WTF Eggs!?

[IgbyKibbits]

So, where to start. :P After Kibbits finished all his antibiotic rounds and was in quarantine for two months - the vet said that it was something genetic going on, not viral/bacterial/fungal (remember we did cultures and biopsies trying to save him). At this point, we knew we were going to lose him and put him back in the tank to live out his last few days in a good place. He gained his vitality back, moving around and jumping, and mostly following Igby everywhere she went. I took pictures of him "sleeping" on top of Igby while she was soaking in their pond. As you know, he passed away a week ago, and after he did, we noticed some changes in Igby. I attributed it to "losing Kibbits." She was spending all her time in the water (uncharacteristic).

HOWEVER, today, we looked into the tank and saw Igby out of the pond, and in her place....there are about dozen white sacs. Could these be WTF eggs!?! I was always under the impression that it was very hard to get them to breed!

It's just so strange to have taken pictures of what I thought was Kibbits delight at being near his friend again (by constantly being on top of her)....and now we're finding white sacs in the water about ten days later.

Does this match up? If these are eggs, what should we do? Two of the sacs are larger than the others that are trailing behind them on a long strand, like an itty-bitty string of pearls.

If they are, here are some tank stats to help: the "sacs" are currently in the water feature side of our tank in about inch-deep water above a tree/rock formation in the water. Water is treated frog water (filtered with reptisafe), and the pond runs on a filter system through a waterfall. Day-time heat is about 80 to 85 (ranging from the cool side to heater side). Water is on the cool side. Night time ranges from 75 to 78 (since it's SO hot right now, we're having a hard time getting our apartment below that :P). Humidity ranges from 50 to 70%, with a steady 50% at least because of the water side.

Igby has been eating well. No skin changes, etc., outside of the fact that she was sitting in the water for about a week. She's not doing that now. What do you think!? Could Kibbits have impregnated her before passing away?

We will post pics as soon as we can figure out a way to safely photograph them without disturbing them.

[bshmerlie]

I can't say I've ever bred frogs before but I think almost all species of frogs fertilize the eggs once they are outside the body of the female. So if they are eggs they probably wouldn't be fertilized. But again, I've never bred them before. Why don't you post a picture of what you have and there are several people on the forum who have sucessfully bred and raised whites tadpoles and they will be able to give advice on what your next step should be.

[IgbyKibbits]

Thanks for the reply. We're thinking they are infertile eggs (we think). After investigating, we found several more sacs that had sunk to the bottom of the water pond. Guess we'll find out soon enough :P

[IgbyKibbits]

Just a quick update for the curious:

Unfortunately, as we expected from the helpful info received here, the eggs were infertile. We ended up cleaning the tank tonight and found numerous other "sacs" with no changes after almost a week of anxious watching. We were unable to get clear enough pictures to post, but my guess is still that they were egg sacs given their appearance and her behavior. We didn't find any other environmental indicators to say otherwise (like unwanted creatures, mold, etc) in the tank.

On the other hand, Igby is much more active, back to her old self, leaping from branch to branch at night. Thanks again for your help!

[SethD]

I am not sure what it was that you were seeing without pictures, but it wasn't eggs. For one thing eggs are clear with a dark spot in the middle, not white. For another thing fertilization is external not internal and whites lay about 1000-2000 eggs at a time. Not just a few.

[IgbyKibbits]

Seth -

Right, that's why we said they were infertile (given that our male passed away shortly before we noticed them in the water making it impossible that they would have been fertilized).

Also, given the pictures I've seen online now of frog eggs, and after having been able to pull them out of the water pond for a closer look, we're pretty sure these sac clumps were indeed eggs. Not viable/fertile eggs of course, but eggs nonetheless.

On the bright side, you guys gave great information (that isn't easily available online) so now I'll know better in the future. Thanks again!