Wondering Why my Pacman Died

[sholland28]

Hi,

Technically it's my bf's frog, which he got from some reptile trade show last summer (maybe 1.5yrs ago). It's an albino pacman, but beyond that I don't have any other info on him. Ate mostly nightcrawlers, sometimes pink baby mice, and some raw grouper or snapper that we caught in the gulf. Had him in a ~2gal critter tote with coconut coir substrate, some 1"-3" diameter smooth rocks, and a bowl of water. Last winter we had him on a heating pad on low.

When we left for the summer in late June he seemed to have a voracious appetite, as it should be, but when we got back in mid-Oct his appetite seemed to be gone; I think we got him to eat a single worm.

We had a cold front come thrugh recently (mid-high 60s inside at night) so we put the heating pad back on and put him in a bowl of warm water while we changed out his substrate. During this process I read about evistation and realized he may have been in that stage, which would explain his lack of movement or appetite, but we had already started to bring him out of it with the warm water so I figured he'd just pull out of it.

When we put him back in his tank it took about 5 mins before he jumped in the water, where he stayed for several days until we realized tonight that he'd died.

I just read about chytrid. How does a captive frog get that? It would at least explain his lack of appetite and lethargy. When I tried to feed him after his tank cleaning I touched him with the worm and he turned away from it. Otherwise, I have no idea why he died.

Just wondering what could have happened (without paying for a necropsy) so that if we get another one we can avoid whatever we may have done to contribute to his death.

Thanks for any info.

Sarah

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF Sarah ! Without a necropsy it's impossible to tell what caused death . You state left mid-June until October; did person caring for frog knew what he/she was doing and maintained proper parameters for frog enclosure? Was a feeding log kept? A 2 gallon critter keeper sounds a bit small for a 1.5 year old frog. What was length from snout to vent? You might want to read this before getting a new frog: Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding. Good luck!