Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday morning, he was fine. As a matter of fact, the night before I had heard him squeak twice so I was excited because I know that means he's male. So I turned on his UV light, said good morning, changed his water, misted him, made sure he had crix for the day.

I went off to school to take tests, came home, said hello to him again, then went off to do my daily things.

So last night I go in there to turn off his light, spray him again and say goodnight, and there he is flipped over on his back. He was so over-inflated I was afraid to touch him. But I picked him up and he was just so... huge with air in the palm of my hand, then he yawned and threw his head back like my tree frogs did when they were shedding. So I assumed he was shedding, put him right-side up in his tank and watched him. He yawned a few more times, then fell back over onto his back.

I got real worried so I picked him up to let him shed in my hand, so that if he fell over I could right him immediately. Well, I guess he wasn't shedding because all of a sudden every ounce of air seemed like it was squeezed out of him. He let out a short squeek, kicked his legs back and died in my hand. I have no idea what happened to him.

If anyone could give me any sort of clue as to what happened to my poor little guy, I'd appreciate it. Part of me thinks it may have been impaction because I noticed his stool had some of the green moss in it that I spread around his tank.

He never even made it to two inches in length.

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Amanda ^_^

"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to." ~Alfred A. Montapert

Sorry to here about your frog; on a young guy like this impaction is very high on the differential list. If you need a more conclusive answer then refridgerate the body and take to the veterinarian tomorrow and ask for a necropsy. Cost will range, but will be more if the vet is going to send it to the laboratory. He/she will discuss the details with you.

I hope I don't sound souless, but when I was in high school we disected frogs. They're rather hardy when it comes to disection. So, If you can stomach it, I'd say to do the necropsy yourself. Plus, you'd learn about the workings of your little guy.
Sorry for your loss.

That is a great idea, I've done these occasionally for people in the same herp society. If you attempt this, ask for help from someone who knows what they are doing; you will learn so much more

what type and size cricket did you feed it?

large female crickets have an ovipositor, that can get lodged in their throats and internal organs, causing internal bleeding and death symptoms of this usually appear that the animal is choking and struggling to regurgatate but can not. if the cricket goes down the wrong way, this can happen. anytime you feed large female crickets, you should use scissors and snip the ovipositor off to prevent injury like this. i use feeder crickets as well, and i always cut this off females. i try and avoid female crickets all together as well.

rachel
In Depth Information on Common Aquatic Frogs

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4.3 African Clawed Frog
2.1 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Argentine Horned Toad