2 of my Bronze frogs died mysteriously at the same time...

[MikeM670]

Is it possible for a water filter to malfunction and shock your frogs to death?? I found 2 of my babies, who seemed SO HEALTHY, dead this morning floating in their pond, yet the 3rd was fine hiding in his log hide on shore. I moved him to a new tank to be safe.

Without knowing the water chemistry I would say that its a big unknown. Did you just change the water before they died? Was it properly chlorinated? Temperature change in the tank? Did you use the same water temperature for the new water as what was in the tank? Sudden water temperature changes or allowing the water temperature to raise or fall outside the recommended temperature range can also be a cause.

[John]

Generally if there is a short circuit through the water it will blow out the device, so it's unlikely to be the problem. Were these young frogs? They may have drowned.

[Fae]

Generally if there is a short circuit through the water it will blow out the device, so it's unlikely to be the problem. Were these young frogs? They may have drowned.

They were about 3 inches long. They get 2-4 inches, so I'd way they were about grown. And they were really good swimmers, they have been swimming since I got them.

[John]

The mouth-popping look is caused by water being absorbed by their tissues. In my experience it's more pronounced in drowning deaths. I tend to favor the drowning hypothesis.

[Fae]

Alright, well that really sucks. I was sure they would be okay with the water. There is only a little more than 2 inches in there. Thanks for your help John. I guess I'll be spending my day redoing the tank with less water.

[John]

You don't necessarily have to remove the water. If you put plenty of things in there onto which they can climb to get out, you should minimize the chances of drowning. I'm guessing these are very young frogs. If that's the case, they drown very easily so maybe reduce the water level a lot and when they have grown you can add more water back in.

[Fae]

So, I THINK I finally figured out why my frogs are drowning. My largest frog who isn't much larger than the ones that drowned has been hopping on their backs pulling them under the water. I moved my 2 remaining healthy Bronze frogs to the hospital tank to be safe. I found another bronze frog dead this morning. Drowned and flattened in a half inch deep water bowl. It looks as though Jeremiah, the larger frog, was trying to mount Ichabod, the dead frog, and drowned him in the water bowl. Mystery solved? Not sure, but hopefully, as I only have 1 bronze frog left.

[Fae]

I don't do water changes very often, as it has a filter, and it's stressful for my frogs. The last one was about 2 weeks ago. It's filtered water that has been left to sit in the sun. I've been using the same kind of water with them since I got them as juveniles, and I use it with my FBTs and TFs. The temperature stays at room temperature 75-80F degrees. Nothing has changed at all, except about 2 weeks ago I rearranged their tank and added a log hide from PetSmart. Also, I noticed that Kermit's stomach, or something white, seemed to pop out of his mouth.