Female just died after atempted mating!

[Gemma James]

Hello

So yesterday my male and female x.laevis were 'attempting' mating all day - the male literally didnt let go of her and i thought it a bit strange him staying on for so long - from when I got up in the morning to when I went to bed - they were latched! My female has never produced eggs before and shes about 6 yrs old.

They live in the tank with another male x.laevis and a male x.mulleri - and had them for about 5 yrs since they were froglets. All are healthy. All x.laevis are wild rescued from the UK. The x.mulleri is also wild caught from africa.

She has always looked like she has had a twisted spin which has become more apparent since shes grown up but has never looked like its affected her.

This morning I got up and took me a while to notice she wasnt moving for a while - she was in the normal hanging position at the top of tank - but on closer inspection, her nostrils were underwater and she wasnt moving and was not responsive - she also had this strange white stuff on her skin - which was not there yesterday. Also her arms have changed colour. Im assuming shes dead!

The male who was trying to mate with her yesterday has been displaying very eratic behaviour all morning and darting to the surface every so often to breath but in a very uncontrolled eratic way. He is not normally like this and seems very distressed.

Ive tried attaching a picture of my dead female, but its not working :-(

Does anyone have any idea why she might have died after this mating - is this common for the male to possibly have drowned her?
What is the white stuff on her back?

Im so upset as I was really hoping for some eggs but now I only have males :-(

Many Thanks
Gemma

[tgampper]

Gemma:
Sorry to hear about your frog It is always sad when you loose a frog. I have been keeping Xenopus for years and haven't seen any unusual behaviors. I do know that males tend to have more aggressive behavior especially during mating and feeding. I am sure that the female was injured during the mating routine. You mentioned that she could have a twisted spine. The injury or deformity may have played a role in her death.

During mating, the female generally sets the mating mood. Female xlaevis have at least two distinct calls - one announcing that she is receptive and one when she is unreceptive. Having three males in the same tank as a female may have been too much and she was worn out. If she was unresponsive to mating, the call will normally cause the male to stop any advances. This may not have been the case.

Also, it is not be a good idea to mix species. Even though xlaevis and xmuelleri are genetically related, there are other physiological traits that can impede mating and cause eggs to be sterile. I am not sure what the white stuff is. It could be some type of skin secretion.

[Gemma James]

Thanks for your reply.
Yes maybe she was very stressed out and had a heart attack or something. I have never noticed the other two males trying to mate but maybe it has happened when I have not been around. Generally it is the only one male.

Also we have only moved the muelleri into the tank in the last year and there has been no "obvious" changes in behaviour of the others and he seems much happier having the company. He is very vocal though but again I have rarely seen him try and mate with the female.

I am thinking maybe she became warn out and possible the male drowned her. Thinking about it I havent really ever noticed her vocalising, but then again I do find it hard to work out who is vocalising.

The male has not yet stopped being eratic and is hidding much more.

[MichaelS]

Amplexing for days is normal behavior. Dashing around, spinning, and a twisted spine can be from calcium deficiency. It is not unusual for a frog with health issues to drop over or act erratic after being stressed. Since the male is acting odd I would guess the possible disease could be communicable or caused by husbandry problems.

[rodsboys]

Males latching on for long periods is not too unusual. She very well could have drown from the experience. Maybe his extra weight along with her twisted spine was too much for to get to the surface at some point?