# Concern over Auratus behavior



## Scotsgal (Aug 6, 2012)

Hi! 

My husband and I are keeping 4 d. auratus frogs, and have had them for just over a year. We bought them as 'sub adults' and so imagine they are basically now grown. Two seem very active and a very healthy weight. One is reasonably active and maybe a touch skinny (but we are increasing the feeding and so hope he/she will respond). The final one, however, has been displaying some really strange behavior. 

Back in June, this particular frog started disappearing in the tank for days at a time. At one point he (I'll say 'he' as I can't tell the gender), was invisible to us, despite us searching, for a good 10 days before reappearing (a bit skinnier but not outrageously-it's-time-to-panic thin). For a while, he acted normal and was visible almost every day. 

As a consequence of a recent move, we had to down size their tank (though this was probably going to happen anyway as it seemed like the first tank was too big for them), and they are now living in a nice 3 ft x 15 inches x 12 inches tank with lots of spring tails and wood lice. Anyway, for a first few days in this new tank, this particular frog pulled his disappearing act and hid in some of the darker corners, so I figured he was just adjusting to his new surroundings. 

He's been getting skinnier, though, and today, he has refused to eat (despite still being skinny), and he's been acting really, really strange...strange in a way that I can't seem to find any posts about. 

Imagine a frog that is tilted right up by the glass, kind of standing/leaning/crouching against the glass, looking up, but not fully on the glass. That is basically what this frog looks like, except he's upside down. His nose is tilted into the substrate (but not buried in it), and his front legs are on the ground, and he rear legs are on the glass...they are not extended, and everything seems relaxed...as if he were just sitting on a leaf, and not realizing that he is, in fact, upside down. 

I've never seen him do this before, and he's been like this for most of the day. He's moved two or three times, but each time, puts himself in this position again. He also doesn't seem to respond when I go close to the glass, and looks skinnier than I've seen him in a while. 

The humidity in the tank is above 80%, there's good air circulation, and although I can't see the temp gauge right now, all the other frogs are acting completely normally, and so I assume that the temp is fine too. 

I'm really worried about this odd behavior though. Can anyone shed any light on this???


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

My first thought was extreme stress. I would pull him out, put him in a QT container and see if you can get him to eat. Hopefully its not too late.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I agree, put him in his own container and see if he'll fatten up. I had a group of auratus that was bullying one little guy who just kept losing weight. He did very well in his own tank. They can be mean frogs!


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## frog dude (Nov 11, 2011)

Wow, talk about strange behavior.  Separate and put in a quarantine container immediately. What and how old are the vitamin supplements are you dusting with?


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## Pacblu202 (May 8, 2012)

Have to agree with the others. I'd separate him. I had received a trio of auratus that had been in a 75. I moved them to a temp 10 for quarantine/get the new tank ready and was told that one was gettin picked on a bit but being in such a big tank wasn't a huge deal. He sadly died 2 days into the new tank I think from stress and being so close I the other two bullies. The tank size should be fine it's a ~30 if the measurements are correct. Can we get a tank pic? There should be plenty of (I think they are called) sight blocks or something like that, basically stuff that will hide the frogs from view of the others for territorial reasons. And also many places for them to sleep in.


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## Scotsgal (Aug 6, 2012)

Hi Everyone, 

Thanks for your comments so far. The ff's get dusted with nutrobal and calcium powder by my husband before feeding. The nutrobal just expired at the end of July, and so we will get a new one. 

Here is a link to some pictures of the frog and also the tank. 

photobucket.com/Auratus_Tank_Scotsgal 

It's hard to see from the pictures, but there is a log that runs from the left side of the tank around to the back, and creates a series of caves that they can hide in. There is also a medium sized brom that they like to sleep in. normally they will each pick a leaf and tuck in. There is a jungle pod, which some of them like, and also leaves to hide behind (which this little guy seems to be doing today in a more normal posture). We are thinking of adding a coconut hut in case he wants some extra enclosure. 

I've included pictures of two of the other three frogs. The one missing is the biggest of the four, and is currently in a part of the tank where I can't get a reasonable picture. 

My husband is a bit concerned that moving him will result in more stress than trying to address the problem in the tank, and might actually be worse because of that. I'm inclined to quarantine him, but would feel really awful if the act of moving him killed him off. 

Would any of you be concerned about this? How would you suggest minimizing the stress of removal to a smaller tank?

Thanks again!!!


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Adding more hiding spots would probably help but I still recommend moving him if you can. Do you see him out with the group eating flies? In my situation, the bully frog was chasing the little one away from the food. 

If you move him to his own tub, put lots of plants and hides in there so he can disappear right away and chill out.


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

I'd still remove him. Extra hiding spots may help, but if he's conditioned to being bullied everytime he comes out in the open, that stress alone is going to stop him from eating. I would still QT him, lots of plant clippings, moist paper towels and quiet. Let him chill out and see if he destresses enough to start eating and putting on weight.


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## frogs are cool (May 22, 2010)

I would be more concerned about the stress of the little one getting picked on then being placed in QT. I would place it in a ten gallon tank with a lot of leaf litter. You can take some disposable drinking cups and cut them down the middel from top to bottom and place them inside to give it more options for hiding. Place a feeding station inside for the fruit flies. I would place the tank in the most quiet part of the house. Try not to disturb the frog. From then on its up to the frog. I hope its not to late, but if it does not survive at least it can die in peace. I wish you luck. -chris


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## CLP (Jun 29, 2012)

Yes, it sounds like this guy is being bullied and the stress of moving him overall would be much less than the stress of staying where he is. Get him into quarrantine ASAP.


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