New here, Worried about my Dumpy Tree Frogs, Please help

[SenoritaCoqui]

Hello there, I am new here and have joined a forum so that I can keep up with my dumpy tree frogs.

I had 3 until last night when one of my dumpy tree frogs passed.
I am scared that whatever he died from could be spread to my other babies.
I bought them from a pet store 2 months ago. They are not fully grown.

My frog had been acting weird for the past 4 days I tried to make him as comfortable as possible
He was not eating right.
If i picked him up he would just sit in my hand not even attempting to move.
His legs would spasm randomly

I tried keeping him soaked and was constantly spraying him with purified water.

Last night he went limp in his legs and was not breathing right, we stayed up until 4 am with him trying to keep him soaked and alive.
These are me and my husbands first frogs so we are not experienced with them. He died around 4.

My husband says it was probably the pet store not keeping them in the right environment. My husband is very into research and buying from traders but i had begged him to buy me the frogs when i fell in love with them at the store. He was against it because he hates the way pet stores keep and treat animals. I know he feels guilty because he is big on giving his pets the best, but he has been working so much he wasn't able to see the signs the frog was having until 2 days ago.

I just want to make sure it is not something that could spread to my other frogs. They both seem to be healthy and are actually showing signs of starting to shed so i am hoping they are healthy.

Please if anyone could help me and tell me if there is anything i can do to help my frogs.

I should have came to a forum when he first started showing these signs and i feel very guilty.

[Bolisnide]

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your frog! I know it is so hard when we lose a pet and we're not sure why...
Two forum members created this wonderful list of questions that you could answer, it would certainly help all of us try and figure out what happened...
I'm copying and pasting it below:

Trouble in the enclosure or a frog is ? sick ?
It is great that one seeks advice ! After all, that's why we are here !!!
There actually may be nothing wrong , or conversely, a change in behavior warrants keeping a close eye on your froggy friend !

'patience is a virtue' AND 'time is of the essence'

If there is trouble in the frog enclosure it will be very helpful if one could provide as much of the following information as possible:
THEN---- post this information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog so there is no confusion

1-size of enclosure
2-# on inhabitants - specifically ( if there is another frog ---size differences ?)
3-humidity
4-temp
5-water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6-materials used for substrate
7-enclosure set up i.e. plants( live or artificial) wood, bark etc -how were things prepared prior to being put into the viv
8-main food source
9-vitamins and calcium ? ( how often )
10-lighting
11-what is, specifically, being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12-when is the last time he ate
13-have you found poop lately
14-a pic would be great ( including the frog ) any little cell phone pic is fine
15- how old is the frog
16-how long have you owned him
17- is the frog wild caught or captive bred
18- frog food- how often and if its diverse what other feeders are used as treats
19- about how often the frog is handled
20-is the enclosure is kept in a high or low traffic area

If I have left anything out, please feel free to chime in !
Lynn -AND -- Thank You Grif !!!!!!!!

[SenoritaCoqui]

Thank you i will try to answer them now

[kevinp]

by purified do you mean distilled ? i wouldn't spray my frog with distilled water. some spray their enclosures with distilled water cuz it doesn't leave a residue on the glass, i mix 1/3 spring water in so that if some does get on the frog by dripping or whatever, it won't be devoid of anything beneficial .the spasms could be neurological, lack of calcium can cause this.

[SenoritaCoqui]

1-size of enclosure 18X18X24
2-# on inhabitants - specifically ( if there is another frog ---size differences ?) 2 other frogs they are both around the same size . The frog that died was bigger than both of them though. He was chunkier. Im not sure specifically but they are about 5 months old.
3-humidity Not sure i try misting them any chance that i get around the day and my husband will mist them when he gets home from work at night around 12 he usually stays up until 3 and he checks on them periodically.
4-temp around 75-80 degrees
5-water - type - for both misting and soaking dish. I use pure american spring water
6-materials used for substrate. Coconut soil.
7-enclosure set up i.e. plants( live or artificial) wood, bark etc -how were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. Artificial plants one wooden log at the moment. They were living in tiny rectangle clear enclosure when we got them it was no room for them at all. Im not sure what type of substrate they were using but it was very mucky.
8-main food source: crickets they are just starting to be able to eat the large sized crickets.
9-vitamins and calcium ? ( how often ) I haven't started giving them any. Could you give some suggestions. I do feed vitamins to the crickets to keep them healthy for the frogs.
10-lighting we use the lighting that came with the tank im not sure what it is sorry. I can give you a link to the tank i have. Exo Terra Rainforest Habitat Kit | PetFoodDirect
11-what is, specifically, being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure. : i dont understand this question. sorry
12-when is the last time he ate: 4 days before he died because he would not eat. He was never the best when it came to eating Since we got him. He would wait for the crickets to come to him.
13-have you found poop lately: yes but it could be from the other frogs.
14-a pic would be great ( including the frog ) any little cell phone pic is fine: I can try to find one at the moment my cellphone cord is broken so i can try to email a pic to myself.
15- how old is the frog i am guessing around 5 to 6 months old
16-how long have you owned him :2 months.
17- is the frog wild caught or captive bred. captive bred
18- frog food- how often and if its diverse what other feeders are used as treats. None
19- about how often the frog is handled : I try not to handle him to much maybe once the most twice a week. I try not to stress them out.
20-is the enclosure is kept in a high or low traffic area: low. They are in my living room but in an area where they are never bothered and i do not have many visitors.



I thought i should add i remember the guy that sold them to us told us to be careful because they jumped alot and when another customer asked to hold them it had jumped from there hand because they got scared and dropped him. We bought all the frogs they had, they only had 3 so im wondering if that could have effected the frog. him falling at an early age. Im not sure which one fell but i wondered if that would make sense.


Sorry If you cant understand my answers i tried answering them to the best of my ability, my husband is the expert on knowing exacts. Hes working so i can not ask him.

[SenoritaCoqui]

I use purified spring water. should i not use this for my frogs? I don't like using water from the faucet. Where i live we will randomly get a notice to boil water so i am always worried that it is unclean.

[SenoritaCoqui]

by purified do you mean distilled ? i wouldn't spray my frog with distilled water. some spray their enclosures with distilled water cuz it doesn't leave a residue on the glass, i mix 1/3 spring water in so that if some does get on the frog by dripping or whatever, it won't be devoid of anything beneficial .the spasms could be neurological, lack of calcium can cause this.

Also what do you mean by neurological.
What can i do to build up calcium.
Like i said these are our first frogs i want to give them whatever i can to keep them healthy.

[Bolisnide]

1. glad to hear you have a good sized enclosure
2. 2 white's at most (in my opinion) should be kept in this size enclosure, but I'm sure this is not what caused your frogs demise
3. You should invest in a hygrometer, about 2-3 bucks at the petstore. the humidity should always be at about 70%
4. that's a good temp for daytime, lower temps at night.. night temps 70-75
5. spring water is fine, as long as it is 100% spring water. Tap water can be used as long as a water conditioner/de-chlorinator is added- found at your pet store.
6. that's good, it's the fine coco fiber right? so there is no risk of impaction (severe constipation) from eating the substrate as white's can do when the dive bomb their food items
7. that's sounds fine. be sure to have plenty of climbing space and hiding areas
8. fine, but be sure the crickets are not larger than the distance between your frogs eyes. too large of food item can cause impaction
9. This is the biggest problem I see. You must dust the crickets! Calcium every other feeding and vitamins once/week. there are many different brands on the market, all work fine. both can be found at the petstore. a calcium deficiency can cause MBD (metabolic bone disease) causing seizures, lethargy, and death...
10. that's fine, be sure to have a consistant day/night cycle. 12 hours day, 12 hours darkness
11. your using a spray bottle? this is what most people use
12. frogs can go for many days without eating, but if it's not typical for him, then that could cause worry
13 - 20. this all looks fine....

I would guess that the problem is calcium deficiency. start dusting those crickets! even if your gut loading the crickets, it is so imperative to dust with vit and calcium.
The fall at the pet store could be a factor, I don't know, it's hard to say.
Good luck, and hopefully some others will chime in.

[SenoritaCoqui]

Thank you so much, I will work on what i need to get right away. Im glad my cage is at least okay for them for now at least. I actually have a hygrometer its at 70 right now, i did not realize thats what you were talking about.
It was probably MBD, my husband had mentioned it this morning before he went to work but he was also scared it could have been something bacterial. He was trying to log onto forums last night but our internet was not working.
Yes i use a spray bottle. I will start dusting the crickets thank you again so much. I don't ever want this to happen again.

[kevinp]

spring water is ok. you really don't have to spray the frogs directly. moisture levels can be kept up by live plants and just misting the enclosure. neurological= nervous system. in captive amphibians and reptiles not enough calcium , or not the right type/ratio can lead to a host of problems. if your remain frogs aren't in a bad way a good calcium powder will correct the problem. if your frog is very bad, you can take it to the vet and get a calcium injection. never saw it with a frog..reptiles alot. if it doesn't warrant an injection..repashy resuecal is a potent calcium supplement. i just regularly use repashy calcium plus which is an excellent all purpose calcium with low dose vitamin. you have lights , t.v. stereo in your living room ? cats, or dog ? just some things to think on.

stress is a major cotributor to captive animal problems. almost any problem can be made worse and complicated when there are stressors. read the care sheet to check temp and humidity requirements.

[SenoritaCoqui]

spring water is ok. you really don't have to spray the frogs directly. moisture levels can be kept up by live plants and just misting the enclosure. neurological= nervous system. in captive amphibians and reptiles not enough calcium , or not the right type/ratio can lead to a host of problems. if your remain frogs aren't in a bad way a good calcium powder will correct the problem. if your frog is very bad, you can take it to the vet and get a calcium injection. never saw it with a frog..reptiles alot. if it doesn't warrant an injection..repashy resuecal is a potent calcium supplement. i just regularly use repashy calcium plus which is an excellent all purpose calcium with low dose vitamin. you have lights , t.v. stereo in your living room ? cats, or dog ? just some things to think on.


stress is a major cotributor to captive animal problems. almost any problem can be made worse and complicated when there are stressors. read the care sheet to check temp and humidity requirements.

I dont spray them directly i spray the fake plants around them and i mist the walls so it drips down slowly. I also spray the soil. My husband actually came home from work an hour ago and had repashy. He went to the pet store to get crickets and decided to get a calcium supplement. We dont have a very bright light, i have them in a corner where its dark, also i have no animals inside. Only pets inside are our uromastyx. The tv thing i have thought about and may think about moving my tank to the opposite side of the room. I will check the care sheet now

[ladydeath]

i am sorry to hear about your passing frog,
there is a post on here about stress, and first aid for frogs perhaps these could help? i do not know how to cut and paste or link yet but there are on the main sections of the forum.
as for a calsium supliment theres many dustings for the crickets you can apply routenly when feeding.
every time i feed my white's tree frogs and firebellied toads i dust them in a coating of Nutrobal, its around £5 a tub and you only need half a 2.5 ml spoon in a pot of crickets, once its placed into the box of crickets take it outside and shake the box gentaly to apply the powder, i do this as its a bugger to clean of the floors, and the dusting gets everywhere, then its feed as normal, this will also liven the crickets up ready for feeding.
its a calcium balancer and multivitim supplement. may be this will help with your remaining frogs, im no expert myself and i am new to the site my self, theres plenty of information on this site and find it fabulouse,

i hope this will help, reguards ladydeath