Should I get my dumpy a new friend?

[Cymorill]

Hello, all! I'm new to the forum, but general searching and surfing of the net hasn't really turned up a definative answer to my problem: I can't decide if I should get a companion for my whites (dumpy) tree frog or not.

A little background: A couple of weeks ago one of my two Whites, Euripedes, passed away. He had been sick for a while, and despite visits to the vet no one seemed to know what was wrong with him. The patches of discoloration on his back and head that appeared suddenly and healed slowly looked for all the world like chemical burns (the vet asked me about that repeatedly) but there was nothing he could have touched that would leave those markings. At their worst, a small patch of skin looked to have died to reveal white fat underneath, but with antibiotics it healed up slowly. Despite looking aweful, he did not stop eating or slow down in his activity. The specialists were stumped, and I didn't want to put him through a lot of invasive testing. He had a general antiparasitic. He had these bouts of lessions off and on for about two years, and each time he went to the vet for his anitbiotic drops. A month ago he became very lethargic and looked thin though his weight didn't change. He seemed to be perpetually shedding his skin A few days before he died, the lessions -- which at this point were little more the scarred looking dark areas on his back -- developed several small tumor-like growths, most pinhead sized and one ballbearing sized. He spent the day sitting in his water dish, rather than retreat into his house for the day as he normally did, so I knew he was very sick. On the 23rd of December, I cam home from work to ind him huddled on a branch in his cage, looking very limp and a bit dry. I took him out, dripped water onto his back, but I could tell he was very weak. A few minutes later with a single convulsion and stopped breathing. I turned him over gentle and saw that his heart was just faintly beating but it stopped after about 20 seconds. There was no bloating, straining, yawning, or discoloration of any kind except for the marks on his back. I do not know what was wrong with him, but it was not parasitic. I had owned him since 2001, purchased from PetCo, so he was about 13 years old and well cared for. I'm thinking it might have been cancerous?

Euripedes's tankmate, Rune, has never been sick a day in his equally long life. He and Euripedes have shared a 35 gallon tall tank for all of their lives. Euripedes condition does not seem to have been contagious at all, and in the two years I treated him for it Rune never showed so much as a blemish. Their diet was strickly gut-loaded crickets -- I couldn't get them to eat anything else, and they could both fling a mealworm across the tank! Their tank is well maintained as its own little biosphere with a regularly cleaned water dish, 3 inch deep peatmoss substrait, live pothos plants, and branches to climb on. There is an underlying layer of pale yellow fungi two inches below the top of the soil that breaks down excess organic waste and pops up the occasional little white mushroom. The daylamp provides a bit of heat, but the room itself is well-warmed. The lamp sits above the tank and is a UVA/UVB bulb. Both frogs were always very active at night hunting and climbing around, and by day they have a hollow stone made of resin to hide in, but that can be easily removed and cleaned. They were chubby but not overweight, were always brown when they woke up and green at midnight, and had evenly maintained tempurature and humidity with good air circulation. So far as I can tell, husbandry was not an issue with Euripedes and I changed and cleaned out the tank several times wondering if it was. I only clean it with water, not chemicals.

So back to the question... Rune has always lived with a companion. The two of them lived in the same rock, sat in the water dish together, and croaked together at night in the summer. I've read that dumpies don't need a companion, but I worry that my boy might be lonely in the tank by himself with no one to climb over and no one to sing with. But being that he is himself at least 13 years old, I don't know if introducing a younger frog would be stressful on him, or if he would even care. They've never been competative about food. I love my pets and I've never had just one frog. I'm not sure if I should wait until he passes himself and get a new pair, if a new companion would be stressful, but being only 13 I've read they can live for 20 years in captivity and that's a long time to be lonely. If I were to get him a new tankmate, what would be the best way to introduce them, or to ensure that the younger frog wouldn't bully my older boy? Is he happier on his own?

Any advice is most appreciated. In the past I have also had a Morroccan toad and two bullfrogs, but none of those were ever replaced nor did I have them for so long. I also own several cats, two dogs, and a parakeet who has recently decided one of my cats is her best friend, so I'm more used to mammal behavior. Thanks!

[Sasha]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your frog. I too have gone through the loss of a whites and I know how hard it is to see them struggle and not know what is wrong or how to help. I had Fiona and Shrek in the same tank. They were so cute together and when Fiona got sick I caught a few interesting moments where it looked like Shrek was almost comforting her. Shrek seemed so sad without her which I now know that was just me putting human emotions into it. A month later we got Shrek 2 new friends and they live together in the same tank but I feel that they could care less that the other is there. It's more for our amusement to see them interact with each other in a way that we think is friendly or loving we feel everything is lonely without a "friend".

I think 13 is a great age for a frog! I think he would be okay to be by himself. If you got him a companion you would have to get one that is no smaller than 3/4 his size. You would have to quarantine the new frog in a separate tank for at least a month or longer. When I got Shrek's "superfriends", they were in quarantine for 2 months because they had parasites that they needed to be treated for. I think that you just interacting with him would be enough for him. I've noticed with my two new frogs, they were bought together and they seem to look out for each other where Shrek is usually left on his own and looks for me.

There's also no way to ensure their won't be any bullying. Even if you get a frog in near size there's going to be a chance of one bullying the other. Mine are all similar in size and after 4 months I still occasionally find one with the other's leg in it's mouth!

I know it's hard though. I've never had just one of a certain animal. We just got a bearded dragon and I feel bad that he is all alone!

[Nenegoba]

Hello I have my Dumpy frog in the same terrarium with a golden dusk newt and they are good friends now it is awesome! Sometimes I see them in the same water bowl together just hanging out chilling. My frog doesn't even try to eat the newt. I think they like eachother!

[Bombina Bob]

Hi im new to the forum and was wondeing if dumpys can be kept with giants (white lipped tree frog)

[deranged chipmunk]

see, i think they actually do form some sort of bond. i originally bought 3 white's, two nights later, one escaped. i never did find him. i had another escapee and and after correcting my security issue, found him. those 2 spent about 2 months together until their new tank was done. in the meantime, i had purchased another 3. they were in quarantine for about 2 days, and the other guys were in their new tank when lo and behold, i found my other lost frog. i put him in quarantine with the other 3 guys, mainly because he was so tiny. so those 4 spent a month in quarantine together. now, those four are always hanging out together, and the other two are inseparable. occasionally, the first two will interact with the other four, but for the most part, they have their own little cliques.......LOL

so my answer would be to get him a companion

[deeishealthy]

I am so glad to have read that. It's a social experiment and now I'm really glad I got two frog. Ernie n Bert never even looked at each other at first but now they hang out together on the shelf.

[Nenegoba]

I see no reason that it would be a problem mixing the 2 species since the they both have no toxins emitted from there bodies but I would quarantine them first and than introduce them after. Because I have a newt and my frog in the same habitat and have been fine for over a year now. Just change there water bowl accurately and they should be fine.