Mysterious pacman death...

[mandarin]

My pacman, Mandarin, passed away recently and I honestly don't know why. Let me explain all the happenings leading up to his death.

I changed Mandarin's bedding around three to four weeks ago, and he had a good meal of crickets shortly after. The next day he had buried himself in the substrate, which wasn't too uncommon because I noticed that he did that a lot after eating. I continued to mist daily, kept the heat normal and made sure there was clean water every day in case he came out at night to soak. However, Mandarin stayed burrowed for two weeks. I was a little concerned but didn't think too much about it, and continued misting and heating as usual. After the two weeks, Mandarin finally came out later in the evening, however I noticed that he seemed a little lethargic. He went straight into the fresh water and I had gone to bed. The next morning when I woke, Mandarin was on his soil looking kind of lop-sided. I figured he'd be hungry after two weeks, but when I offered him a nightcrawler, he didn't even move. I was worried and moved him to get a better look at him (which he normally hates being touched) but he didn't even react to that. Finally after a minute he made his way to the water dish... but his arm and leg on the right side seemed to be dragging, and he struggled his way into the dish. I was freaking out by then, and rushed to my computer to see what could be causing this. In the time it took me to turn on my computer and search on google (with no luck) Mandarin has passed away in the water bowl. ): I noticed there was a weird white liquid in the water afterward.

Here are his setup specs: 10gal glass tank, overhead red incandescent heat bulb, 2 1/2 inches of coconut fiber, water dish, plants for coverage, temp during the day 80-85F and during the night 70-75F. Misting and water changes were daily, bedding change was every three weeks.

I checked for any external signs for illness such as redleg and others but didn't see any signs of it. I wonder if perhaps the crickets I gave him had parasites, even though they were store bought. ): Any help would be awesome. I'm really hoping it was nothing I did that caused this... I'm hoping to get another frog in the next few months and if something I did was wrong I really want to make sure it doesn't happen again ): I miss my Mandarin.

Thanks in advance guys.

[mandarin]

Oh and I forgot to mention... His staple foods were crickets and nightcrawlers, which I coated with Fluker's Clacium with Vitamin D3 powder each time he ate.

[Sublime]

First off, I just wanted to say sorry about your loss. Hopefully we all find the true cause of his death and you'll pick back up right where you left off with more knowledge. How old was mandarin when he attempted to aestivate (Hibernate)? A general rule of thumb is to never let a pacman attempt to aestivate before they're about a year old. Reason being is young frogs need a regular basis for feedings as their growth develops rapidly in the first year. Sexually mature frogs are able to conserve energy focused on living off fat reserves and water than frogs that are still fairly young. Sounds like malnutrition played the biggest part in leading to his death.

If a pacman hasn't eaten for two weeks isn't provoked to feed - you need to force feed a mouse or several night crawlers supplemented. The white fluid that was released into the water I'm assuming was just a release of bodily fluids that is common when a living human or animal dies.

These are common questions we ask everyone before diving more in depth (Don't take offensively): Did you treat the water you were spraying the tank or pouring in his water dish? Did you supplement regularly? Was he exposed to a lot of human activity? Did you handle him a lot?

[Capojames]

Sorry for ur lost. Was ue frog wild caught or captive breed?

[MonsterPyxie]

Did you treat the water you were spraying the tank or pouring in his water dish?

This is the first thing that came to my mind.


Hopefully it was just a fluke. Sorry.

[Jimifrog]

Another thing could be that bulb. Those red bulbs get extremely hot. They can dry out a ten gallon tank very quickly.

I am sorry your pac died.

[GrifTheGreat]

I am so sorry for you loss. It is always hard to lose a beloved pet. I am glad to hear that you are looking into this before getting another pacman. We just want to see healthy pacmans here.

That being said, it is hard to diagnose what happened without pictures and many details. As Sublime mentioned, toxing out due to not using de-chlorinated water is probably the most common cause of death that we see here. What age was your frog? If he was too young and attempted to aestivate without proper fat stores that can be fatal. For an adult frog who just had a big meal, going two weeks without eating is fine, but for a younger frog it is too much. The inability to move his right side may have been due to a neurological problem. Did you happen to notice if his pupils were responsive to the light at the time? What wattage was the light? You should never go over 50 watts. A lot of things can trigger a loss of appetite in pacmans. While they are very easy to care for overall, they can get stressed out easily and if they do they often respond by not eating. When this happens they simply waste away. Too much light, noise, handling, or a draft from a window or air vent are all possible problems. Again, I am very sorry for your loss. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. We are all here to help.

[IvoryReptiles]

From what you have described so far, I am thinking one of two things :
Toxed out due to water not being de-chlorinated
Toxed Out from being over supplemented

It could also be from Chytrid Fungus......it would take a necropsy to know for sure.

Sorry for the loss.