Giant Waxy Monkey Frog help.

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

The feeder problem is treatable, just breed your own feeder, buy a roach, cricket, grasshopper, or other feeder insect colony, and breed them to have your own healthy stock

[Diver]

Yes, true and I do breed my own roaches, what I meant was that apparently the malamoeba issue is common and not anything that makes frogs sick. I'm told by the guy at one of the local stores I deal with that they test their animals very frequently and these malamoebas show up sporadically and it's just an accepted thing. It's not all the time and the effects are limited to the feeders being a bit less nutritious due to reduced gut loading.

To summarise where I think I'm at with these frogs:

Bought them knowing they were wild caught and therefore possibly issues. Being completely unfamiliar with this species have tried to provide best possible conditions and confirm whether exhibited behaviour was normal or not. Evidence appeared to show stressed but otherwise healthy bar first individual which died a few days after purchase. Second fatality and symptoms of remaining individual point to sickness/disease present. Remaining individual has been treated for bacterial infection and parasites and fecal exam has confirmed no parasites present.
So, I think either there was a bacterial infection which has now cleared up due to the course of Baytril (there has been no recurrence of the nasty looking symptoms pictured above) OR there's a viral infection OR there's a fungal infection.
I'll talk to the vet tomorrow to see what tests are possible, I guess there's obviously Chytrid (but if Chytrid could he still be in relatively good shape after the three months he's been in my care?)
Any other suggestions or anything I've missed as always very welcome!

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

I don't think it's Chytrid, it definitely would have died by now, so I do think it's a feeder issue

[Diver]

Spoke to the vet yesterday, he's adamant that the presence of malamoeba is harmless to the frog and not even entirely harmful to the livefood so I think it can be ruled out. It would also make sense as the issues with these frogs have been present ever since I bought them.
He also agrees that chytrid would have likely finished this animal off long ago if it came with it from the wild, although points out that anything could be lying dormant in the frog's system which can flare up under stress etc.
It seems we've reached the end of medical intervention so I guess it's up to the animal itself now.

[irThumper]

Chytrid is still being studied, so we don't know all of its mysteries yet. My Butter Bean died 29 days after I got him, and Pole Bean lingered 13 more days. Pole Bean was sick and lethargic looking from the day of unboxing while Butter looked and acted seemingly perfectly normal. Your pics LOOK like Chytrid to me, BUT other diseases can have the same symptoms. I would do some skin swabs of your frog to test for Chytrid and whatever other disease can be tested for topically. I'm sorry you've had so many problems with them, I know the feeling

Oh, I would also take the remaining frog out of the big set up and get him into a basic QT tank, something you can manage to break down and disinfect with 10% blach solution every to every other day (clean and bleach food and water dishes daily).

[Strider18]

Sorry to hear about your froggies I don't mean to go off topic here, but are you going to make a build thread for that 8 x 8 x 8 you mentioned? I really hope it gets healed and better, keep us updated!

[Diver]

Sorry to hear about your froggies I don't mean to go off topic here, but are you going to make a build thread for that 8 x 8 x 8 you mentioned? I really hope it gets healed and better, keep us updated!

Hi Strider,

The project is a little set back at the moment but if I'm able to go ahead I'll put a build thread on, yes. My plan was/is to obtain a group of at least 6-8 bicolor, get them healthy and conditioned and then attempt a breeding project. Unfortunately the first hurdles are proving the most difficult!
This time next week I'll be at the Hamm show and if any are available I'll be bringing them home. My first actions will be to get them screened for Chytrid and get fecals done immediately. If things go well and they are healthy I'll continue the build and the project will go ahead.
Only the base has been built so far, but the finished build is to be a room with controlled ventilation, temperature and humidity with a pond and sprinkler system. The idea of course is to simulate as closely as possible the natural environment with the ability to replicate the changing seasons to attempt the necessary stimulation.
If we get to that stage all that's left is to keep fingers crossed!

[Diver]

Sounds sensible irThumper, I think I'll get a Reptibreeze this weekend and put him in that with a simple set up. It seems that bicolor can happily tolerate temperatures up to the mid 80s F but Chytrid does not so a rise in temperature would seem in order too. Can't see any harm in this course of action and obviously if Chytrid is present then it would certainly be helpful.
I can get him to the vet next week in the set up to keep things as low stress as possible for swabs.

Now, from your experience what is it about this frog that points to Chytrid in your opinion? If the evidence is strong enough I do have another potential course of action. As it will take a while to get a result from tests, I COULD start treatment with Itraconazole now (I have some here). The trade off is any possible side effects from administering Itraconazole to an animal that might have something else entirely. It seems you have recent experience and good advice from herp vet over there, what are your thoughts?