# Lack of vitamins/parasites/bloating?



## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Ok. My tinc (i think is a female) is very active and eats a lot. She is pudgy, but hasn't "bloated up" or changed in appearance much, if any at all over several months. However, her throat looks somewhat like a terribilis, that is, like an extra chin...but it is NOT, NOT like the terribilis Ortega had (with a big sack under the neck). You would almost think its a vocal sack, but I've never seen calling or anything. I do know as a fact that tincs/azureus do have a small "chin" about where the head meets the arms, but mine is just a little larger.

Her body is fat, but she isn't like bloated fat, if you catch my drift. However, the extra chin has been there for I don't know how long. According to Ed Kowalski, fat typically does not collect under the chin. 

I think I started to notice it a couple months ago, but no signs of any problems. However, sometimes I wonder if there might be a vitamin or parasitic problem. 

Ok. I used, i repeat, USED to feed Sandfire Dragonranch's treefrog dust out everyday when the frog was about 2 months (a froglet). I continued using it everyday for about four months...then stopped using it as I wondered if it was a good idea to even use it everyday (because it was designed for frogs that don't eat as much, so I feared oversupplementation). HOWEVER, I never had any "seizures," bloating, etc. from oversupplementation that I'm aware of...and that was about a year and a half ago. The frog just grew to a large size and got very bold and ate even more. One thing though, I DID recycle my supplement, as I didn't know anything about oxidation of vitamins. In fact, I used the same supplement in my dish to feed out for at least a week before i discarded the tiny amount in my film canister (i dumped flies down a funnel into a film canister)

I then switched over to using T-rex's carnivorous formula (no phosphorus) about a year ago. I used it about two or three times a week on my frog...because i fear oversupplementation more than anything. However, once again, I tended to recycle my supplements from the same dish. I still used the treefrog dust only very occasionally, but i bet it probably expired in my fridge.

Now, over the summer, I lost the carnivorous formula, but I also wanted to try a custom blend for color, extra protein, etc. and started using a mix of Repcal, cyclopeeze, and carrot powder. I thought cyclopeeze might be a good idea to feed to a tinc because it has a lot of essential fatty acids, etc. that might be useful if I ever found a mate for her (assuming its a she and I got a mate). I didn't realize it had no vitamin A or E (the repcal). I only used this custom blend about two or three times a week, and I feed everyday...but sometimes I wonder too if there has been oxidation as I don't think my ziplock bag really sealed out air that would damage the vitamins.

Now, I think, but not sure, this is when I started noticing this, probably about three/ four months ago. It hasn't really changed though, maybe just a teeny bigger, but not a big difference, if anything.

I honestly do not think its bloating from hypervitaminosis from liver damage because I only used the treefrog dust everyday for the first 3-5 months (when i purchased "her")...and my frog is over two years old. I have had frogs die from nonacute bloating though, but I do not know of cases of nonacute bloating with darts, and my frog doesn't really look bloated.

However, I wonder if cyclopeeze could have brought in a parasite (though unlikely) because I hear that cyclops are often ingested by salmon and tapeworms use cyclops for part of their lifecycle. (I believe Dr. Frye mentioned once that tapeworms can infect frogs). I have noticed no problems with the mantellas, tricolors, or bombina (who are the real benefiters from the astaxanthin, particularly the tricolors)

However, its been there for I don't know how long, hasn't changed much, the weight of the frog hasn't been altered much at all.

However, I am planning to order some Repcal and Herptivite in the future, as I had no idea about the vitamin ratio thing. I have feelings that it could be from a lack of vitamin A, but I'm not sure.There have been no seizures, lethargy, etc...the same, aggressive, very bold frog.


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

could it be just a sign of age? (the looser throat?). I have noticed no difference in the animal's behavior over the course of many months or weight loss/gain.


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