a dwarf African frog site

Wait a minute!  Using a certain probiotic to treat chytrid infections?

As of this writing, it is only a distant possibility.  But stay tuned!  This could be big news for all who love frogs!

Read here for details.

Read other big chytrid news in the last paragraph on this page.

Chytrid fungus is nothing new; what's apparently new is that it is killing frogs across the world in large numbers.

It is, as the name indicates, a fungus.  This fungus affects the skin of frogs, making it difficult for the frog to shed properly and impairing the frog's respiration and absorption functions.  An affected frog can literally suffocate, or go into a dizzying tailspin as its electrolite balance crashes.

It can be hard to tell a chytrid-affected frog from a frog with another illness, but here's what to look for (please note that a chytrid-affected frog may not display all of these symptoms):

(1) cloudy, almost milky-looking skin, or a milky-looking layer over the skin that does not shed.

(2) impaired shedding.  The affected frog may shed small pieces of skin rather than shedding in one large piece, and shedding may take days to accomplish.  Often the frog never finishes shedding at all.

(3) listless behavior, excessive floating (floating all the time rather than just once in a while).

(4) quite the opposite, some chytrid victims become extremely agitated and keep attempting to escape the water.  This seems to be especially true of DAFs.

(5) there is normally little or no interest shown in food.

Once a chytrid infection becomes noticeable, death usually follows within a few days if the frog is left untreated.  There are now some treatments available, which is a welcome change from the past.  None is completely effective, although Lamisil (yes, it's that athlete's foot stuff!) shows a lot of promise. Information on these treatments can be found here: http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Chytrid_fungus

You may also try slowly raising the water temperature to about 94 degrees F and leaving it there for 7 days before gradually lowering it.  This has the added benefit of disinfecting the frogs' tank; however, we've noted that many frogs do not survive this treatment without developing secondary problems.

Additional information may be found by joining the Yahoogroup called "Dwarf African Frogs."  They have a lot of valuable information in their Files section.

The worst part about chytrid is that it is very, very contagious among frogs.  If you suspect one of your frogs has chytrid, isolating it may not be effective because any frog living with that frog has already been exposed.  Plus, you can carry chytrid on your skin and clothes. 

In a case where one frog is taken ill and the disease has yet to affect the rest, my only advice is to treat the frogs for the disease anyway, and hope for the best. 

This section will present methods for preventing the introduction of chytrid fungus into established captive Dwarf African Frog habitats.  Some of this information is also explored on the Frog Basics page, but is offered in greater detail here.

First, it is essential to keep in mind that you should never introduce newly-purchased DAFs directly into your established DAF community.  First, they need to be quarantined in a separate tank  See the Frog Emergencies page for tips on quickly setting up a quarantine tank, or the Aquarium Cycling  page if you prefer to cycle the quarantine tank slowly. 

Try to buy two new frogs at a time.  Quarantining one DAF alone is stressful to the frog, since these are social creatues and quarantine takes a considerable amount of time.

If the quarantine water is cool (between 68 degrees to about 75 degrees Fahrenheit), you need only keep the new frogs in quarantine for 8 weeks.  If the tank's temperature is above 75 degrees all the time, then you need to quarantine your new frogs for 3 months. The reason for this is that higher temperatures tend to retard the growth of the chytrid fungus -- so if your new frogs have it, it will take longer to show up in a warmer tank.

If one or both frogs shows signs of chytrid illness during the quarantine, a new treatment with Lamisil shows promise for saving the frogs' lives (all exposed frogs must be treated, even if they are not ill).  You will also have to change the frogs' environment to avoid re-infection.  See http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/CF for further information.

During quarantine, make sure to keep supplies for your quarantine tank separate from supplies for your main tank.  Wash your hands thoroughly before moving from one tank to the other; change any clothing that has become wet.  Also, you may strongly consider keeping the quarantine tank in a different room from the main tank, as chytrid has been known to travel on tiny droplets of moisture.

Other options for new DAFs are testing the frog (see Testing section above), heat-treating the frog (join the Dwarf African Frogs Yahoogroup at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/DwarfAfricanFrogs/ for further information on how to do this), or doing preemptive treatment with Lamisil (as stated earlier, Lamisil treatment is explored at http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/CF ).

If you have a quarantine frog that turns out to be infected with chytrid, even if the frog is treated successfully, your quarantine tank must be torn down and all accessories sterilized with chlorine bleach, air dried and/or thrown away.  The tank itself can be sterilized with chlorine bleach and rinsed thoroughly, then allowed to air dry for several days.  Air drying is the only acceptable way to dry anything that has come in contact with the chytrid fungus.

The other rule to keep in mind is that your DAFs should live only with other DAFs, and no other amphibians.  This includes toads and newts.  Some keepers make an exception for the Asian floating frog, but if you decide to do this, you must quarantine the floating frog(s) for the same period of time you quarantine your DAFs.

Also...

Be very suspicious of adding any new plant or new fish to your established DAF aquarium.  Again, the Dwarf African Frogs Yahoogroup is the best place to get information about these dangers.  In short, the best way to deal with such potential problems is to quarantine the fish for the same period of time you would a frog.  Apparently chyrid cannot live on a fish for very long, as fish are immune to it, so the fungus will die more quickly than it would on an amphibian carrier.  Still, do a lengthy quarantine of the new fish just to be sure.  It is unknown how long chytrid can live on a plant, but certain plants can withstand heat treatments, and perhaps you can also experiment with giving a plant a Lamisil treatment as well.  I know of one aquarium-plant vendor that does photo-sterilize its plants, but I don't know how effective this type of sterilization is against chytrid in particular.  However, I have not had a problem with this vendor's plants.  Their website is http://www.aquaspotworld.com.

It will not be essential for you to read this if you live in California, where the African Clawed Frog cannot be sold.  But elsewhere in the U.S., I've noted that in a lot of pet stores -- even in stores dedicated to the aquarium hobby -- the staff confuse the dwarf African frog (DAF) with the African Clawed Frog (ACF).  Some have even argued with me about what kind of frogs I have at home! 

Why am I mentioning this on a page about chytrid fungus?  Because some or maybe all African Clawed Frogs carry the chytrid fungus, and it is believed that the confusion of identities between ACFs and DAFs has caused many stores to house them together, leading to the deaths of DAFs who may actually have arrived in the stores as healthy specimens.

ACFs are immune to chytrid.  They are probably the only frogs who are.  But they are definitely carriers.  And again, many people confuse ACFs with DAFs.  So I think it is important that you learn to recognize an ACF when you see one, especially if a store clerk is trying to sell it to you as a DAF.  Or worse, you go to a store and see DAFs and ACFs housed together in a tank.  If you see this, DO NOT buy a DAF from that store.  It is almost certainly infected with chytrid and will die.  It is probably pointless to ask, but another thing to consider is whether a store now selling DAFs has EVER kept ACFs in the tank that now houses the DAFs.  If the clerk can't tell the difference between them, there's a possibility this has happened.  Go to another store.

You will learn on a following page to identify a DAF.  So on this page, I'll give some dead-giveaway ACF characteristics.

First of all, ACFs have no webbing on their front feet.  They have very long front toes but no webbing.  The webbing DAFs have is characteristic of DAFs only.

Most ACFs I've seen in stores recently have been albino.  This is so common now that some hobbyists refer to the ACF as "that white frog."  I'm sure there are albino DAFs, but I have never seen one.  DAF colors, as mentioned on a following page, tend to be medium browns, pale tans and grays to almost black.  Occasionally you may find a light-tan individual, but that's about as light as they generally get.  If you find a DAF that is albino, be sure to let the world know on an e-mail list devoted to frogs.

The skin of the ACFs I've seen has had a smooth appearance.  The DAF, on the other hand, tends to have rough looking skin (as in lots of little pimply type nodules).  There are, however, smooth-skinned DAFs and I'm sure there are rough-skinned ACFs.

ACFs have a very odd, flattened look; their eyes almost seem to be on top of their head, staring straight up rather than sideways or forward.  A DAF's eyes are on the sides of its head.

All ACFs I've seen have been pear-shaped or very fat ovals.  I'm sure there are individuals who are shaped differently, but no matter what an ACF's shape, they are always chunky.  A young DAF, on the other hand, is usually rather slender (however, do not buy a DAF that is so skinny that you can see the outline of its skeleton -- a frog like that is sure to be sick).

ACFs have thunder thighs.  All frogs have powerful thighs, of course, but on an ACF they are so big they almost look swollen.  In fact, the entire length of an ACF rear leg is enormous; it really looks like an overstuffed sausage.  Our DAFs have more dainty thighs and very delicate lower legs.  For an example, see the "wood carving" of the dancing frog that is at the top of most other pages in this site.  That's Donna's boy Harry, who is a good example of a healthy young DAF. 

A DAF with thunder thighs is almost surely a sick DAF (this can be an indication of a condition called bacterial bloat).

Another point to remember is that while both ACFs and DAFs start out small, and both are aquatic, and both have claws, (leading to a lot of confusion about the type of frog that is being sold), ACFs can grow to 6" or more.  DAFs rarely top out much larger than 1.5".  A grown ACF can easily eat a DAF, so even if you do manage to successfully keep them together, you will eventually lose the DAF to an ugly death.

The conclusion is that it is important for you to be able to tell a DAF from an ACF, because even the stores that cater to our hobby are generally ignorant of the differences between these two frogs. 

Most importantly, always remember that ACFs are extremely dangerous to DAFs.

Read the possibly BIG news in the chytrid fungus battle here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7067613.stm

And then read on...

Although it had been decimating frog populations for decades, in 2006, Chytrid fungus became a huge concern for Dwarf African Frog (DAF or ADF) owners in particular.  In the last few years newly purchased DAFs have been dying in incredible numbers from this fungus because not all of those who sell frogs are aware of, or are honest about, the problem.  While some committed DAF fanciers are taking steps to ensure a fungus-free frog supply, these frogs may become hard to find in the future.    Certain stores are already refusing to carry the frogs because of the high death rate.

It is important that you read http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Chytrid_fungus before you get a DAF.  It’s even more important to read this if you have already purchased one.

Here's an article about how to handle a chytrid infestation in a captive frog population: http://www.amphibianark.org/chytrid.htm

Here's another excellent page that focuses on the chytrid fungus crisis: http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/ampdis.htm

For further information, read this page about the fungus in wild frogs in Australia:

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Frog+Chytrid+fungus 

For info on other common amphibian diseases, check this page:

http://www.xenopus.com/disease.htm