Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, my boyfriend's terribilis just died. I noticed he was very bloated looking- mostly his stomach and back legs. He also has a water pump in the vivarium. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or knowledge about this. We planted some pothos ivy in there too and supposedly the roots grow down into the water (which they did) and filters it. I thought maybe it caused even more oxygen.
Thanks.

PS I can post a photo later if anyone's interested or concerned about their frog looking a little bloated.

An overabundance of oxygen in the water is not a factor here, even if it might possibly occur for some unknown reason, unrelated to the pothos. Dart frogs live on land and seldom go ino the water, if at all.

Did the bloating occur before or after the frog died? If before, it could be related to numerous other health problems, such as parasites, kidney failure, (reasons not easily discovered)or something in the environment that caused an electrolyte imbalance in the frog-- all very rare events if the temps and humidity are right. Since darts eat with only their tongues, they rarely get gut impactions of foreign material like the grab and gobble amphibians are prone to do. What kind of water was your friend misting with and was it a lone frog, or are there healthy companions still in the same tank? Could the frog have sustained an injury of some sort? A newly introduced frog may leap around and perhaps injure himself on a sharp object.

If it occurred after the frog died, that is just what happens to dead bodies shortly after death. They bloat.

Without a herp vet to do an immediate necropsy, it's impossible to diagnose the problem accurately.

If it's a fairly new frog in a new tank, I would contact the breeder and tell him or her about it and see what suggestions he might have. While at this late date,(they usually gurarantee only safe and healthy arrival, and after that, you are on your own,) he won't give your friend his money back or replace the frog, any reliable breeder will talk to him about it and make suggestions.

P. terribilis are usually very hardy frogs and easy to keep with the proscribed conditions.

Do a check list of everything, from the temperatures (between 65 at night and not over 80 during the day,) the humidity (80 to 100%), food (plenty of fruit flies dusted with calcium/D3 and vitamin supplements) substrate quality (no pesticides or fertilizers in the substrate,) cleaning the glass (no Windex ammonia products or chlorine,) room air-- no insect sprays or aerosol air fresheners, new enamel type paint, petroleum varnishes applied recently, etc.

Sometimes it's a pain in the butt to figure out why a frog has died. Be encouraged, that it is generally a rare event under suitable conditions.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

Wow, thanks for the response! It was very in depth, thank you for taking the time. I actually found Terrence (the terribilis frog) already dead and earlier that day he looked fine, though he looked big or "chubby" earlier that day and didn't seem to be eating much that day or the day before. Its hard to say because we just dump the fruit flies and pinhead crickets (not dusted) in there- Terrence sometimes got spooked and hid for a while so it was rare that we got to see him eat.
So yeah its probably verey difficult to diagnose him. Though the tank was overheated I think. We put it in a spot where the sunlight did hit a spot on it, plus we used a pyramid light diffuser as a hood with only the edges allowing air to pass through. So I think it may have contained the heat too much during the day. we also used a uva/uvb light as was recommended.
Its hard to find out abouot specific dart frog problems on the internet. Do you know any health problems that occur from overheating or lack of air circulation?
Sorry for the long message!

Lynda

Darts don't need UVA/UV bulbs at all, as long as you feed the vitamin/calcium/D3 supplements, and these are likely to add to the heat. P. terribilis are normally very bold frogs and are out almost all of the time unless they are sick or hiding from something in particular. He may have been attempting to hide from the heat or the UV. You just need something like a full spectrum fluorescent hood for the plants or a compact fluorescent bulb. Lighting optons are many, but they are mostly for your plants. While they do get some scatterd UV in their rainforest environment, darts don't bask as lizards do and will avoid direct sun. The D3 supplements along with the extra calcium fruit flies and pinhead crickets don't provide in high enough quantities, will eliminate the need for UV. If this was on top of the glass top, glass filters out about 98 to 100% of UV light anyway, so if this were the case, all that was added was more heat.

Don't let your friend be discouraged. The next try will be successful.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus