Gel in water?

[aegillesp]

I was cleaning one of my frogs three water bowls and I found a chunk of gel like substance in it. I've never seen it before and unsure of what it is?... It has tiny brown specs in it but I assume that it is just poo since there was poo in the bowl as well. I have 2 male AGTF and 2 Females together. The bowl I found it in was the one sitting on a heating pad, which is their favorite bowl. It's not near where the fogger is and there really isn't anything above it as far as fake foliage or anything. After I cleaned the bowl I put it back, but Any ideas on what it is?

[Gibson]

Can you post pictures?

[flybyferns]

I was cleaning one of my frogs three water bowls and I found a chunk of gel like substance in it. I've never seen it before and unsure of what it is?... It has tiny brown specs in it but I assume that it is just poo since there was poo in the bowl as well. I have 2 male AGTF and 2 Females together. The bowl I found it in was the one sitting on a heating pad, which is their favorite bowl. It's not near where the fogger is and there really isn't anything above it as far as fake foliage or anything. After I cleaned the bowl I put it back, but Any ideas on what it is?

Can you post pictures?

aegillesp
Were you able to get a photo?

[aegillesp]

This is the closest I could get with a clear picture.

[flybyferns]

This is the closest I could get with a clear picture.

That's cricket water/gel.

[aegillesp]

How can it be cricket water gel? I don't use that and it wasn't there the day before...?

[UncleChester]

It really does look like the gel given the rough shape (as in, not smooth or round). If you still have it, let it dry out and see what happens. The gel crystals will shrink to almost nothing when they dry, but can be re-hydrated again. What goes into the tank and where does it come from? Any store bought crickets, or store bought plants? The gel crystals are sometimes used in plants, but this would be a rarity for most plant sources.

[aegillesp]

I haven't bought anything for my terrarium in a very long time. I order my crickets through fluker farms and I turn the egg crate upside down in the keeper before I shake it into my tank.

[UncleChester]

Then it wouldn't be impossible for a dehydrated gel crystal from the farm to make it's way into your tank along with the crickets? On the left below is a dehydrated crystal, in the middle is the size difference once hydrated, on the right is a penny for a size reference. The crystals do come in different sizes, but this is typical.

Do you still have it? If so, have you seen what happens when it dries out?

[wriggles]

could it be a chunk of silicone?

[cjbage]

it does look like the gel used for cricket water, I have some dry crystals that are really tiny, some that are larger like the one shown by Brian. a dried piece may have fallen in from the crickets or even stuck to one of them when you put the crickets in the terrarium to feed. It is possible since your frogs like to get into the water that the piece was transferred from the cricket to the frog and then into the water dish.

[aegillesp]

I know what a dehydrated and hydrated water gel looks like as I do use them. The consistence is different in the chunk I found in the water bowl. I will just assume a freak of nature.