New member

[Ebony]

Hi there

Im new at this and not sure how this works. Im guessing this is how i get started with an intro.

Im mad about frogs and I dont know others that have and enjoy Frogs like me.

I have Green and Golden Bell Frogs, Southern Bell Frogs and the cute wee Whistling Tree Frogs. My adults are over 4 years old and have breed.

I breed Mealworms and Locusts to feed my frog family and I also catch flys an other insects to give my frogs a good vairety of food.

My friends and family think I'm nutz with my tanks of insects, and my great eye for spotting insects when we are out and about. I think I may be a bit obsessed with my interest so I'm hoping that I can find other's that share the same obsession.

Thanks for having me

Regards Ebony

[Kurt]

Welcome aboard and you're not nuts, cause if you are so am I and I am not nuts, at least that's what the voices in my head tell me. LOL I take it by the frog species you keep that you are in Australia.

[John]

If you're nuts then we all are. I can live with that.

[Ebony]

Well actually.. New Zealand, Christchurch. These species were introduced here. Oh and thanks glad to here im not nutz. Is your pic of the Frog that you keep or have where you are?

[John]

Me or Kurt? We both own the frogs in our avatars.

[Ebony]

Hi John

I just worked out how to put up my aviator. I want to get a better picture but for now that will do.
The African bullfrog... what a magnificent looking frog, I read that they can grow to be 10 inches, WOW! you would be able to give it a cuddle. Do you handle your Frog? Ive seen on utube that they eat mice or rats. Do you breed your frogs food?
My Frogs at adults only get to 10 or 11cm long. I do handle them but with special care. They eat from my hand and know when its time to eat.

I have a cool book with pictures of the most amazing Frogs. Some of the colours are just mind blowing.

Do you have other species?

[chumpy100]

welcome, kurt has a zoo =P, and john has a few species

[Kurt]

welcome, kurt has a zoo =P, and john has a few species

I guess that's my queue. Here is what I have for frogs.

Archaeobatrachia (primitive frogs)
Bombinatoridae
5 Bombina orientalis, fire-bellied toad
Neobatrachia (advanced frogs)
Bufonidae
1 Anaxyrus debilis insidior, western green toad
1 Ollotis alvaria , Colorado River toad
Dendrobatidae
1 Dendrobates tinctorius, blue poison dart frog
Hylidae
Hylinae
2 Dendropsophus leucophyllatus, clown treefrog
1 Hyla cinerea, green treefrog
1 Osteopilus septentrionalis, Cuban treefrog
1 Sphaenorhynchus lacteus, greater hatchet-faced treefrog
Pelodryadinae
2 Litoria caerulea, White's treefrog
Phyllomedusinae
3 Agalychnis callidryas, red-eyed leaf frog
36 Agalychnis callidryas, red-eyed leaf frog tadpoles
1 Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, tiger-legged monkey frog
Hyperoliidae
Leptopelinae
1 Leptopelis vermiculatus, big-eyed treefrog
Microhylidae
Dyscophinae
3 Dyscophus guineti, false tomato frog
Phrynomerinae
5 Phrynomantis bifasciatus, red-banded rubber frog
2 Phrynomantis microps, West African rubber frog
Rhacophoridae
1 Rhacophorus reinwardtii, blue-webbed flying frog

[John]

Do you handle your Frog?

Only when I change out his water bowl or substrate - he doesn't like being held. Thankfully he doesn't associate my fingers directly with food so he rarely tries to bite me. He can sure empty his bladder though, but I really need to bug him to get him to do that.

Ive seen on utube that they eat mice or rats. Do you breed your frogs food?

Those should only be fed as very occasional treats due to concerns about a diet high in fat from mammals. I don't feed live mice/rats - my guy gets a thawed rat every month or so. You can buy tubs of frozen rodents in many pet shops here.

They eat from my hand and know when its time to eat.

Tree frogs seem to get particularly tame - one of mine will sit on my hand and let me feed her with my other hand.

Do you have other species?

Right now I have African Bullfrogs, Gray Treefrogs, Barking Treefrogs and some toad tadpoles. I have 3 kinds of salamander too.

It must be frustrating for a frog enthusiast in New Zealand - aren't your laws on exotic species almost as strict as Australia?

[Ebony]

Hi John, Yes, the laws are strict. I have only what can be bought from a pet shop. Our Nz Native frogs are scarce and have not come across them. We also have the Chytrid fungus that is killing frogs off as well. It is so sad. There is a guy from Otago University who has apparently found a cure, But it only can be used on captive frogs.
There are some awsome frogs out there that I would love to have but well I think its probably for the best that I am limited.

[Kurt]

Chytrid is not all that tough. It can be killed off with itraconazole, raising the temperature, bleach, or desiccation. Unfortunately the last two will also kill the frog. Some researchers at the University of Michigan (I think) discovered a bacteria that kills chytrid as well. So killing chytrid is not really the problem. The problem is how do you treat animals in the wild?

[SludgeMunkey]

Welcome!

Good to see there are more and more "home zoo keepers" jumping on board here!

[Ebony]

Hi Kurt

Its great you have a zoo for Frogs, We have no such thing here. Our local zoo does have 2 Southern bells. We don't even have Vets to take our sick Frogs to. I Had purchased a Frog from a well known pet shop and unfortunatly it died a week later, I worked out it was the Chytrid fungas, I lost two of my 4yr bell frogs to. I was devastated and couldn't just stand by and watch my 3 remaining Frogs that were in the same enclosure die. I had to do something. After ages of searching the net I founds this cure that I was telling you about. I could only do it if I could convince a Vet to give me the cure (Chloramphenicol, which is and antibiotic found in Eye drops for humans and pets)I showed him my research and the protocol. I finally got the stuff. (We can only get this product with a script) I had to soak the frogs to their heads in this Chloramphenicol and frog water solution for two weeks (changing it daily) and Frogs were only taken out for feeding. It was not nice for the frogs or me as they had to be in small low containers so they could not climb out of the solution. Anyway Im happy to say my Frogs are alive and well.
I wanted to ask you what I should do about their enclosure that they were in when they had Chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) It is a 2 by 2meter out door enclosure (The Frogery, I call it) It has well established plants and a pond. It took me alot of time and money putting it together and getting the right plants and products for the encolsure. Will it still carry the Fungus or is there anything I can do to get rid of it?o Do I have to get rid of the whole thing and start again. Your help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[adawinters]

I'm sure someone will jump in to correct anything I get wrong, but I'm pretty sure that chytrid can live on moist surfaces. I would chuck the substrate and other cheap, replaceable decor. (Soak it in bleach before chucking it; if you're sure the tank had Chytrid, you wouldn't want to risk spreading that to a local water body.) The cage and any plastic/glass fixtures can be soaked in a bleach solution. (I usually do 5%, but you could probably go stronger. I'm not positive what the recommendations are for bleaching to kill chytrid, specifically.) Then rinse and scrub with plain water, repeatedly and thoroughly, before reassembling and reintroducing the frogs. If you can still smell bleach, you definitely need a few more plain water soaks/rinses.

I actually haven't had to bleach for chytrid, but I tend to break down vivariums between uses or when inheriting new ones, and I often follow this protocol.

I know that boiling rocks, etc., can kill of bacteria and living parasites; I would assume that such heat (boiling/baking) would kill chytrid, but I'm not positive, so hopefully, someone else will jump in on that front. If this is correct, you might be able to bake log decorations and boil rock features. (Obviously, heat isn't a good treatment method for anything made of/held together with plastic or silicone.)

I hope this helps.

[Kurt]

All your protocols are correct, but you left out one - desiccation. Chytrid cannot survive drying out. So if you left an item out to totally dry for a few days that would kill it. It is a weak organism and bleach, baking, boiling, and desiccation will all kill it.

Ebony - How do you know it was chytridiomycosis? What were the symptoms?

[John]

As far as I'm aware it doesn't survive exposure to bright light for long (like the incandescent bulb of a terrarium light in a dry-ish vivarium).

[Kurt]

I have not heard that.

[John]

I think it's the UV component of light. It's also why basking frogs don't seem to get Chytrid much.

[Kurt]

But don't Rana muscosa bask like bullfrogs do? Rana muscosa is one of those species that is seriously in trouble because of chytrid.

[Ebony]

Thanks jclee, I usually boil anything that can be boiled and chuck what can't. Its just with this outdoor Frogery it is made of wood framing, Plastic coated netting and a strong clear plastic lining round the bottom half of the Frogery to keep a bit of moisture in. It has plants such as Puka, Hebe, Mosses, Grasses, Ferns and climbers. It has been empty since I took the Frogs out and treated them about 3 months ago. It is winter here and usually my frogs would be hybernating but due to this Chytrid, I had to bring them inside. Since they were sick they didn't settle into Hybernation anyway.
How would I deal with the plants?