Weird, White, and Fuzzy in the Water Bowl!

[tjtreefrog]

Howdy Y'all (He says in southwestern Missouri style),

A friend of mine, 1beataway, has been finding white, fuzzy objects in her Gray Tree Frog's water bowl about the size of a mouse "fuzzy" (an immature mouse that has grown in a coat of hair, but is not yet exploring outside the nest). Here is what she told me:

"Today I refilled my Gray Tree frog's water dish. When I did, I noticed something in it and immediately thought it was like a dead frog in water (fuzzy), which is weird cause I knew the bowl was clear. Then i saw a second, so I got toilet paper and touched them and they deflated. So I got the dish to empty it out into the toilet
there was something in the dish. Kinda had a gauzy or moldy look. There was a big chunk outside the dish too, covered in dirt. Then I was afraid that was my
frog. And there was a super, super strong smell. I feel like I've smelled it before. It was almost like onions or chives."

Any clues as to what these mysterious objects are? She was able to find her Gray Tree Frog, he was happy and healthy, but she has no idea what the white, fuzzy things are.

Thanks,
Thomas

[John]

Sounds like mould growing on feces, since feces often gets into the water bowl.

[Whistly]

When I had a little water bowl I noticed white fuzzy things but never as big as you've described and they were small patches on a submerged piece of wood. I'd hazard a guess at some kind of mould, the other material is probably organic matter that started decomposing in the water, once again this happened to me as some unlucky bugs that fell in the water didn't get out.

I'd give the water bowl a thorough cleaning with cleaning products and then wash it just in hot water and wipe it dry until 1beataway thinks it's clean. Maybe bake it in the oven if she feels that it's not clean enough.

[bshmerlie]

Water bowls should be cleaned out daily. I make that part of my morning ritual.
1. Feed darts fruit flies.
2. Clean out tree frog water bowls.
Nine tanks takes ten minutes ...tops.
You don't want them soaking in their own poop the next night anyways.

If you do that every morning nothing could ever grow in it.

[LilyPad]

Water bowl should be cleaned every day. I wash the bowl in hot water and put it back in the tank and fill it with some fresh room temp water. That way no mold can grow on the poo, because that's what it sounds like!

[1beataway]

Before I sound like a bad pet frog owner, I do clean out my bowls. The humidity here is so low and my gray treefrog has a small bowl (because he's small) so I am having to add water twice a day. Also, this frog is so active but he almost never dirties the water; he's my perfect little frog. Yesterday I did skip the cleaning. Today I was running late for work because of school stuff so I refilled, with the intention of cleaning it when I got home. But the night before last night I cleaned his bowl. How could it have grown so big so fast?

[LilyPad]

I have no idea, that sounds bizarre!