# Death in the family :(



## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

Woke up this morning and went to check on the darts. Found 1 sprawled out on the ground. Looked like he died mid jump or something. He was fine yesterday.

Only thing I can think of is the humidity has dropped since my tank started leaking and i removed the water. I increased the misting but it has been a little dryer than normal. 

I've patched the tank a few times but it keeps seeming to leak. This morning I filled it back and just put a bucket under it so I dont kill off the rest.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

If the humidity wasn't low enough to kill all of them then it probably wouldn't kill just one (some are known to actually dig into the substrate when it gets too low), you might want to look into other factors and get fecals done. What kind of frogs were they, age, tank size, how many, etc.?


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Could it have been fumes from the leak patching?


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## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

There about a year old and in this tank about 7 months, this is the first death. It was patched about a week ago. They are Saurian Cobalts. Not sure how I would go about getting anything tested if thats an option.


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## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

Sounds almost like it died mid seizure. Maybe calcium/d3 issue... what supplements were you using and how often?


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

What did you use to patch and how did you do it?

Do a search in the health section for fecals, I think there's actually a sticky there


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## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

I havent been doing suppliments. Maybe I should start again. 

The patching was with aquarium silicone sealant. This was the 3 or 4th time patching. Trying to hold out until the new tank is ready. Its an exoterra tank and the seal is broken on the front bottom pane on the right side. This is below the false bottom. What I did was empty all the water. Use a razor to completely clear the old rubber (it wasnt silicone, it was a black rubber matterial). Then wipe it down so it was as clean as I could get it. Open the front doors of the tank. Apply a marble size glob at 1 end and use my finger to run it into the crack from bottom to top removing any airbubbles and getting it nice and tight. I then wiped off some of the excess that was far enough away from the seal that it wouldnt matter. Waited 24 hours. Refilled the tank with water. All of this was done from the outside since the inside is unaccessible due to the concrete and egg crate false bottom.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

My thoughts also. If it were fumes or something environmental you would expect to see problems in all of them. If it was a subdom animal it couldve been stressed to the point of needing more d3, calcium, vit a or something of the sort. I`d check your vits and minerals first to see if they got too humid or are too old.



Aurotaenia said:


> Sounds almost like it died mid seizure. Maybe calcium/d3 issue... what supplements were you using and how often?


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Right away you need to start dusting their fruit flies, go to a petco or any store like that and get repcal with d3 and herptivite, alternate dusting each time with those, then look into ordering repashy calcium plus icb, replace any supps six months after you open them.

YouTube - Feeding Poisonous Dart Frogs : Dusting Food for Poisonous Dart Frogs

I'm assuming you didn't expose the frogs to any silicone fumes, it was totally cured with no smell before they were in the tank etc, right?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Was it found in a low point or depression in the tank? I wouldn't rule out CO2 toxicity either given that it was an overnight death.. CO2 levels increase over night as the plants also respire CO2 along with the microbial action in the substrate... 

Ed


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

ChrisK said:


> then look into ordering repashy calcium plus icb


Repashy Calcium Plus is usually available at Petco/Petsmart, it is sold at retail by T-Rex and labeled with different species names (Leopard Gecko Calcium Plus, Tree Frog Calcium Plus, Bearded Dragon Calcium Plus, etc.), but as long as it says Calcium Plus it is all the same formula.


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## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

Cool I'll pick some up tonight and start it.

It was found along the ground but it wasnt the lowest point it could be.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Make sure he's not still having a seizure though, some frogs look dead when they're not


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## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

I picked him up with tweezers by the rear legs and put him in a napkin. I looked at him closely, it didnt look like he was alive although he did still have his color and his eyes were not cloudy. His chin was not vibrating and he didnt move at all. Is it really possible he was still alive? I still have him, maybe. He's in my garbage can but I didnt crush him or anything.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

If he's not dried up, can't hurt to put him in a deli cup with wet sphagnum moss or a wet paper towel for a day


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## p.terribilis (Jan 19, 2009)

Sadly, I came home from work to see my male Azureus in the same position.


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

My azureus did the same. I had 3 that died stretched out. They did have seizures before this though and it was definitely a d3 supplement issue.


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## arkay (Dec 26, 2007)

I think I found the cause...HEAT.

This weekend I had the rare oppertunity to spend some time with my cage early in the morning instead of my usual after work. I noticed the sun beats down into the room during sunrise and with the past few days being in the 90's I think the morning heat cooked him. I opened the door and it was quite hot in there. My thermometer needs new batteries. I'll get a reading tomorrow morning. In the meantime I delayed the tank lights from going on until a little later and shutoff the water heater until winter returns. That seemed to keep it a little cooler.


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