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Thread: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

  1. #1
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    Default Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    Hello, I purchased 2 Red eyed tree frogs one week ago from Pets Unlimited in Halifax NS, Canada. One of the frogs was dark when I got them but he was sleeping very bright green for a few days. The last 2 days he has had a bit of a pale coloration over different parts of his body and he has been staying alittle darker while sleeping. I have noticed a slight difference in colors on the other frog aswell, however he tends to be a much brighter green. I am worried that this may be some sort of bacteria, There isnt a local vet that deals with these guys near me, I am trying to figure out the closest place to go, but if someone on here can explain the coloration that would be very helpful.

    This is the frog the day I brought him home.





    This is him when he first went to sleep



    This is what he looks like as of 10 minutes ago


    And this is what my other one looks like


    My tank is a 18X18X24 Exo Terra, I was keeping the humidity around 90-100% based on what I read at first, however since it seems to be a very debated subject I have since dropped the humidity to 80%. The temp is around 75-78 through the day and drops to about 70 at night. I turn their lights on around 10am and shut them off at 10pm. I have one UVB bulb for my plants, an LED light, and a 55 watt heat light for when the temp drops.




    There is a mix of real and fake plants. The botton 3 inches of the tank is aquarium gravel and hydro balls, there is a pump with a waterfall, a charcoal filter, and a 6x6 inch 1.5 inch deep "pond". Above the gravel is a layer of "plantation soil" then cocunut husk and a top layer of moss.

    When they were in the tank at Pets Unlimited there was a fairly large cricket in the tank with them, and the frog I am worried about suffered a small, short lasting prolapse 2 nights in a row (which I believe was from the large food) which he has since not had. It also retracted on its own before I could finish mixing the sugar water solution. He seems to be eating well, when i got up yesterday morning he was staring into the empty cricket dish so I added a few more which he quickly grabbed up.

    He doesnt seem lethargic to me, Although I have only had them one week.

    Pets Unlimited has ordered me 2 more frogs, I assume that I will have to quarantine these other two once i get them? I have another 18x18x18 Exo Terra that is currently unused that I can use if I must.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated, if I left something out please ask me, I really hope this is somewhat normal explainable conditions that is due to the stress of the new home.

    Thank you

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    Tree frogs change colour all the time due to temps, humidity and mood, so it's nothing to worry about. What I'd watch out for with newly arrived tree frogs is sometimes sick ones will spend a lot of time in the water dish during the day and die within a few days but tree frogs that are still alive a week or two of having them you can probably expect to be healthy. Did you quarantine them before putting them in that planted tank? If any of them does become ill,!you will have to now take it fully apart to disinfect it.

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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    Btw, I'd recommend a 5% UVB for this species, as I'd imagine you'd be using a 2% for the plants, however this doesn't provide any usable UVB as mesh halves the output. I don't think the 5% will do anything for the plants but the LED light might be enough. I'd be extra careful with a 55W heat lamp, usually a set up that size would only need around 25W.

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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    thanks for the info! I have only had the light on a few times when it is cold out, i keep my home around 19-20 Celcius so the tank stays pretty decent. The UVB is a 5.0 Exo Terra that is about 6 months old, I changed it out for a new one for my Veiled Chameleon so i put the old one in here, do you think that would be okay?
    I did not QT them, I had them in the tank before i bought the plants.
    A person on a facebook group suggested that he may have a parasite since he had a prolapse and one runny stool. They suggested a type of worm medication once a week dusted on crickets. I may QT them and see what their stool looks like for a few days, however the color has since gone away and i am wondering if it had something to do with him sheding at the time.

    Thanks for the help

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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    No problem.

    UVB bulbs lose most of their output within about 6 months, some claim to last for a year. So I'd get a new one if you're using an old one. I'd go for Zoo Med or Arcadia personally, they're products are of decent quality from Europe.

    I've just noticed you said you've had them only for a week. I think you may as well just leave them in the tank unless problems do occur, so not to stress them. Watch out for watery faeces to see if they continue as this is a bad sign. You usually will be able to see them clear enough without quarantining, they'll generally poo on the plants or side glass. Probably was just shedding or needing to settle in. The tree frogs I currently have, Hyla Cinerea, change colour all the time.

    I wouldn't treat any frogs unless absolutely necessary, recommended by a vet that has experience with frogs and has the book amphibian medicine and captive husbandry by wright and whitaker on hand. As long as your frogs are captive bred they should be clean.

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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    Do you know the origin of the frogs? It's important to not buy wild caught, only ever buy captive bred.

    As Jason said, UVB 5% is a must, as is calcium and vitamin supplements along with a varied gut-loaded diet. Prolapse is one of the the symptoms of calcium/d3 deficiency.

    If your humidity is up around 80%+ it's too wet. Aim for 60-70%. Wetness will encourage bacterial infection, probably the biggest cause of death in RETFs from people reading some of the outdated and nonsense caresheets that are around. That said, from your photos it doesn't LOOK wet (no water droplets streaming down the sides), how are you measuring?
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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    I don't know the origin, I did however turn down wild caught frogs before i bought these ones. They came from Pets Unlimited, which I don't believe use wild caught suppliers but they didn't know for sure. I have been dusting the crickets every feeding with calcium and reptile vitamins, and calcium with d3 once a week. I have been feeding them crickets under 1/2 inch.
    I have one of the exo terra rotary hydrometer which was reading 80%, but I used a handheld meter with a wand probe that we use for measuring relative humidity in our rink and it was reading 75% at 75 degrees. I have been trying to keep the tank in that range, however it seems to be rising on its own, I may have to move the tank as it is beside my Veiled Chameleon tank which has a mister on for 1 minute every 1.5 hours. SO perhaps some of the humidity is floating over from her tank.
    I stopped misting the tank other than watering the plant leaves once a day.

    I did find 2 solid poops when I cleaned the tank out yesterday (removed all the fake plants and washed them) one looked alittle grey the other was much darker so I believe they were from both frogs.

    The frog i am worried about also got into the calcium powder in the cricket dish a few times (i have since made sure no dust is in the cup now) could that have hurt his skin?

    thanks

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    Default Re: Red eyed tree frog pale skin

    Shocking that they don't know for sure. Good pet shops should know about their animals and ideally breed them themselves, something I'd like to see more of.

    I'd watch with the supplements, not to over do them. Most standard supplements if you use every feed with tree frogs might harm them, once a week for adults or twice for subs should do. I use Repashy's Calcium Plus LoD for my Greens everytime and have had good results but this is more balanced out so it can be used every feed.

    Just cut down on the misting if it's going to high but these hygrometers can be really inaccurate in my experience and your eyes might be your best bet. As long as the tank doesn't look wet then you should be fine, with most frogs keep them moist but not soaking wet.

    I'm not sure if that will cause issues but I'd say you're just overthinking things and I'm the same at first but after a month you'll start to relax. I'd recommend AVS popular tree frogs if you're interested in a good read about this species.

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