My frog died and mummified?

[Psychotic]

One of my recently acquired frogs just passed away. He had been sickly for a while. He stopped eating, became lethargic and died. I was going to give him a pedialyte soak today. However he did not make it through the night. Though I am saddened by this I'm also curious. When I went to sleep he was a fully fleshed frog, though on the skinny side from not eating. However when I woke up this morning at 6:00am and went to get him for his soak I found a mummified dried up husk in the shape of my frog. It looked like he had died years ago. How in the world did he decompose so fast!? The tank is not hot or dry. It's very humid in fact and rarely gets over 80 degrees fahrenheit during the day. I turn off light and heat during the night.

Is it normal he dried up so fast like that?

Thankfully the other frog hasn't shown any sign of illness. He still eats and is much bigger and robust than when he arrived. I know it's kind of a 50/50 when buying WC imported animals. So I think whatever killed this frog was something he came in with. Even when he first arrived he was on the skinny side and didn't seem as alert as the other frog. While he was eating he would only take one small cricket whereas the other frog would eat around three or four. Poor little guy will be missed.

[BlueisallIneed]

Aw sorry for the loss of your frog, poor thing. He looks like something was almost eating him. I would clean out the tank if you can if the other frog was sharing it with him. But he also may have been really thin skinned
since he was so sick and he dried out fast. I don't know

[Wicked frogs]

It looks like he was sitting for a while, sorry about your frog though.

[flybyferns]

Sorry
I'm wondering?
Do you de-chlorinate their water?

[Rae]

Wow I am sorry I have never seen anything like that... I would have thought it had died at least days ago by the looks. :/ I don't know if this is even possible but do you have substrate janitors? ie.. springtails? Could they have done this after it died? Was it on moss? if the moss was dry could it have absorbed its fluids... creepy...

[GrifTheGreat]

There was definitely something in the tank eating him. They don't desicate that fast. Especially not in one night

[Psychotic]

Yes, I do treat my water. Also maybe crickets ate him? I'm sure there are some hiding in there. I just didn't think he would have been a dried out husk. But these frogs are tiny. A little over an inch long snout to vent. You can also see through their belly like a glass frog.

I haven't got springtails but that made me think. I bet it was crickets that have been hiding in the enclosure that ate him after he died.

[Sunshine]

I'm sorry for your loss. I know these are your favorite frogs

[deranged chipmunk]

at the risk of sounding blunt. he was eaten. most likely, like you said, by hiding crickets. there is absolutely no skin or muscle mass on the legs. they are nothing but bone. even if the frog dried out, the skin would still remain, not dissolve. i am sorry for your loss and i feel very deeply for you. i lost one of my red eyes this week as well

[Psychotic]

at the risk of sounding blunt. he was eaten. most likely, like you said, by hiding crickets. there is absolutely no skin or muscle mass on the legs. they are nothing but bone. even if the frog dried out, the skin would still remain, not dissolve. i am sorry for your loss and i feel very deeply for you. i lost one of my red eyes this week as well

Not blunt at all. I'm not actually upset about him being eaten. I'm pretty sure he was already dead once they started on him. I have since found two crickets and removed them. Others are in the moss hiding I think. I hadn't moved him into the new enclosure I just put together since he was obviously sick. The other frog has the whole thing to himself.

They were my favorite frogs. I had waited years to actually find some for sale. I have a friend on another forum who is importing some frogs from Africa and offered to add some more Uluguruensis to the list. So, if he keeps his word I will have some more. 15 frogs this time. I'm going to get the whole group so that I can sex them myself. Once I have the ones I want (females if there are any) I will probably sell the others once I know they are established in captivity. I won't be like the source I got these first two from. They were fresh imports and probably hadn't been in captivity very long at all. Only reason I think that is because even the healthy frog was skinny when he came in and is now a lot bigger and plump and it's only been a month since I got him.

Ps
Sorry about you frog too. They are little critters and most people don't give them a second thought. But we love them just as much as any furry pet.

[dukey95]

I know this was posted quite some time ago, but I had this same thing happen to me today. I own 5 Pacific tree frogs, and they are usually always active and croak. I generally feed them every three days, and they all eat about 3-4 pinhead crickets. Yesterday when I went to feed them, my oldest frog was acting funny, ate one cricket (she usually eats the most) and then put her head in an awkward position, and wouldn't move. Today I went to check on them, and mist the tank when I found her completely dried up, and it seemed she had died weeks ago. I know for a fact that after she died she was not eaten by crickets because I have a separate feeding tank. I'm very worried and concerned for my frogs, they are as important to me as my dogs, I just want to make sure they are okay, and what ever happened to my eldest frog, won't happen to the other four.

[DigitalPunk]

I am so sorry for your loss, that has to be the worse thing I have seen in a while. I would guess something in the tank was eating at him/her. So very sad

Bill I am sorry for your loss as well. I wasn't aware you had suffered a loss this week too.

[Mentat]

I know this was posted quite some time ago, but I had this same thing happen to me today. I own 5 Pacific tree frogs, and they are usually always active and croak. I generally feed them every three days, and they all eat about 3-4 pinhead crickets. Yesterday when I went to feed them, my oldest frog was acting funny, ate one cricket (she usually eats the most) and then put her head in an awkward position, and wouldn't move. Today I went to check on them, and mist the tank when I found her completely dried up, and it seemed she had died weeks ago. I know for a fact that after she died she was not eaten by crickets because I have a separate feeding tank. I'm very worried and concerned for my frogs, they are as important to me as my dogs, I just want to make sure they are okay, and what ever happened to my eldest frog, won't happen to the other four.

Hello and welcome to FF! You need to start a new thread in this Tree Frog section; piggybacking into older thread is not going to get the response and help needed. When you post your thread, please provide the answers to these questions too. Thank you !

Start a NEW THREAD
- by cutting and pasting the questions below into the forum area for the frog species you need assistance with.
- try to answer as many questions as possible.
- if you do not know an answer to a question say "I don't know" rather than leaving it blank.

QUESTIONS

1----what 'kind' of frog is it ( what species)
2----please include a photo of the frog
3----Please include a photo of the frog's current enclosure
4----size of enclosure ( W" x D" x H" )
5----# on inhabitants - ( if there is another frog --- is there a size difference ? )
6----has or was the frog kept with a different species or with any other tank mate
7----is there a new tank mate----was the new tank mate quarantined
8----what is the typical humidity level
9----what temperature is maintained
10---what is, specifically, being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
11---describe the enclosure lighting ( very specifically)
12---describe enclosure maintenance ( water changes, cleaning etc)
13---what kind of water is used
-----for misting
-----for the frog's soaking dish
-----is de-chlorinator used / what brand
14---material(s) used for substrate - be very specific
15---enclosure set up:
-----if recent - describe how the enclosure was cleaned
-----plants( live or artificial) if artificial plants are used are they plastic or fabric
-----describe wood, bark , and background materials
16---when is the last time the frog ate
17---have you found poop lately
18---how often is the frog fed
19---what size feeder is given
20---what other feeders are used as treats
21---what is the frog's main food source
22---do feeders roam free in the enclosure or is the frog bowl fed
23---vitamins - what brand and how often
24---calcium - what brand and how often
25---was the frog without calcium for any period of time
26---approximate age of the frog
27---how long have you owned the frog
28---who cared for the frog before you
29---is the frog wild caught or captive bred
30---how often the frog is handled -- are gloves used ( what kind of gloves)
31---is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
30---has or was the frog properly quarantined (yes or no)
-----for how long
32---has the frog been treated with any medication:
-----for what
-----name of medication
-----for how long
-----what dose
-----was medication prescribed by a herp vet