Dead Red Eyed Tree Frog...looking to find out why

[ackeon]

Hi there, a week ago I purchased two red eyed tree frogs from my local reptile store. They were both captive bred, one was a fair bit larger than the other. The move was a bit stressful on them, I think. I have never seen them eat, when I use a shallow ceramic teacup, the crickets are never gone in the morning, though I have seen the bigger frog sitting on the side of the teacup, so I know they can climb it (though the crickets can't). I was worried that they weren't used to bowl feeding, so I started releasing the crickets into the cage, and leaving some in the cup. The ones in the cup are never gone, but I think there is a decrease in the amount of crickets in the cage (though it's hard to tell).

So this is a lead up, to the small one looking pretty starved. Today, I came down, and it was the early morning, he was walking around, soaking, looking fine, then I leave the room for a moment, and when I come back in he's on his back with his legs straight out!! I have pictures of when I wrapped him up in a damp paper towel... did he starve to death? Because of stress? Did the other one eat most of food? Have you ever had this happen before?

I had "Frog Moss" down on the tank floor (that's what it said on the box, was recommended by the specialty reptile store), could he have eaten that and it gotten blocked?

Btw- it's an Exoterra, small tall terrarium, 24" high, 34 gallons, 80F day, and 74F night, don't have a humidity measure, but I mist 2-3 times a day

[Bolisnide]

Oh, that is so sad...
I also lost a red-eye within one week of bringing him home, I still don 't know why.
I personally feel that these animals are so fragile and succeptable to stress, that some don't survive the move.
I'm sorry for your loss

[ackeon]

Oh, that is so sad...
I also lost a red-eye within one week of bringing him home, I still don 't know why.
I personally feel that these animals are so fragile and succeptable to stress, that some don't survive the move.
I'm sorry for your loss

Thank you...I feel awful, I tried so hard to make it right. It was just wierd that he was walking around fine, and then the next minute he was all splayed out on his back, it looked like he'd had a heart attack! Does it look like he had any diseases from what you can see? I've heard of red leg... don't know if it's here?

[poison]

Sorry to hear this R.I.P little one

[Heatheranne]

Awe, I'm sorry. That's very sad . It is hard to say what caused his death. It would depend on the condition they sent him in, if he had been eating prior, if he was dehydrated, stressed, already sick, lacking calcium or vitamin D. So many things could have happened. He looked to be overly thin, which wouldn't have happened in just a few days. It looks as if he may have had issues before reaching you. My guess is seizure due to calcium deficiency, but there is really no way to know without a necropsy.

[ackeon]

Thank you both for your replies. He was always a bit small. But judging by the way he flipped onto his back, it would make sense that it was a calcium deficiency seizure brought on by not eating