# Why my blue azura female died???



## cosmomist (Jul 13, 2010)

I am new to breeding dart frogs. I have had these frogs for 8 months then all the sudden my blue female azura started to get skinny so i fed her separate from her mate for when he was around she would not eat much and he was getting fat. Well this morning i found her dead and don't know what to think. She is thin but nothing else looked different. Has anyone ever had a male kill the female. Any ideas would be appreciated. All my other frogs i have are doing well and are in the same room so temp and humidity are the same. All the others are not thin and are eating hardedly. PS.. The two frogs have never bred i bought them young from a breeder who sexed them for me.


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

It will be nothing but a guessing game without a necropsy.


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## evolvstll (Feb 17, 2007)

Were they breeding, and if so how many clutches had she produced? After a while you can tell the quality of the clutches is noticeably different. It can be time to move the female to a different container. Sometimes one more clutch is enough to drain enough energy from a female to throw her into an unrecoverable downward spiral. Tincs may be breeding machines, not unbreakable however.


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## cosmomist (Jul 13, 2010)

they have never bred and i found her dead this morning after i have had them for 8 months the male just started calling 3 days ago. when i bought them i got them young and were sexed by the breeder. They were not a proven pair.


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## evolvstll (Feb 17, 2007)

hexentanz said:


> It will be nothing but a guessing game without a necropsy.


With experience you will be able to tell signs of stress on a frog. How is your tank set up? Enough hide spots?


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## cosmomist (Jul 13, 2010)

i had them in a 20gal long with both sides covered only open spot is in front. have lots of plants and hollow logs. Have 2 coconut huts in there for them too. there is a open area with few plants.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Did you ever get a fecal done on the frogs? Particularly once the frog started to lose weight? 

Ed


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## cosmomist (Jul 13, 2010)

no I didn't but i am going to on the other frogs to make sure everything is aok. I am beginning to think that she not eating much could have caused calcium deficiency.


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

evolvstll said:


> With experience you will be able to tell signs of stress on a frog. How is your tank set up? Enough hide spots?


Stress is a very vague answer for death. 

A frog with a heavy parasite load will show signs of stress from it eventually. 

Bullying comes to mind here also, which can result from many different things not just two males or females getting along. This too will cause stress.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

It could have been a lot of things other than calcium deficiency.. like vitamin A deficiency, or parasite infections like hookworm, lungworm or coccidia... there are a lot of possibilities and without assistence of a vet, you really can't pin it down other than she lost weight and died. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

hexentanz said:


> Stress is a very vague answer for death.
> 
> A frog with a heavy parasite load will show signs of stress from it eventually.
> 
> Bullying comes to mind here also, which can result from many different things not just two males or females getting along. This too will cause stress.


Well if you think about it, it is probably involved at some level as virtually everything that causes the death of a frog is going to be the result of some form of stress.. for example trauma causes a wide varities of stress from disruption of tissues to breaking of bones to stress of loss of osmotic potential... and so on and so forth..... so it is hard to be wrong if you always diagnose stress.... 

Ed


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

Would be a good idea to fecal your male just to be sure.
-Beth


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Ed said:


> Well if you think about it, it is probably involved at some level as virtually everything that causes the death of a frog is going to be the result of some form of stress.. for example trauma causes a wide varities of stress from disruption of tissues to breaking of bones to stress of loss of osmotic potential... and so on and so forth..... so it is hard to be wrong if you always diagnose stress....
> 
> Ed


I know this ....shhhhh  I am trying to promote why a necropsy is the best answer for finding things out and not taking the easy route of just saying "Oh it was stress, case closed"!!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

hexentanz said:


> I know this ....shhhhh  I am trying to promote why a necropsy is the best answer for finding things out and not taking the easy route of just saying "Oh it was stress, case closed"!!


I've usually been a big fan of getting necropsy.. 

Ed


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Ed said:


> I've usually been a big fan of getting necropsy..
> 
> Ed


I know this. I am referring to others here.


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