WOW...Something is weird.

[NialR35]

I just found my frog half buried in this VERY weird VERTICAL position, arms out and extended and he looked so stiff that I thought he was dead. Scared the heck out of me.... I panicked and poked him a bit with the rubber tongs to see if he was going to move and after like 3 seconds he did so I sprayed some water on him to see if he would do something, then just sat there in a normal position but that was very weird....Any thoughts on this? I have never seen him in such position, he looked dead for a second...and I mean dead because when I opened the cover he did not even move at all.

He did not eat much last night compared to the past two weeks, he seemed scared and went under the plants and "hid" there after 2 pieces. Also last night when I lowered the temps and raised humidity he started jumping a little bit, hitting the glass like if he was trying to get out or something, weird. Just thought I'd mention this.

Another thing, I have no seen yet "big" poops like they normally do, I just have found small circular clunks of what appears to be poop in the water. Is it normal for these frogs to do small amounts every couple of days or they are supposed to have a bowel movements of once a week?

[SCF]

Did it's skin appear to be moist? Did you notice how it was breathing? How damp/dry is the substrate? Has it's water bowl been very messy on a constant basis? Is the water you are using in it's bowl dechlorinated?

The scared part of it jumping at the glass would suggest stress.

The little chunks of feces you notice are just because you are using earthworms, that is perfectly normal, big harder feces is normally when you are feeding something with an exoskeleton.

[NialR35]

Skin was moist because 10 mins before I found him like that he was in his water bowl. I did not notice his breathing, he wasn't moving at all because I observed him for about 20 seconds before I poked him and half his lower body was buried.

Substrate is always misted on the side where the lamp hits, the "cold" side next to the water bowl has more moisture. I try to keep the substrate with more moisture on the bottom so when the frog buries it can cool off better. I clean his water bowl every night and I use dechlorinated water for everything.

He did jump a couple of times last night after 2 weeks, I don't know if it was because I lowered the temps, turned out the lights and misted on the glass and he was trying to catch water drops thinking it was food? He didn't go crazy but I heard him headbutting the glass a couple of times.

The chunks are very small....my ornate is also eating nightcrawlers and he goes once a week and does a big package. What really freaked me out was the half buried in a vertical position, with his arms extended out like if he was going to hug something, looking stiff but when I poked him he kinda like got out of that trance state.

He has been eating well except for last night that his appetite seemed a lot less than the past two weeks; only ate two pieces and went under the plants "hiding". Then I offered two more pieces 10 mins later and he ate them under the plant..maybe it was the calcium that he tasted first and turned him off.

[SCF]

One thing we have never discussed here (that I know of) and does not exactly pertain to this issue is playing dead. The very first time I saw a pyxie play dead, my girlfriend and I freaked. It's arms were extended out, but this was in the water dish. They do this often, and in a jokingly manner we just say "oh, so and so died." I've never observed this in the substrate though and this does not seem to be the case. It sounds like it is toxing out. That's why i'm asking some questions on water/setup etc. What have you primarily been feeding it as of last week? The jumping issue I do not think is a concern.

[SCF]

Also how wet do you think it is on the bottom of the substrate? The reason I ask is because if it's overly wet, it easily can breed bacteria and fungus, which will affect the frog.

[GrifTheGreat]

Sounds like Toxing Out to me. Need more habitat information.

[NialR35]

I thought it could be toxing out as well....I changed his water last night after feeding so he can have fresh clean water for the night since he spends the majority of the night in there. I did notice the water a little dirty this morning but I did not pay much attention to it since I change the water EVERY night no matter what. I scald his dish with HOT tap water, and rinse it with treated water prior to putting it back.

The substrate is not really wet, just moist. There are no puddles or white mold anywhere. It does look dryer in some parts because that's where the lamp hits. I have been feeding night crawlers for the past two weeks to go easy on him since I just got him. Eating has been great until last night when I noticed him not as aggressive as other days and ate only around half of what he normally would.

One thing I did do was give him a bigger water bowl, its only the medium sized zoo med one. I washed it and treated it prior to using it and kept the water level to under his chin.

[SCF]

One thing we have never discussed here (that I know of) and does not exactly pertain to this issue is playing dead. The very first time I saw a pyxie play dead, my girlfriend and I freaked. It's arms were extended out, but this was in the water dish. They do this often, and in a jokingly manner we just say "oh, so and so died." I've never observed this in the substrate though and this does not seem to be the case. It sounds like it is toxing out. That's why i'm asking some questions on water/setup etc. What have you primarily been feeding it as of last week? The jumping issue I do not think is a concern.

I'm agreeing with you Grif... Either of us cannot fully speculate from personal experience about feeding a pyxie 1 food item for 2 weeks though. I know you have not done this, so I do not think it can be fully ruled out. Even if it's not the cause for Nial's problems, it still should be changed.

[GrifTheGreat]

I'm agreeing with you Grif... Either of us cannot fully speculate from personal experience about feeding a pyxie 1 food item for 2 weeks though. I know you have not done this, so I do not think it can be fully ruled out. Even if it's not the cause for Nial's problems, it still should be changed.

I've given him Night Crawlers more than 2 weeks in a row as a baby. That is his main food source.

Lack of nutrition can also cause nurological disorders, but this is odd behavior and sounds like some kind of poisoning.

Edit; internal Bacterial Infections can also cause similar symptoms.