Chytrid questions

I am trying to get myself caught up on all the information I need to about Chytrid to ensure it does not become a problem. So here's my list of questions:

How worried should I be about chytrid in my captive breds?
Is the Lamisil chytrid tretment safe for all amphibians?
Do I just need to treat all my amphibians once, assuming that I treat every new amphibian I get?
Is there anything special I have to do to treat fully aquatic amphibians?
Am I overreacting?

Any info you have would be helpful. I am not entirely uneducated on the subject, but I could always use the help.

You are probably worrying too much (I guess that's the answer to your last question). From the evidence available so far, chytrid is uncommon in captive animals, and it should be even less likely if the animals are captive-bred.

I don't think you need to think about treatment. If you really want to put your mind at rest, you could pay for some chytrid tests. This is much easier (but admittedly more expensive) than trying to treat all your animals.

Thank you for the reply. I will try to put my worries to rest, but I would like answers to some of the other questions if anyone knows them, just in case it comes up.

Hi,

I have to say that Cytrid is found in many capitive populations. The reason we now have cytrid here in the UK is from people releasing animals from the pet trade into the wild. Before this we had no cytrid, but it has spread in the UK due to invasive American Bullfrogs, Alpine Newts and was also found in a capitive bred and released population of Natterjack toads.

I am not sure about the US though but I know the pet trade is the main cause of the spread of cytrid around the world.

Having said this I wouldnt be worried about it harming your captive animals as if they did have cytrid they may just be carriers, have become immune to it or not have it at all. Species such as the american bullfrog have been traded all around the world with no effect on many of the animals they came into contact with or Bullfrogs themselves before they realised they were carriers. The main problem comes when they come into contact with other species that cannot cope with the virus such as native populations of amphibians (which is what is happening in the UK).

I think generally you wouldnt know if your animals had cytrid and probably 9 times out of 10 wouldnt effect them if they did. this is why the virus has gone unnoticed for such a long time.

I hope this helps.

Tikkidui

Just a small correction. Chytrid is not a virus, it´s a fungus.
Chytrid has been shown to be relatively common in some species, namely Xenopus laevis and Lithobates catesbeianus, but i don´t know of any data that addresses captive amphibians in general. If it´s there, it seems to be asymptomatic. Hopefully someone else might be able to provide some data.

My animals have taken part in a Ph.D. study of the prevalence of chytrid in the UK pet trade (as have Peters- Peter5930). The young lady involved said she will publish her Ph.D. online i will put a link up when she does. It will provide an interesting insight into how common chytrid actually is.

Sorry you are right, my mistake. Ive been studying both chytrid and ranavirus and just wrote the wrong thing.

This study here http://vipersgarden.at/PDF_files/PDF-1351.pdf addresses the origins of chytrid (Africa).

You are right about X. laevis (African clawed frog), they are hosts/carriers and do not show signs of chytrid, this is what the study says about them;

X. laevis in the wild does not show clinical signs, nor
has it experienced any sudden die-offs. Moreover, only
subclinical chytrid infections have been observed among
captive colonies of X. laevis (26,27). A frog of a related
species, X. tropicalis, died in captivity from chytridiomycosis,
it was suspected of having contracted the fungus
from X. laevis (27). An ideal host for transmission of
chytridiomycosis through international translocation
would be a species of amphibian that does not become diseased
or die from the infection; hence, X. laevis could take
on the role of a natural carrier.

This might be interesting for you all: http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d098p095.pdf

I have to say, that Chytrid is a big problem. It's nearely everywhere. Here in Germany most caudates have a Chytrid infection.
We assume, that Chytrid is also spread through tap water.

There are asymptomatic infections mostly but sudden deaths of several animals led to the asumption, that we have to look for infected animals and treat them fast.
We use Itraconazol by the may. It works perfectly with adult animals. Only small larvae may die.

Greetings,
Mario

Interesting about the tap water.

We have been working with the Institute of Zoology on our research on Alpine Newts, they have tested the population we are surveying for Chytrid and the results came back negative.