# egg care fail - Is it me?



## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

I have been reading up on egg care and can't find an answer on this. I have a pair of Giant Orange tincs that are ~1.5yo. So far they have had 3 clutches. The first 2 molded over with no sign of development.

The last clutch had 2 eggs that molded over relatively quickly. I removed one since it was separate from the others and left the other as to not disturb the healthy ones. The remaining one showed signs of development to the point where I could see the tads sitting on top of the yolk. One was significantly larger and this one made it up to the point where it looked like it was ready to break free. The smaller ones did not develop beyond that and eventually molded and the big one looked like it broke out (tail was straight) but I am sure is dead as it has shown no sign of life for several days (I added more water to see if it would swim) Most people were saying from what I read that mold occurs when the eggs are infertile and that the mold will not spread to healthy eggs, these eggs were obviously fertile. 

I am keeping them in the petri dish they were laid on inside a delicup with wet paper towels on the bottom. I used tadpole tea and rinsed them every couple days.

I am hoping they are still trying to figure it out and are not producing strong tads since they are young. This is my first attempt at rearing darts so any help would be great. I hope it is not something I am doing that they are not developing.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I believe you are experiencing a vitamin A deficiency. This can also cause problems with your frog's tongue's stickiness. Are you using Repashy vitamin supplements, or another brand? Rep-Cal and Herptivite do not have what you need. Repashy does. To the best of my knowledge, the only other supplement with preformed vitamin A on the market, would be Dendrocare. Dendrocare however, does not the 6 carotenoids commonly found in frogs. Repashy has all 6. Here are a few threads. They should go over proper supplementation, and what you need to do to fix your problem. They are a little old, and may not discuss the importance of those 6 carotenoids in fixing your problem. You may wish to also incorporate some Repashy Superpig (which has all 6 carotenoids) into your rotation, too. Six percent of Repashy Calcium Plus, is Superpig, however, if you are experiencing deficiencies, a little extra Superpig would help get them balanced again.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/159410-help-bad-moldy-eggs.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/84848-variabilis-eggs-turning-white.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/83453-reptivite-vitamins.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/81273-3-months-bad-tinc-eggs.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/general-health-disease-treatment/78983-azureus-poor-sight.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/81184-bad-eggs.html

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/78022-die-before-birth-help.html


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

Thank you for the detailed response.

I am feeding repashy calcium plus every feeding and repshy vit A every 3 weeks or so. I just started with super pig every 3 weeks or so as well. Should I up the frequency?

Also there have been a couple times with the calcium plus that I have left it out of the fridge for a day or so, it is a relatively new bottle though, should I be safe and replace?


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I would slightly increase the Vitamin A Plus. If currently experiencing deficiencies, bi-weekly use is recommended. Once back on track, drop it to once a month if your frogs are breeding. You can drop it's use completely if everything's back on track, relying on the levels Allen incorporates into Calcium Plus.
Never use Vitamin A Plus more than once every other week.

If you just started using the Superpig 3 weeks ago, that's a bit too early to see it work it's magic. According to Ed, the additions of vitamin in the form of retinol can take months to correct, particularly if you keep conditions ripe for breeding. Shut them down and they can correct a bit quicker. Adding in some extra SuperPig gives them an alternate way to synthesize retinol. 
On your alternating week, or when you do NOT dose the vitamin A plus, would be a good time to use your superpig. When I use Superpig, I mix it half Superpig and half Calcium Plus. Only mix enough for a single feeding.

Finally, do you need to replace your Calcium Plus? That's your decision. It's not really possible to know what kind of degradation has occurred. Vitamin A, however, is supposed to degrade faster than other vits. Repeated cycles of cooling and warming, are harder on degradation than just time spent at room temperature.
I can help for next time, though. You need film canisters. Store the original container in the fridge. The original container never sees your frog room. Instead, you take a teaspoon or so, about a week or two worth of powder, and keep it in your film canister. The film canister you can keep in your feeding area. Replacing the film canister with fresh supplements from the fridge, keeps things nice and fresh.
You are not the only one who forgets and leaves your vits out. This keeps your main container as fresh as possible.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

How long have you had the frogs, and if it was withing the last couple of months, do you know what they had been supplemented with before you got them? 

some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Pumilo said:


> Vitamin A, however, is supposed to degrade faster than other vits. Repeated cycles of cooling and warming, are harder on degradation than just time spent at ro


Some of the B vitamins degrade even faster (like much much faster) and while some are present in Drosophila, it may not be sufficient to correct the deficiencies. 

some comments

Ed


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

Sorry for the late response thank you for the comments. I have had the frogs since November and they were 11 months old at the time. I am pretty sure that they were using Repashy calcium plus because they were happy to hear I was using it on my other pair of darts.

A little bit of an update on the lone surviving tadpole. At the zero hour when I was convinced it was not alive I was about to dump the dish and low and behold I see it wiggling around. I have put it in a cup with tadpole tea a piece of almond leaf and some java moss. I tried to feed it a tadpole bite last night but it did not eat it so I removed it figuring it would foul the water. Here is to hoping it makes it.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

You may need to increase the vitamin A to more frequently than once a month to get the issue resolved in the next few months. As a result don't be surprised if you see issues with tadpole development in the next couple of months. 

some comments 

Ed


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks, yeah I would be OK if they never bred although I would like to have the experience I can be patient.

The tadpole seems to be doing OK as far as I can tell. I have dropped a tadpole bit it there and see it near it but it doesn't seem like he has eaten a lot of it. Should I remove the uneaten food?


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

I have been using vit A and superpig on alternating weeks. The tad is still doing good. I got another clutch that turned moldy. 

I am curious though if the temps the eggs/tad are kept at are OK.

My set up is in my basement and temps vary from 72 to as low as 64 at night should I do something to raise / stabilize the temps for them. Could low temps slow their growth and make them more susceptible to mold? Tried researching this but could not find too much.


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

A bit of an update on the lone surviving tadpole.

After being in the water for almost 8 months it has finally emerged and seems to be perfectly healthy;










I am hoping it is a male so I can call him survivor man.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Try keeping your tadpoles closer to 78 F.... 

some comments 

Ed


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## thedudeabides (Mar 3, 2015)

Ed said:


> Try keeping your tadpoles closer to 78 F....
> 
> some comments
> 
> Ed


Thanks Ed, Yeah next time I am going to set up a 10 gal with a aquarium heater and a little water in the bottom and a shelf made of egg crate and set the eggs/tads in there.


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