Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What an african bullfrog looks like when in his sealed cocoon type mode?

My goblet Big ole african bullfrog about 1 month ago went into his hide area and seemed to seal himself. He feels like a dried, lifeless, hardened object. I have never seen them go into hybernation before so I'm not sure if this is it or if he has died

He never dug down just sat in his hide. I do not smell anything, except a strange smell) but not like somthing that has died. What worries me is I now see his back bone/spine I never saw it before he was so big and fat.

If this is the water sealed cocoon type hybernation you read about, it surely is unbelievable to witness.

If Goblet has died, it is terribley sad, He was very cool and I handfed him much of the time, he was snappy at the food, but seemed to know it was my fingers

Hope someone can fill me in, and help me to understand, he seemed great, until this celophane type cocoon.

Thanks guys,

My Goblet

My Scaley kids

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PHEve / Eve

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I'm not to sure, but maybe if you raised the humidity and the temp a bit, it'll help. Good luck.

Can you describe his habitat? Is there a water area?

Mac

Sounds stone dead to me.

Is he curled up or just sort of laying there?
Is the body pliable at all or totally stiff?
Is the body flattened or still life-like and rotund?

Yes, he has water, it's a 20 gallon tank mostly all soil, one end has a plastic type pond area for him. He has a big half of terricotta pot he alwasy got under after sitting in his water.

As far as what he appears like now, he is in a regular sitting position, round and rotund, just in cellophane type sealed skin. ????

Weird, no movement, just dry and stiff.
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PHEve / Eve

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Could be Hibernation. Any update? What happens when you put him in the water?

It sounds to me as though you have lost your african bullfrog. mine go into hibernation for about three months every year, but they burrow into the ground and if you disturb them at all they will awaken and come out looking for food. i would suggest putting your frog into a shallow water bowl, about 1 inch of slightly warm water, 75-80 degrees and let him soak, if he is still alive then he should come too after soaking for a short time.
hope this helps

Sorry to say my Goblet died in hybernation Such a shame, he went in to it really FAT and Perky. Before I posted on the frog forum I started to notice his back bones/ along spine showing. I got worried. Also the facyt he never dug down into the soil.
After posting, I was told by a friend to try and get him out of it if he were alive , I could place him in water, (shallow.)

As I just read a couple of you guys also recommended that.

I placed him in enough to cover his stomach and legs and went to bed. The next morning I got up and there was a very foul stench coming from the reptile room. The water had fouled real bad, as the sealed skin he was in softened. His underside had sunken in also. He died in a sitting position as if nothing was wrong.

Really sad, I will miss him. I never stopped back to explain on the forum as our dog needed surgery this weekend and we found it was cancer. What a major crisis ( you can understand if you have a dogie,)

SO as terrible as I feel about my Goblet,and would like to try again some day with another, I'm really preoccupied with my dog right now , he received chemo tonight and is sick.

Goblet was awesome, I must have done something wrong, He was 2 years old this Jan. Got him as a tiny lil guy, grew into a BIG BOY, I'm only sorry his life was so short.

Thanks again to all of you !

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PHEve / Eve

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