# Sad day..and a question *sensitive pics*



## reptileink (May 1, 2005)

Well, I have some questions actually. If anyone is squeamish or sensitive, ignore the pics. How long does it take for a dart frog to dehydrate? I think I had an escaped azureus because I found a dried up carcass on my windowsill this morning. Now, bear in mind, a long few months ago I bought 2 painted mantellas, which one instantly vanished. I never found it! I tore down the whole viv and never found it. Now, I opened my windows today and raised the blinds up(first time since last summer), and saw this inside the windowsill:
















The last I saw both of my frogs was Saturday(at least I swear I did), maybe Friday. Would a frog shrivel up this quick? I searched my whole 55 gallon paludarium, and couldn't find frog #2. It has NO color, totally black which leads me to think that maybe it was the mantella? I am hoping it is. I just got the 2 azureus last weekend! It's my own fault really, the top of the tank was like 97% covered, it may have found the only 3% escape route. I hope not. Help!


----------



## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Escaping frogs dehydrate very rapidly...you are talking about minutes as opposed to hours or days to find them and get them back into their viv. We discovered the hard way early on that PDFs, particularly froglets will find the smallest opening and successfully escape into the room.

On a separate note, to your question about not being able to find your azureus, you would be surprised at how well they can hide at times. What you think is a very thorough search misses them. You may be pleasantly surprised that they both turn up soon. Good luck and sorry for your loss, whether it was the mantella or the azureus.

Bill


----------



## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

If you still have the frog ,try soaking it in water , it won't revive the frog but it will rehydrate the skin enough to be able to possibly be able to tell what it was . I type from experince  
Sorry that's a tough lesson , but most all of us have had it happen . 
Darren Meyer


----------



## Guest (Jun 6, 2005)

How dare you say you Hope it was the mantella.


----------



## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Yeah, I didn't like that you said I hope it was the mantella, they are equally as beautiful :roll: . Sheesh, hehe, anyway, That looks like a dried up mantella too me. I have unfortunately had one escapee in my early hobbyhood, and that is very similar to what it looked like. You can compare the size as well to your other azureus if it was similar to the missing one. The skeleton will not shrink any, so you should have accurate length proportions from the dried out frog. It does look like a mantella to me though, poor little guy. Hope that you find the azureus, take care,

Ed Parker


----------



## Guest (Jun 6, 2005)

*Mantella*

I think his point was, not that mantellas are disposable, but that since the mantella had been gone for months and was obviously dead somewhere, he would rather the carcass be that of the known-to-be-dead mantella rather than the could-be-dead azureus. Better one dead frog than two.

(Now someone is going to say to me, "How dare you say Better one dead frog  )

Cricket


----------



## reptileink (May 1, 2005)

Thanks all, still no sign of the missing Azureus. It does look like the same size as my Az's though.  I can't remember if the mantella was that big or not. You can be rest assured though that the top of the tank is now 100% secure with some fiberglass screening! Tough lesson learned. Here I was, as a first time keeper nervous about not having the tank environment perfect, and it dies(hopefully not) outside of the tank due to the smallest available hole to escape from. GOD! Why do they want to escape?? Don't they realize the viv gives them all they need and more?? Oh well.


----------



## reptileink (May 1, 2005)

confirmed dead.....did the "frog in the water" trick, and got the pattern of my azureus. Well, there goes $60 down the drain.  

"The best lessons learned are sometimes the hardest"


----------



## Guest (Jun 6, 2005)

*Mantella madness*

How dare you say one.  



later


----------



## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Every one of my dart frog losses except two have been from escapes, and I have had more of the escapes than I want to admit. Even several years into the hobby, I have experienced inadvertent escapes--every one, my own damned fault, because I continued to underestimate their ability to get through the slightest crack or loose flap, especially the thumbnails. They are all especially prone to escapes when you first get them and they are still exploring the tank. 

They don't last long on the floor, maybe fifteen minutes. I had an imitator hop out while I had the top open doing some plant trimming, and thought I'd chased all of the frogs to the bottom with my activity. It went immediately under the upright piano next to the tank, with about 2 inches to spare. I did see the leap and save this one, with much spritzing under the piano and careful sweeping around with wet paper towels. I recovered a dusty, dirty little guy, but still alive and hydrated. From the top of the tank to the floor is about 4 feet, but he survived the plunge perfectly well. 

The other two losses have been from one puncture wound--an enthusiastic newly introduced D. galactonotus that fell off a water fall when first introduced and landed on a rock that had a sharp edge. The other was an unexplained pumilio death in a nursery tank. 

I have not felt so bad about my own "financial" losses of some $60.00 to $100.00 frogs as I do about wasting their lives by my own carelessness, clumbsiness and ignorance, even after thinking I knew a lot and had some experience.


----------



## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Like somebody said earlier, (despite that isn't the case for your frog)

Jean can hide VERY well sometimes when she wants a nap. Just today, I began to panic because I didn't know where she was, but there was NO WAY she could have escaped at all. 

However, her tameness clearly shows something. My tinctorius is so laid back now, that once I even thought she was dead, and even poked her. After a few times, she eventually got pissed off and hopped, just a few inches. She's one of those frogs that come out when you open the lid, as they know it means food.

Basically, I virtually uprooted every plant in order to find her. The dumb frog was burrowing under the fern, somehow. She was just fine, but a little mad cuz it was bed time. However, she ate a few flies, ran around, then went back into hiding for sleeping.

I still have a dehydrated carcass of one of my first frogs. My first pair of Xenopus froglets I ever owned escaped, and we found one clear into my mom's bedroom, shriveled up. I still have it.

Meanwhile, a firebellied toad escaped back in November and I found it shriveled up under MY bed, all the way from my sister's room.

I know. I've been devastated every time, but it seems to have happened at least once to every frog hobbyist. :x 

Now, I keep everything "locked down" on every tank. always inspected the "security system" every now and then. 

One thing that is overlooked, for the potential for a frog to "push" through something. Frogs are pretty strong, particularly if we are talking about Xenopus, and can squeeze through because of their slimy, lubricating bodies. 

In fact, even my wire mesh backing (ventilation slot in hood) has some kind of weight or tape down to press together the tiniest gaps, making it nearly impossible for escapes.


----------

