# Odd frog death



## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

I've done some looking but havent seen a similar situation. I have 4 variabillis,
believe its a 1.3 group, approx 6 months old purchased from belerophone. Yesterday at 8am i noticed one wasnt moving when i opened the tank for misting. It was perched on top of a film canister on the floor of the viv. an hour later it still had not moved, i left it be through the day. when i left the night before, all were well up in the top of the viv. basically, the frog is dead. has been for over 24 hours now, no sign of movement, no desication has occured, its still "soft" to the touch. i even picked up the film canister and not even a flinch. the way its perched, its head is up, legs are poised like its ready to jump. all frogs are fat and happy, there has been no sign of aggression in the tank, i mist daily, feed daily and supplement daily with reptivite and flukkers calcium with d3 (alternate the vits every other day).
i saw no seizures, that would indicat calcium defficiency. i have no clue what could be up with this thing, it looks like its frozen in time. has anyone else seen this? They are here at work with me, so i spend 10hrs per day at least with them and have never seen anything to indicate an issue. ive thought c02 build up also, but the other 3 are fine, the tanks is vented and i open it 2x per day (its a vert with the doors from dane, so i wouldnt think co2 could build up that quickly.(?)


----------



## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

I had this happen several years ago when I received a male pumilio that came in from an import. The frog had been in the care of a fellow hobbyist for a month or so before it was shipped to me. When the frog arrived it was very listless and appeared to be 'dead'. I knew it was alive due to a very faint palpating of the throat. It remained motionless for about a week or so and daily I would place drops of sugarwater or pedialyte on it's back. Then, one day, as if by miracle, it started moving around and was calling a couple days after. I strongly advise you not to write it off as dead if it still isn't showing any signs of decomposition (this happens rapidly). Instead, carefully quarantine it to a shoebox size enclosure and monitor it. You may even try adminstering drops of sugarwater or pedialyte as I did and see if that helps.


----------



## DKOOISTRA (May 28, 2009)

Thanks for the response. I pulled it and there was some slight discoloration at the hind quarters, and the eyes were a bit sunk in. still not sure why, thats what bugs me. ive had them in the tank for a good 3-4 months now.
derek


----------



## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

My only advice is to send the frog in for a necropsy.


----------



## Arrynia (Dec 27, 2009)

So sorry to hear about your loss...my previous post was made only in hopes for the best. If you do get a necropsy, let us know the results.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

A necropsy may help discern a cause of death but sometimes things do, just die... 

Ed


----------



## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

Ed please chime in on this...to prepare a frog for necropsy you have to have some chemicals on hand unless you can get it to a vet in a short amount of time, the freezer method des not work.

-Beth


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Yes, do not freeze the frog. If you freeze the frog, it will be mush and unusable for anything over than a very gross necropsy (yes that was a pun..). 

Ideally the frog should be pickled in buffered formalin or if nothing else is available alcohol but one will probably need their vet to submit the frog for them, so check with the vet before pickling. If you can contact the vet fairly quickly, then refrigerate the frog. 

Ed


----------



## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

John with Pisces Molecular advised me to use Everclear to send tissues out if testing for chytrid since other things don't preserve microbes so well, but ask the professionals on shipping specifics.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Depending on what you are testing for and how, different materials preserve the tissues to different levels of effectivness. Formalin is one of the options of choice unless you are going to be conducting DNA analysis as Formalin does damage DNA. 

Ed


----------

