Green & Gold turned BROWN..!

[Mentat]

Hello and thanks for the pics and answers Em. I'm glad frog is a bit better . Well, not knowing the temperature and humidity in any enclosure is a risk; but in a small one the risk is bigger. Understand you are local to the frog, but there are a couple things I would correct. Saw a few care sheets, and this one is easy to read: Green and Gold Bell Frog Sandfire Dragon Ranch .

Without a filter, would recommend doing 50% water changes daily. That is very important because the only bacteria converting ammonia to nitrites (bad) and then to nitrates (not so bad) live in surface of the stones and decor, which is not much. Your enclosure is small and the limited water volume can become a toxic bath for your frog in a short time. When you get a larger enclosure that might not be as bad or you could use a small foam filter in it.

The second thing that could be stressing frog is the lack of a hot basking area under UV light. From what I'm reading, these frogs like to bask close to lamp and then jump into water to cool off. Again, the size of it's enclosure does not allow a temp. gradient to be built. Without a thermometer have to be very careful if using sunlight or lamp to heat it because it could get too hot inside very quickly. Think these 2 items should be prioritized to reduce your frog's stress and both can be worked on once you get frog a suitable larger enclosure, good luck on your search!

[EmJay]

Thank you again, you're terribly helpful. All the science behind "putting a small animal in a tank with some water" is much more complicated (and expensive) than I was led to believe back when I agreed to keep the frog! Still, her well-being is the most important thing.

I'm glad to see I'm already on-track a bit, since I'd decided to do More Water Replacing, More Often before reading your post - I've switched to replacing "all the water I can easily scoop" every day, for now. Analogue thermo/hygro meters go for about $20 here, so that shouldn't be a problem. A lamp might take a little longer for now... This is the first time I've heard of a "foam filter", so I'll go and look that up.

That care sheet was interesting; a few parts of it contradicted a few other sheets I've read (including ones by local herpetologists), so that's a bit confusing... One of the most notable is that every other thing I've seen/read indicates the bells seldom climb higher than 15-20cm/6-8" from the ground, while the sheet suggests 3-4 feet. I've dealt with bells in outdoor ponds before, and never seen them that high! I think this calls for Scientific Observation... heh.

Thanks again for your help.

[Lija]

I've read very recently about it, the was a study done about UVB and frogs, temps were mentioned too, can't recall details now, I was looking more for UVB effect in captivity. anyhow i do remember these frogs change color depending on a mood and tank temps, the color gets dull when it is stressed out and a frog turns very dark brown if a tank is too cold, that would be your case i'm assuming. UVB is a must, real unfiltered UVB and suspended above tank basking lamp. i remember reading and thinking that these would very cool to keep, big and aggressive, pacman and pixie mix that is active during a day lol

[EmJay]

I've recently read that in the wild, during winter Green & Golden Bell frogs can turn so dark bronze they're almost black... So I guess making her warmer with a lamp is unnatural, but kinder and safer since she's in captivity and the conditions of the tank can't automatically mimic the natural (almost-) equilibrium of nature. I'd just always been told previously that Litoria didn't need lights or heaters in NZ, and all my prior experience with them has been in outdoor ponds, so I hadn't considered getting a lamp until now.

[Mentat]

...I'm glad to see I'm already on-track a bit, since I'd decided to do More Water Replacing, More Often before reading your post - I've switched to replacing "all the water I can easily scoop" every day, for now. Analogue thermo/hygro meters go for about $20 here, so that shouldn't be a problem. A lamp might take a little longer for now... This is the first time I've heard of a "foam filter", so I'll go and look that up....

Wow an analog thermometer for $20? Can you order from Amazon (they have digital combos for $15 http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Digital-Combination-Thermometer-Hygrometer?

The foam filter is a compact internal water filter powered by an aquarium air pump. They come in many sizes and for your set-up a small flat one (like no. 1 on link) will work nice. A "kitchen baster" or a small "Gravel Vac" could help with water changes. Vacs with a squeeze bulb start are better because they prevent you from getting a mouthful of dirty water .

[EmJay]

Wow an analog thermometer for $20? Can you order from Amazon (they have digital combos for $15 http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Digital-Combination-Thermometer-Hygrometer?

Everything is more expensive here. Probably because it has to be shipped half-way around the world first... Fluker's digital thermo/hygro is around NZ$70. ReptileOne is $45, and the Trixie one is $32, but I'm not familiar with that brand. Most of the time, whatever I save by buying on Amazon, I lose in postage, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for a free-post sale or something.

The foam filter is a compact internal water filter powered by an aquarium air pump. They come in many sizes and for your set-up a small flat one (like no. 1 on link) will work nice.

Okay, I'll look into that, thanks.

A "kitchen baster" or a small "Gravel Vac" could help with water changes. Vacs with a squeeze bulb start are better because they prevent you from getting a mouthful of dirty water .

Ha, now - kitchen baster I can do. :-D I'll grab one today or tomorrow (don't know why I didn't think of that, duh!). Hopefully a gravel vac (they seem to start at $30) will fit into the budget at some point.

Thank you again for all your help!

[EmJay]

Well, she's still more olive-and-bronze than green-and-gold, but she's moving, hiding out in her cave during the day and sitting in her fern when I get up in the morning, so I guess the dramatic colour change was mostly temperature. She's pooped once, but still not eating much (I'll need to investigate thoroughly when I change her water today, and see if her vitamin-flies drowned or got eaten (or escaped, sigh. Tiniest houseflies I ever bought.). Fingers crossed for a cheap new-to-me terrarium soon!

(Also, kitchen baster. ALL THE AWESOME. *So* much quicker, easier, and more effective than scooping. Thank you very much, Carlos!)

[EmJay]

Yay, got a terrarium! Only an Exo Terra mini/tall, but that's better than what we have now (and designed for use with a light!), and at NZ$42.50 wayyy cheaper than the $130 it would have been new. Now Froggley can be more comfortable, and I can look for a bigger, better terr at my leisure.

Now to try and get my brain around planting and substrate and UVB and so on...