7 Dead and counting please help

[BloodyEyes420]

Alright to sum this up fast I cought 6 bullfrogs and put them in a 10 gallon with drift wood fake plants to hide in the water, and some that hanged over the drift wood for a dry place to hide too. A week later I bought a baby Yellow ear turtle a light and a filter a "Reptile fliter'' and under gravel. about 6 days after this the started looking pale and sickly. one day later one had died. the next day 4 died. after that the other 2 died with in 24 hours.Shocked I Cleaned the whole cage witth hot water and a garden hose to spiher the water out. Replaced the water with water I had prepared for cleaning time. I didn’t just want a turtle so I set off to find more frogs. Ended up with 2 bullfrogs one with out arms and tail stub and other was fully formed, also I cought 30 minnows and 3 tadpoles. Then I got a firebelly toad from the pet store and a green tree frog. It has been a week since then, I walk in today and the older bull frog is dead. I don’t get it Every other thing is ok eating and healthly. Why in the world do all my bull frogs die and yet the tadpoles toad tree frog half a frog turtle and minnows are just fine? I have had bull frogs before never had a critter die that wasn’t eaten by another please help.

[1beataway]

I'm not sure why exactly it would be only bullfrogs dying right now, but there are several mistakes it seems to me you're making. First, you're mixing frogs, and that's a really bad idea. They all release toxins that will hurt each other. Next, I wouldn't add a turtle with frogs, especially in that small of a tank. Turtles release waste in the water, and I think that in such a small tank with so many animals in it, that waste is going to build up pretty fast. I think in general, even if you only had the bullfrogs, you're overloading that tank.

What type of water are you using? It's not straight tap water, right? What about substrate? What are you feeding? What is the temperature and humidity in the tank?

[Jace]

I agree-don't mix different frog species together or with another species of animal at all. As well, Bullfrogs will eat each other, so keeping more than one bullfrog in an enclosure is asking for someone to get eaten.

[BloodyEyes420]

thank you for responding I used to mix frogs and turtles all the time, I had a 1 lepord 1 frog green frog and 1 bull frog in a 75 gallon with a musk turtle (adult) Softshell (baby) Red ear slider (adult) 3 snapping turles (2 baby) (1 juv) and a map turtle (juv). I just put fish into the aquarium and the left each other alone I did have another aquarium at the time where i kept smaller frogs as they would get eaten by the bigger frogs . had them for 6 years before I gave them away, caught them all my self too.

Anyway the tanks water is about 76*f when the lights on at night it gets down to about 71*f. I don't know what the humditiy is but I mist with a spray bottle 2 times a day about 8 hours apart in time once in the moring and once after work. I did feed my frist 6 frogs grass hoppers and crickets that I caught my self. now I'm feeding them store bought crickets, well my fire belly and tree frog, this is what I feed the 2 bull frogs tht just died. I have gravel in the bottom. as for the turtle he is barely 2 inchs and tends to use the bathroom while basking so alot of his fecal matter never enters the water. and yes I clean it up. the water I used is tap it sat for about 9 nine day prior to being used and sat in the sun for 6 hours when frist poured. I keep it in an old cooler I have always done things this way.

I don't have any probelms with any thing at all execpt for bull frogs my toad and tree frog are bigger than my turtle and they hide in places he doesn't even go. the bullfrog tadpoles are still alive too, execpt for the tiny one that was barly 1/4 inch (Turtler ate him) he eats minnows so I saw this coming.

[1beataway]

There's a difference between surviving and thriving. It's similar to putting a goldfish in a bowl. Some people are able to do this and kept a fish alive for a couple years, but there's no way that fish is happy and healthy. It's likewise with mixing frogs. They end up basically poisoning each other.

Also, right now you have store bought frogs mixed with wild caught frogs. If the frogs you bought at the store are captive bred, they could now be coming in contact with parasites they are not used to from the wild caught animals.

Again, I'm not sure why right now it's only the bullfrogs that are dying off, but I stand by my first post. I think the 10 gallon tank is overcrowded.

Does your city use chlorine or chloramine in the water? This usually affects fish pretty quick, but I assume it would affect the amphibians as well.

[bshmerlie]

First off a 10 gallon tank is way to small for the quantity of pets you have. Next the firebelly toxin will eventually kill off everything else in the tank. When I first got my two firebellies without knowing I put them in a tank that had fish and within only a few days all the fish were dead. If you want to keep that many pets make some nice enclosures for each species and see them thrive. Catching so many animals from the wild and putting them together is not being responsible for their well being.

[BloodyEyes420]

just got my humditiy meter its about 50% at 76*f this moment. We changed are water treatment to chloramine a few years ago I guess. This is not kewl I don't know a thing about it, I have never even heard about. Good news is the rest of my pets are alive and seem to be thriving. alittle concerned about the toads posion, because my turtle likes to sit by him and vise versa.all of my minows are alive its been close too 2 weeks soooooooooooooooooo idk but I read people mix tree frogs alot with fire bellies youtube it. I have 50% water with 85% of it covered by land multi level surfaces with a water fall and small cliff over looking it. they seem to enjoy climbing alot, its not the most ideal living space but I'm gonna get 50 gallon high top in the next month. I just want a cheap stand really bad. sorry if i seem inexperinced I'm just a domestic pet keeper I dont care for exotic or foregin, but the toad looked so kewl for 10 bucks. I have never had a diese probelm with the say 40-50 animals I've caught from salmanders turtles snakes frogs toads and this one very odd orange lizard I found and sold to my friend. The food chain happens idc I just keep small animals with small animals and large with large. I honestly love mixxing things makes things more lively. don't get me wrong I whis my pets no ill will. but I really have NEVER had one single thing happen because of it other than say a big frog eating a much smaller one. or a turtle eating a small frog. they leave the big ones alone always have.

[1beataway]

If your city uses chloramine, then you can't just let the water sit out, like you could if the water had chlorine. The chloramine stays, and that would be dangerous for the animals.

It's kinda sad to not care about some of the animals getting eaten or being poisoned because you decide to mix. By owning pets, you're accepting the responsibility for that pet and for their care and well-being.

Many people try to mix animals and end up with very bad consequences. Every single one of us would love to have one huge tank with lots of varities of frogs or other animals. I have a friend who use to have a mix tank. And they all seemed ok. But now that I look back, I can definitely recall times they got sick, and how inactive they were. The frogs are now split up and I have 2 of them, and they are more active and more brillantly colored than they ever were.

There are some true experts on this forum who have studied and have kept frogs for so many years, and they could tell you all the reasons not to mix if you don't want to buy what I'm saying. The fire-bellied toad is definitely poisoning the other creatures in there.

Of the 40-50 animals you have caught, how long did they live before they died? Some animals can live for years, maybe even 10-15. It's the same with fish too. Poor maintenance or lack of good information mean that a lot of people's fish live for a few months or a year or two when they could live for so many more, and be healthier and brighter and more active.

[BloodyEyes420]

who says they are dead? Ever one that has aquired one of my form pet still has them to my knowledge. Several turles I know for a fact because the people are good friends of mine, most of my old frogs I let go however. I do care about the toxins of the toad thats a senseless way for a pet to die. If you all insists on its posion being so toxic I guess I'll have to take him and put him in a creature keeper for awhile and just put him in the 10 gal when I get the 50. so what do you recomend I do about the water I want to take care of that asap.

[1beataway]

Turtles, imo, seem to be very hardy animals that can withstand a lot.

Even though the fire-bellied toads will kill the other creatures, the other frogs do release toxins that affect the other creatures as well, even if it's not as potent. The best thing would be to separate all frogs.

It's too bad that the fire-bellied toad will have to go into a critter keeper. Those little guys are very active and like a lot of room to move around. But hopefully it won't be too long.

As far as the water goes, like I said, I would separate all the frogs, and then change out the water and use a water conditioner. You can use either one you'll find in the reptile section or in the fish section. That will remove the chlorine and metals in the water. I'm asking a friend and turtle expert if he has any other suggestions.

[Eel Noob]

Like everyone says, tank is too small and mixing species is not good idea.

[tadpole]

i'll take a shot. i agree 6 bullfrogs are way too many for a 10 gal, even if newly metamorphosed. wild bullfrogs jump when startled. they may have damaged themselves against the glass. the only way i would keep native frogs is outside in a enclosed pond. enclosed to keep out raccoons.

one thing you might do is paint the outside of the tank glass so they don't get startled or think they can jump through it. i just think its not possible to keep this kind of frog enclosed and you are proving it. try keeping just one alive for a few months first, if that doesn't work, you should stop. i also recommend frequent 100% water changes, with 6 frogs that would be once a day.

the 10 tank should be ok for the fire belly toad, but just barely. i kept 6 in a 65 gal corner tank which was 8" of water and land with live plants on a shelf i built over the water. a water pump sprayed the tank water over the plants planted in sphagnum, which acted as a big biological filter as it dripped through it. it was too good a set-up, as they had many many babies, but that is a whole 'nother story.