# Escaped frog - Questions!



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

I was just lounging in my room when I saw my adult male auratus on the floor. He was covered in fluff and I quickly grabbed him, rinsed the hairs and fluff off of him off with spring water, let him soak in a container for a few minutes until he started hopping around again, and then put him back in the viv. He did not appear dehydrated - he was damp when I caught him, with no wrinkly skin or anything, just marginally darker than he usually is. There are flies in the viv from this morning and he's hunting them right now. I've set the mister to give a dense fog. 

I'm not too worried about him right now, though I'm definitely keeping an eye on him. I'm not sure how long he was out, but it couldn't have been any longer than an hour. I'm more concerned about how and why he escaped. 

He's made several attempts before but this is the first time he's ever succeeded. I have a suspicion that he escaped through one of the misting/ventilation holes at the top of the viv that I had left open, but I'm not 100% certain. It's less than an inch wide; it does look like he could theoretically squeeze through it, but it's hard to say for sure, even though I can't think of any other way he could escape (to get out the top he'd need to make a massive leap or climb upside down, the lid was closed the whole time in any case and there are no cracks or fractures in the glass that I can see. I'll get pics up ASAP if anyone is willing to help me identify how he escaped.

I don't know why he attempted escape. He was introduced to two other auratus fairly recently, but until today he hasn't shown any signs of stress. The viv is around 30 gallons; I had understood that a general rule of thumb is 10 gallons per frog, but would moving them to a larger viv help to reduce stress? Or was it the fact that I recently rearranged the hides that made him want to escape? Did competition for flies drive him off, or was it another factor altogether?

Thanks so much for answers.


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## greenthumbs (Nov 6, 2015)

I think he may have escaped just because he could. Frogs can get through much smaller spaces than they appear to be able to. I'd plug everything up, just to be sure.


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## Alan (Jan 12, 2005)

He either escaped while you had the viv open - or escaped because you have an opening. Your viv isn't fruit fly-proof?


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## PFG (Oct 9, 2014)

My green sirensis were the worst - on two occasions I found one out of its tank, and could not for the life of me figure out how. One night I glanced over, and found one squeezing out through the lid. Further inspection showed that another one had wedged itself between the lid and the lip it sat on, causing that corner to lift up just enough for another to squeeze itself through. I placed a bit of weight on the lid, and never had the issue again.


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## Ghostkerbomb (Aug 2, 2015)

Living creatures need no reason to seek freedom sir

I highly recommend you secure anything that even remotely resembles an opening immediately


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