# Worried about my 0.0.5 Auratus behavior



## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

I have a 55g with 0.0.5 WC Hawaiian Auratus that have been doing well for over a month and a half. But now I am noticing that 1 of the frogs is getting FAT while the others are not. Let's say that I were to make a scale with 10 being the fattest, and 0 being deathly looking. I would say that out my five frogs I have a 10, 8, 6, 5, and 3.
Here's what I've noticed, when I feed, the 10 swoops in and POUNDS the flies, while the '8' comes in second and starts eating, but the other three frogs sit back as if there is no food at all. After about 10 minutes some more join in but sometimes the smaller ones stay up in broms all alone. I pour flies near them, but they still don't eat sometimes.

I separated the '3' and put him into his own container w/ sphag and fed him today, but he barely acted interested at all. 

Over the last few weeks, my viv is flourishing with FF who scamper about w/ no fear of being eaten. Springtails have also been introduced without much attention from the skinnier frogs. There is no lack of food in my tank, with seriously, hundreds of flies everywhere. 

Should I be worried? Could my skinnier frogs just be younger?

--Noah


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## yumpster (May 22, 2009)

If you aren't seeing them eat much at all and it is happening frequently then it might be something to be concerned about.


How old are they? As they grow, females will tend to get a rather rounded look and males will stay relatively slim. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but that's how it is with my auratus. Females are always nice and fat.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

They look to be nearing a year old. I've had them for two months + they are wild caught, so age is impossible to know for sure. Once I borrow my girlfriends DSLR I'll put up some photos for you guys (iPhones don't cut it).


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## hukilausurfer (Aug 31, 2009)

One posibility is that the hundreds of flies everywhere are stressing ur frogs. Id take the frogs out or find a way to get all the flies out.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

My worries would be that these frogs are wild caught. I would get some good fecals done.

-Beth


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## Lance (Sep 8, 2008)

I would think that stress is a cause or maybe bullying. Time for some detective work to see whats the cause.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

How much do fecals cost?


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I may be wrong, but I don't believe that auratus have been shipped out of Hawaii for some time. I would be doubtful of that age if they are wild caught. Possibly another form of auratus? 

You definitely need to remove flies out of the viv. That alone is enough to stress them into not eating.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

With my auratus bullying was VERY obvious, it started when the males started calling. They would chase each other and get on each others back. 
I just separated them in smaller groups and it stopped.

I guess what concerns me is that 4 out of 5 seem to be having problems.

I tend to stay away from WC, just my opinion.

You can e-mail Dr. Frye he will help and give you some opinions. I am 99.9% sure he will want fecals done. He can give you ideas about how much.

Too many fruit flies in there at a time will stress a frog out. If I see fruit fllies in my tank I will not add more.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

There seems to be no physical aggression in my case. No frogs are wrestling or even calling yet. The size difference looks to be almost age related - but I don't know. I hope to have pictures up for you soon. Thank you for the responses.

How can i remove the flies?


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

How are they doing Noah?
Pictures would be good as well.

-Beth


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

A skinny frog is a dead frog, so I once heard. No idea why he stopped eating and started turning into bones. He disappeared for a day then I found him under a coco hut dead with another frog just staring at his corpse. Pretty sad about it.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

Sorry Noah. 
I don't know maybe a Dr. Frye e-mail is in order. I would venture paying a vet for fecals, etc. cheaper than replacing 5 frogs.

-Beth


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## jknight (Jun 25, 2009)

Well I’m sorry to here the little guy didn’t make it and I guess this reply is a little pointless but in my experience the death of your auratus could have been any number of things.. what it sounds like is stress from the competition of the “10” / “8” you had hopping around.. In my opinion a 55 g is to small for 5 auratus . 4 is probably a better number for that size. Under supplementation is also a potential killer with pdfs ..as you probably know, lack of or low calcium in a frogs diet is a death sentence, without the proper supplements the frog wont and simply can not eat. It might be a mixture of both by reading your description of what was happening. I am sorry to here about your loss .. hope this helped if it happens in the future .. knock on wood 

Ps. Might have been natural causes as well..


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