So bummed

[Paul Rust]

I have to agree with you here Seth except that I don't think amphibian medicine is in as dire a situation as many may think. I too have lost very few animals over the past 25 or so years and when i do they go suddenly. I certainly wouldn't blame it on stress if they suvived for 3 or more months as you said and I doubt that Kurt, you or myself would blame parasites because that is easily proven and the possibility eliminated with a proper maintenance regime, by this I mean doing your own fecals so you know what is actually going on. I spend many hours reading books like Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry, Understanding Reptile Parasites, and any other medical work I can find. All this combined with experience can give us a great advantage when trying to save our animals. But the truth is as you said, "we are on our own". At least we can share these experiences and learn from each other about what has worked and what hasn't. Your comments on reversing the natural climate for a while rings true in my experience also, I don't know why. Overall I think we are doing pretty good keeping our animals healthy given the lack of vet assistance that we have. Too make a long story even longer, I agree with you.

[Kurt]

Overall I think we are doing pretty good keeping our animals healthy given the lack of vet assistance that we have.

But there is still so much we don't know. Amphibian medicine is way behind reptile medicine and a lot herp vets can't give you the answers you need. Treating amphibians most of the time is an educated shot in the dark. When treating a reptile there is a 80% certainty that it will pull through, with amphibians its like 30%. (Those figures are just estimates, so don't quote me on them)

Its frustrating and every time I lose an animal I feel like a failure, because I feel I shouldn't be losing any. Maybe its because I have been doing this for a long time now. Maybe its because I have worked in a few museums with live animals and in the pet industry. Maybe its because every where I go, everyone knows me as the frog guy and its so frustrating that I don't have all the answers that they need. Yesterday I was asked about lung structure in frogs and I did not have the answer. Like I said everyone expects me to have the answers and I feel like a fraud when I don't. Sometimes I feel as dumb as a box of rocks and I am angry with myself for not knowing all the answers.


Wednesday, I will be going to the Museum of Science to discuss hypocalcemia in captive amphibians with my former boss, the curator of live animals. Hopefully it will be a productive meeting. I do plan on discussing as much as I can on the other topics brought up in this thread. Hopefully I will be walking out of there with some answers and hopefully I will be able to provide them with some too.

[freck]

sorry to hear about your loss