to what caused its death? I have been told that many darts go into the water to die, so it probibly did not drown.

 

[Catfur]

I would have fecals done on all of your frogs in that tank. I don't know if this happens in dart frogs, but some parasites can invade the brain and cause dementia in certain animals. Perhaps this is what happened to your frog.

 

[Guest]

that is scary! It only began acting crazy on Friday evening. By Monday morning it had passed away. Is it possible for dementia to set in in such a short period of time before he died?

 

[Catfur]

I really have no clue. But I would strongly suggest getting fecals done on the tank. Especially since you mentioned stool problems.

 

[Dane]

but some parasites can invade the brain and cause dementia in certain animals.

Yes, this is also the case with darts. Parasite eggs/larvae that have been expelled through droppings will mature and look to re-enter a host, and the way that they usually do this is by burrowing through the skin and any organs that might be in the way. It's not always life threatening, but when the organisms by chance burrow through the brain to get to the lungs, GI tract, etc, it can cause obvious repercussions to the cognitive functions. I would have the other frogs tested immediately. I'm assuming you never quarantined these frogs? It's likely that the tank is now contaminated also, so they may require regular Panacur or dewormer treatments from now on.

 

[Guest]

they are the first frogs in this tank and I got them as froglets in April. They have been doing great up untill now. Why would I have ever needed to quarentine them? There were no external indications why he died. The scratches were not serious, but did indicate he was behaving franticly before death. What desiese can be related to a blood covered fecal?

 

[Dane]

Almost any internal parasite can lead to bloody stool in a stressed situation. Quarantine has been covered many times, if you really don't believe it has merit, then just keep doing what you're doing and hope that you don't introduce other frogs with worse pathogens.

 

[Ed Martin]

If you still have the frog, get a necropsy done. At the very least get fecals done. As the others have suggested, .... Parasites will keep reinfesting the frogs and the parasite load in the closed system will increase. For the few dollars a fecal exam costs, it will be well worth knowing for sure if the other frogs are in danger of a similar fate.
Ed

 

[Dane]

I'd have to disagree with the necropsy advice. Unless you've kept the body in the refrigerator up until now, it's seen too much decay to be of any use. Necropsies are useful pretty much within the first 24-36 hours of the animals demise.

 

[Ed Martin]

Dane,
I should have said if it was refrigerated..... no one will want to do work
on a rotting frog!
Ed