Sick red eye tree frog died overnight

[coolicarboy]

Hi, I just received my two red eye tree frogs. When I was looking at one of them, it had a weird white marking on its head/neck. I'm not talking about the normal white freckles you see on their backs. When he was in his cage, he could not climb correctly and kept falling. He was also a dark color most of the time. I know it could have been stress from the shipping process, but I think it got a parasite or fungus. After about 20 minutes when I noticed these weird symptoms, I immediately took him out of the cage and quarantined him from the other frog which looked, and still looks healthy. I watched the frog carefully and it didn't go to sleep for a long time. I went to bed and when I woke up I found out the poor thing didn't make it through the night. Any idea on what it could have been? Heres a picture. You can see the white marking around its head/neck area.


Now that we know something was wrong with it, should I clean out the whole tank which the other frog is still in? The sick frog was only in there for about 20 minutes, and was in one little area of the tank. Im worried because they were in the same shipping container together as well.

As for the substrate, do I have to replace it now?


Not regarding the health issues, how often should I replace the substrate and clean the cage? Should I clean the cage once a week and replace the substrate once every two weeks?

Edit: I also just thought, should I use a different substrate as the one seen in the picture? I can imagine that the crickets would hide in there and it would be hard for my frog to find them.

[John]

That frog was a goner when it arrived. I would demand compensation from the seller if I were you. If they were shipped together, the other one has already been exposed to whatever killed the dead one, so I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Just keep an eye on the live one and make sure it keeps up a healthy appetite.

As a routine, replacing a the substrate depends on what it is, how big the terrarium is, etc. In tropical terrariums I rarely replace the substrate more than once every few months. In dart frog terrariums I may wait 2 years or more, but in tree frog terrariums I would say every 4-6 months. It's one of those things where you have to monitor it under whatever conditions you maintain.

Can't tell you to change substrate type because I can't tell what it is that you're using.

[coolicarboy]

That frog was a goner when it arrived. I would demand compensation from the seller if I were you. If they were shipped together, the other one has already been exposed to whatever killed the dead one, so I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Just keep an eye on the live one and make sure it keeps up a healthy appetite.

As a routine, replacing a the substrate depends on what it is, how big the terrarium is, etc. In tropical terrariums I rarely replace the substrate more than once every few months. In dart frog terrariums I may wait 2 years or more, but in tree frog terrariums I would say every 4-6 months. It's one of those things where you have to monitor it under whatever conditions you maintain.

Can't tell you to change substrate type because I can't tell what it is that you're using.

Thats a shame. Ill demand compensation ASAP. I ordered from reptilecity, so I hope its not an issue. After doing research, I regret ordering from them. Im using terrarium moss. It looks like the crickets could easily hide in there, but I don't know.

If I demand to have another one sent to me, should I quarantine it for awhile to make sure my current frog (and the new frog of course) are healthy?

[John]

Yes to the quarantines.

Moss is not really a substrate. It goes on top of substrate. I would use a tropical terrarium soil, such as "plantation" soil, or even coir (coconut fiber). If you're feeling advwnturous, you could try mixing some organic topsoil with coir.

[coolicarboy]

Will do. Ill go today and get the substrate. Any idea what killed the frog though? Bacterial infection maybe?

I will also keep everyone updated on the replacement process from Reptilecity.com

edit: I just spoke with Felton from reptilecity.com, and he said he would have another one sent to me by tuesday.

Another edit: I was also wondering, is it okay to have the water bowl filled with tap water? What about the misting water?

[Chaser]

No; never use tap water unless you now that the chlorine and other Chemical levels are safe in your area, I use Reptisafe for my red eye. I also put it in my misting water.