# Do frogs Stress out over a dead mate ?



## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

Has anyone had a problem of a frog , a pumilio in this case , stressing , stop eating and getting real thin from a mate that dies ? 

I have a Pumilio I got a few months ago . They were a pair that seemed to have gotten moved around alot before I bought them and also were a little thin . The female was seizing when I would feed them sometimes and died a couple weeks after . I didn't notice it till about a month later that the male was getting REAL thin , it looked like his skin was too big for him , and I'm lucky I caught it when I did . 
I seporated him and wanted to get a fecal done but no samples to be found for over a week , I got some metronidzole to help with the appitite and it took ten more days on it to get only two samples ! Fecal results clean , Lucily no parasites to be found . 

I compared a picture from when I got him to one recently and he looks to be bigger now than when I bought him , So I think he is on the mend and getting better . And he is much more active than a week ago .

But bact to my question , since he is parasite free could the loss of a long time mate cause a stressed frog to go over the edge . Has anybody had this happen ? I'm just trying to figure out what could have caused this .


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

Interesting question. I thought the same thing last month when one of my Auratus died from blot. There were four frogs in the tank. The remaining 3 will not come out of hiding. They all use to travel most of the tank all day. I wold see them in a cluster of 4 all the time. Now I hardly ever see them


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

I moved this to the Health forum.

I feel that it is more likely an infection that both frogs had that has been affecting their health, rather than any pining for a lost mate. Bacterial, viral and fungal infections most likely will not show up on a fecal, and lots of stress can definitely lead to infection.


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

Clayton makes a great point that is often lost in all of the "fecal" talk. Not everything infectious will show up on a fecal - and in fact, only a very small percentage of infectious diseases will. 

Furthermore, a single negative fecal does not mean that a frog is not carrying an internal parasite. Multiple (~ 3), successive fecals (about 2-4 weeks apart) are necessary before a frog should be considered "clear", and then regular testing should be completed if you are trying to keep your collection "clean".

Mark - I know you probably know this, but just thought it was a good time to mention it.


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## the_noobinator (Jan 14, 2007)

i also think that changes to group dynamic definitely afftect the social behavior of the frogs. i don't know about pining, but i definitely think it can add some extra stress. IMO.


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

I understand that a fecal isn't a show all tell all . But other than a fecal what else other than watching for symtoms can we can do to tell if our frogs are sick ? 

When he read the fecal , He also said that it could have been a protozoal or bacterial problem that the metronidzole took care of but he couldn't tell because this one came back clean . 

As for the female dying I was thinking more of added stress than anything else because they were already stressed before .

I'm definatly going to get another done before I put it with another female , just to make sure .


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Given that the frogs are not truely social, the removal of a potential competitor should be viewed as a reduction in stress. 

Ed


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## dragonfrog (Feb 16, 2006)

> Interesting question. I thought the same thing last month when one of my Auratus died from blot. There were four frogs in the tank. The remaining 3 will not come out of hiding. They all use to travel most of the tank all day. I wold see them in a cluster of 4 all the time. Now I hardly ever see them






> Given that the frogs are not truely social, the removal of a potential competitor should be viewed as a reduction in stress.


I think Ed hit the frog on the head!! :wink: After my comment above, I got quite the surprise tonight when I noticed an egg on a brom leaf. It did not appear to be good so out of curiosity I looked under the cocoa hut that has been there for more than 6 months without me looking because I figured I did not have a male. Well, to my surprise there was one tadpole hatched out of the egg.

I figured the Auratus were in the brom because they were upset over loosing a cage mate. But I agree with Ed, there was now one less frog in the viv and less stress, so it was now time for whoppi!!!


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## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

After getting another clean fecal I decided to put him back in his tank Saturday and while feeding the tanks and Sunday morning frog maintenance . 
I was welcomed buy a very awesome sight , A chubbier happy looking frog calling his head off . :lol: :shock: :lol: . 
Up untill today I wasn't 100% positive that he was a male , I never saw him call before . 
He's been all over the tank today .

Here he is looking much better . I dont think he will ever be fat being that he is long and thin , but he's looking good .


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## Dartluv (Dec 27, 2006)

Congrats... im glad everything worked out for you :wink:


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