The frogs in our pond were extremely active and vociferous Saturday night (16/03/2013). We already had literally heaps of spawn in the pond so overcrowding was likely to be a problem.
Sunday morning, yes more spawn, but near the pond was a dead frog. It had a distinct pinkish colouring particularly on the legs and under belly. The corpse was very bloated and down one side from the abdomen through one of its back legs, it appeared to have split open with the skin peeled back exposing the underlying muscles. It was as if it had burst its skin.
Unfortunately I did not think to photograph it before burying it in the garden, we had a visitor with two dogs and I didn’t want then to find it.
Would this be symptomatic of the disease commonly known as “red leg†?
We have had pink/red frogs in past years, but never previously found one in this condition.
I have read that overcrowding with frogs kept as pets introduces bacteria to the collection causing the frogs immune system to break down resulting in death from "red leg". Could this, I wonder, be the case in our small pond where we have had 5 pairs and loads of spawn. Has this upset the water balance even though it appears clear?
Sunday morning, yes more spawn, but near the pond was a dead frog. It had a distinct pinkish colouring particularly on the legs and under belly. The corpse was very bloated and down one side from the abdomen through one of its back legs, it appeared to have split open with the skin peeled back exposing the underlying muscles. It was as if it had burst its skin.
Unfortunately I did not think to photograph it before burying it in the garden, we had a visitor with two dogs and I didn’t want then to find it.
Would this be symptomatic of the disease commonly known as “red leg†?
We have had pink/red frogs in past years, but never previously found one in this condition.
I have read that overcrowding with frogs kept as pets introduces bacteria to the collection causing the frogs immune system to break down resulting in death from "red leg". Could this, I wonder, be the case in our small pond where we have had 5 pairs and loads of spawn. Has this upset the water balance even though it appears clear?