# Eggs keep getting moldy



## camofrog

Hi First post here. I have been looking around and can not find any real answer on my problem. My Azurus have laid 3 clutches so far and all have failed. First 2 I pulled eggs out right away. I sprayed some water on the sides of the dish and covered. I put them in a plastic container at 75 degrees. The tads do start to grow fast then at about 7 to 10 days they stop growing and get white mold I guess that grows in the egg. The last clutch I left in the tank for 1 day after they were laid and 2 of them had the same white mold in the egg. I have done everything to try to get them to live, I am out of things to try... any help would be great! I have 1 breeding pair in my tank.


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## whitethumb

what vitamin supplements are you using? how often do you switch them out? what are the temps?


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## MELLOWROO421

You can also try adding some methylene blue. You can get it at the fish section in the big name pet stores. I use a few drops (just enough to color the water) in a 1 qt spray bottle and spritz the eggs and use the same water to add to the petri dish until the egg jelly mass is 1/3-1/2 submerged. That will eliminate the mold. I also agree though that proper supplementation should fix the issue as well.


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## camofrog

Thank you for the replies. For vitamin's I am using Rep Cal Calcium with Vit D, and Rep Cal Herptivite. The eggs they lay are perfect and they grow super fast up until that point. Everywhere I look it says not to keep the eggs to wet in the dish. So I just sprayed the sides of the dish. My frog tank is 80 during the day and 75 at night with humidity at 90%. The eggs I put in a plastic drawer container.


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## camofrog

My supplement's are maybe a month old


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## Ash Katchum

How often are you using the calcium? You should use repashy vit A instead of the herp. I leave my Azureus eggs in the tank until they are about to pop out then I remove them. 

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## simonphelps

get some methylene blue and you shouldn't have anymore problems


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## camofrog

I switch every day on them. I tried that this last time and when I looked at them today 2 where already white. I can keep them alive longer if they are taken out. I just do not understand why they go good for the first week then bam there white and stop growing on every clutch.


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## camofrog

I just ordered some methylene blue . I will try on the next clutch. I am getting 3 eggs per clutch and 1 one was 4 eggs. Is this about normal for these frogs?


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## Ash Katchum

I use repashy calcium every feeding and about every 15days I use repashy vit A. Try using methylene like other members suggested.

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## Ash Katchum

My Azureus lay 6 eggs per clutch almost every time, I'm still fairly new to the hobby so I can't say if it is normal or not that they lay 3-4. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

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## Rusty_Shackleford

How old are the frogs? It sounds like they just aren't viable eggs yet. You may have to wait for them to fully mature. I have a group of P. bicolor that laid eggs fro almost a year before I got a single good egg. I have a pair of azureus that laid for 6 months before getting a good egg too. Then again I've had some frogs get it right on the very first try. Just be patient and continue to feed and supplement them well. They'll get it right on their own.


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## camofrog

I am not really sure how old they are. I bought them as a breeding pair. So even if the eggs grow and they wiggle around in the egg and die this could be from not viable eggs?


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## Ash Katchum

camofrog said:


> I am not really sure how old they are. I bought them as a breeding pair. So even if the eggs grow and they wiggle around in the egg and die this could be from not viable eggs?


They the previous keeper have any tads actually morph out? Or just eggs laid?

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## camofrog

I got them from dart frog connection as a breeding pair. Thought that is why I paid that much for them. That they were already producing


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## Azurel

camofrog said:


> I got them from dart frog connection as a breeding pair. Thought that is why I paid that much for them. That they were already producing


Hate to say it but you answered your own question....Some good advice given so just give it sometime and I might even suggest switching your suppliments to Repashy... Not that Rep-cal is bad.....

sent from my Galaxy S lll


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## Ash Katchum

Azurel said:


> Hate to say it but you answered your own question....Some good advice given so just give it sometime and I might even suggest switching your suppliments to Repashy... Not that Rep-cal is bad.....
> 
> sent from my Galaxy S lll


He might not be aware of DFC and the person behind it. From what I read is that DFC has a certain person breeding for them who has a reputation for selling ill and smuggled frogs. So this might be why the pair you purchased from DFC is not doin so well.

Just keep using the supplements and get the repashy vit a, I repeat that cause dart frogs need a special form of Vitamin A that they can metabolize which Repashy vit A has. They should do well if you follow some of the advice that others have given as well. 

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## Sea-Agg09

Ash Katchum said:


> He might not be aware of DFC and the person behind it. From what I read is that DFC has a certain person breeding for them who has a reputation for selling ill and smuggled frogs. So this might be why the pair you purchased from DFC is not doin so well.
> 
> Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2


and another thread dives down that black hole of dfc... lol

I would add vitamin A into your rotation and maybe some methylene blue into your tadpole water. If the tadpoles are beginning to develop, then they are viable. Make sure you are using dechlored or spring water in your tadpole water. RO should be fine as well (not going to open that can of worms lol). Make sure the water is clean.


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## Reef_Haven

Ed gave a good explanation here. 
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/breeding-eggs-tadpoles/78022-die-before-birth-help.html#post690599


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## camofrog

Dang never heard of that! So if they were smuggled in they could be poisonous for awhile? I will get those vitamins as well..


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## WendySHall

I doubt that they were smuggled. The more likely fear is that they weren't well-cared for / supplemented properly before they arrived to you.


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## Ash Katchum

Yea not smuggled but not cared for properly sounds about right.

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## camofrog

Would this be the right one to get?
Amazon.com: 16oz Repashy Calcium Plus Vitamin and Calcium Supplement: Pet Supplies


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## kitcolebay

That'd be it. 

Depending on how many frogs you have, then you can buy a smaller package...4oz or 8oz. It's important not to go more than 6 months before replacing them. No sense in buying 16oz to throw 12 unused ounces away after 6 months.

-Chris


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## WendySHall

Unless you have a lot of frogs...you're better off just getting a small jar. You want to replace your supplements at least every 6 months and it takes just a little for a few frogs.
Repashy Calcium Plus (3 oz Jar) - Calcium Plus Supplements | Josh's Frogs


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## kitcolebay

Here's the Vit A supplement that's been mentioned too. Dust every feeding with the Calcium Plus and occasionally dust with the Vit A (give or take, a couple times a month).

Amazon.com: Repashy Vitamin a Plus Micro-fine Vitamin A Supplement 4oz Bag: Pet Supplies

-Chris


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## camofrog

Great thank you everyone for all the help! Going out now to find some..


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## camofrog

3 eggs were laid yesterday. I sprayed with the meth blue. Hopefully these make it


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## Rusty_Shackleford

That's exactly why I only sell the 4oz bags of Repashy. It may cost a little more in the long run, but IMO its better to finish off a bag in 5 months than throw half a bag away after 6 months. 
Back to the problem at hand. You might want to separate the pair for a few months and feed them well with proper supplementation and then put them back together. Who knows, maybe the pair you got wad breed to exhaustion by DFC before you got them and that's why they sold them. 
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## camofrog

Update!
I got pass the stage they keep dying! The gills are forming and they are moving. No mold in site...

The petri dish is looking a little dry. The one egg is touching the lid and i am afraid if i take it off i could hurt it. Should i let it go or try to add some water?


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## joshbaker14t

Perhaps you are not keeping them wet enough. I put the Petri dish no lid on a soaking wet paper towel in a ziploc container. You want some water in the Petri dish, but not submerging the eggs. Also try leaving the eggs in the viv for a couple days before pulling. Just a little spray with the blue diluted with water should be fine. 

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## Pumilo

You have a vitamin A deficiency. You have never given them a usable form of vitamin A. As I understand it, your frogs MAY have never received a usable form of Vitamin A. Most supplements do NOT have a usable form of vitamin A. Repashy does. 
Now we encroach upon dangerous grounds. Before I say a word, I'd like to point out that this is NOT feedback. These are simply the facts as I have heard them. My facts come DIRECTLY from DFC and Taron Langover, himself. 
1) Dart Frog Connection has publicly assured all of us that Taron Langover IS your frog breeder. We have been assured that Taron is the DFC breeder AND he has assured us that Taron's breeding methods are used at DFC.
2) I was involved in a personal, face to face conversation with Taron Langover approximately 1.5 to 2 years ago. We met at one of the Denver herp shows. We discussed dusting supplements. Taron stated that he absolutely refused to use any of the Repashy line of supplements. He told me that frogs get addicted to Repashy and then they won't eat anything else. He claimed that if you removed the Repashy, your frogs will not eat, and will starve to death. He told me that Repashy Calcium Plus (and formerly Calcium Plus ICB) are full of powdered sugar. He swore that you could even taste it yourself, that it was very sweet. I went home and checked the ingredients. NO powdered sugar. I accepted Taron's challenge and I tasted it. There is absolutely NO powdered sugar in Repashy Calcium Plus.
3) We know that Taron absolutely will NOT use any Repashy products. He was very vocal about that. Therefore, we know that he does NOT add Repashy Vitamin A plus to his deficient dusting schedule.
4) We do NOT know if Taron bothers to try and grind up a human grade vitamin A to supplement his frogs with. Yes, it's possible. I used to grind human grade vitamin A, before Repashy introduced Vitamin A Plus was introduced. I used a combination of a coffee grinder, and a morter and pestle. I can tell you from experience that it is very hard to grind it down fine enough to get much to stick to a frog. 

My personal dusting schedule is to use only the Repashy line of products. I use Repashy Calcium Plus at every feeding. Once a month I will work in one dusting of Repashy SuperPig. Once a month I will work in one dusting of Vitamin A Plus. It's been working for me.


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## Tomoko Schum

Hi,

I am having a similar issue.
I hope you don't mind me posting here about it.

My Azureus pair started laying eggs two or so months ago. I raised them since they were 4 weeks old and they should be about 1.5 years old now.

Their eggs never seem to develop and eventually get moldy (some within a few days and some after a week.) I am beginning to wonder if I have a pair with an immature male or just two females with one laying eggs. 

Does a female lay eggs without a male around?


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## joel grassmann

The vitamin a was suggested to me once an they said they used it all the time an another person said to much could shut there kidneys down so I didnt maintain a scedule with it I wounder if it does help with heathier eggs?


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## joel grassmann

Thats funny I read back a couple people an there is tarons name he was actually the one who told me about vitamin a an wendy had repashy an said she does it like once a month think Im gonna put this back into my feeding never heard of superpig for frogs guess Ill try that to,kool thread.


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## ZookeeperDoug

camofrog said:


> Update!
> I got pass the stage they keep dying! The gills are forming and they are moving. No mold in site...
> 
> The petri dish is looking a little dry. The one egg is touching the lid and i am afraid if i take it off i could hurt it. Should i let it go or try to add some water?


Glad you got them going.

Rusty's theory is a sound one, but I have Another theory, The company who sold them, initially bought them and their team of scientists and legendary breeders couldn't get them going so they passed them off on someone else. We do know they've been acquiring lots of frogs recently for their operation.

But I'm glad they are producing good eggs for you now. Goes to show what you can accomplish if you're patient and take good care of your animals instead of just trying to make a buck.

At the very least, I'm happy they're in your care now and no longer in a dart frog mill. Please let us know how the tads and froglets develop.

You do have another potential concern. Frogs who are deficient in Vit. A as we suspect these may be, often produce froglets with SLS. Proper parental nutrition is important for healthy froglets. This breeder sells a lot of tadpoles and if recent evidence is correct, undersized froglets. Few other large operations sell tadpoles which suggests that they may be having trouble raising froglets from those tads and thus are trying to profit at least from the tads. They of course are selling froglets, which suggests that they are at least raising some, although given their breeders past history of purchasing frogs and reselling them(flipping), we cannot be confident that they're not doing this now. We just have to take their word for it.

Hopefully there is nothing to worry about and you can correct for the past lack of care. Not surprisingly you're not the first hobbiest this week having to deal with these issues from frogs they got from this breeder.


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## joel grassmann

I would add water so I didnt lose them all


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## Homerj1217

I am having the same problem with bakhuis. they have laid many eggs but i have not seen more then one tad. i currently have a tad but dont know what to do with it, help!!!!


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## The Dendrobatidae Project

Thanks everyone, I am glad I saw this post. I have been dealing with a mold issue on my vent eggs.


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