What do you think happened to our White's Tree Frog, please?
About three weeks ago we acquired 2 White's tree frogs from our local Petco. This evening, I found one of them dead.I am so sad and hoping to figure out what went wrong. Just this morning, the frog was sitting on the glass wall near the top of the terrarium and looked fine. Because this terrarium was a gift from Santa and we got the frogs shortly after that as a gift for our 6 year old son, we'd like to replace the tree frog with another of the same type before he notices. However, I don't want to kill another one. Feel awful. Any advice or suggestions are welcome.
Here's the info. that one member suggested posting for diagnostic purposes:
1-size of enclosure - 12 x 12 x 18 ZooMed terrarium, glass walls, front opening door, screen top, combo deep dome hood for day and nighttime lamps
2-# on inhabitants - specifically ( if there is another frog ---size differences ?) Two White's tree frogs. The other frog was about 50% larger when we got them, they were in a terrarium there together. They maintained this approx. size diff.
3-humidity - typically around 70 - 80% though occasionally got down to 50%. We tried to mist glass and moss several times/day.
4-temp - about 80 deg F, day and night, for last week - 10 days. Before that, was going down to 70 deg F at night, but then I read this was too cold so switched red night time bulb from 50 to 75W. This morning, when I switched from night to day lamp, temp. was higher than usual, maybe close to 90 deg F but it was back to 80 deg within an hour or so.
5-water - type - for both misting and soaking dish - We use tap water that has been sitting in a bucket for at least 24 hours, usually longer. We use this same water for the bottom of the terrarium, for misting and for the soaking dish. Two days ago, my husband changed 30 - 40% of the water that cycles from the bottom of the terrarium through the waterfall and down again.
6-materials used for substrate - Eco brick, covered with moss. Gravel and slate or flagstone at bottom/front
7-enclosure set up i.e. plants( live or artificial) wood, bark etc -how were things prepared prior to being put into the viv - A local fish and exotic pet store called Aqua Imports put our set up together for us because we admired one in which they keep a couple of fancier frogs. The ZooMed terrarium includes the moss-covered Eco brick on some plastic egg crate that elevates that main area from the lower, front part that has a couple of inches of water at the bottom. A good sized piece of driftwood is oriented diagonally along the back. There are a couple of windy old sticks for sitting and decoration. A pump and plastic hose are used to create a small volume waterfall over the high end of the driftwood. An artificial plant sits atop that. There is a soaking dish, maybe 3 inches in diameter x 1/2 inch deep in the middle of the mossy ground area. Some ZooMed "bark" is used to cover the unsightly white plastic.
8-main food source - medium-sized live crickets, fed with gut loader (sm green cubes)
9-vitamins and calcium ? ( how often ) - none
10-lighting - ZooMed daylight, 75W and nighttime (red) bulbs, 75W
11-what is, specifically, being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure - the lights above together with covering part of screen top w/ a book to keep most of the heat in while still leaving some open for ventiliation
12-when is the last time he ate - not sure, have been putting in 2 - 4 crickets/day, most days
13-have you found poop lately - yes, there is poop on the glass walls of the terrarium
14-a pic would be great ( including the frog ) any little cell phone pic is fine - he's dead now, so picture of him would be very unpleasant. Found him floating in the marshy area under the little waterfall. He's lost some of his color and eyes are foggy. Here are pics of the set-up.
15- how old is the frog - don't know; obtained from PetCo
16-how long have you owned him - about 3 weeks
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 - only the crickets
19- about how often the frog is handled - never. Terrarium is located in my 6 year old son's room (was his Christmas present from Santa). My family of four each peer into it several times a day but we have never handled the frogs.
20-is the enclosure is kept in a high or low traffic area - very low traffic. Corner of son's bedroom, downstairs, away from main living area.
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