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Kaiseri and Chytrid

salvoz

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I do keep a rather large group of dart frogs and also caudates, including N. kaiseri. Have never seen any signs of chytrid, knock on wood. Mine is one of the dart collections to be included in the Treewalkers chytrid survey. Hoping for good news....
 

monkeyfrogman28

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what can be done if you have a 'positive' collection of animals? Is there a cure for hobbyists?


There is a step by step treatment for frogs that has been used. And one for aquatic species that cant leave the water. I used the chytrid treatment on my emperor and spannish ribbed newts as a precautionary. The only thing they didnt like was me useing a spray bottle but other than that resumed back to normal eating wise. I cant say the trament works on Caudates but I tried it and maybe It works. I dont have the tools to test it out but I wish someone could do a study with caudates on how the lamisil treatment works on sals/newts.
 

frank_pasmans

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Well, there is a big difference between "work" and work. If you mean clearing clinical symptoms (the majority of cases I see, however, do not show any clinical signs at all!!) there are plenty of treatments. However, if it comes to completely eliminating the fungus (which should be the goal), one should test the animals after treatment. Just relying on a treatment schedule could produce a false feeling of security.
I would really not recommend "treating" all new animals, if it were only for possible toxic side effects (also long term: eg fertility, mind that virtually nothing is known concerning long term effects; we do know however that eg amphibian larvae are exceptionally sensitive to toxic side effects of some antifungal drugs). Besides, one could induce acquired antimycotic resistance and environmental pollution with antimycotics (flushing treatment bathing solutions through the drain) and when you did not test, there is absolutely no guarantee that your animals are free.
I don't know the situation in the USA but in Europe, we all should be aware that our animals can be infected but we should be especially aware that the dendrobatid frogs are at the moment the main risk.
By the way, as I proposed in a former message, testing of tank water is NOT a reliable method to test the chytrid status of a terrarium.
We are in the process of publishing our results. I will post the pdf when available on this forum.
 

JM29

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Just some candid questions :

- Are there data about a period when no chytrid existed on amphibia ?

- Can we track back a progression of this fungus independant of the progression of the detection methods ?

- Could the chytrid be a weakness fungus, which could be present sometimes or often, but only harmful for the animals suffering bad conditions ?

(these are the type of questions we ask ourselves frequently when we work on plant diseases)
 

jake96

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How, in the U.S.A, do you test private collections for chytrid? If possible would you have to test your whole collection?
 

Jennewt

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I'm not sure if it's possible yet, but at some point I suspect that testing will be available to anyone (for a price). Maybe it already is.

You don't have to do a separate test for each animal, or even each tank. You can initially pool together samples, then test just one (or a few) pooled sample. Then if the pooled result is positive, you have to decide if you want to go back and send swabs from individual animals/tanks.
 

Newtility

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Hello,

the year 2009 to me seems to be the year of continuously spread rumors and nonsense!
First of all, who has ever bought a wc kaiseri in the pet trade? As mentioned in another thread, the kaiseri sold as "wc" from 2004 until last year were farm raised F1 from the ukrainian farm and wholesaler BION. They sold way more than 1000 heads in the first year which is a number they can impossibly have collected in the wild. Thus it is not "immoral" to buy them as it is not immoral to buy any animal in the trade. The only immoral activity in animals is not to care for them properly!

Regarding Chytrid, latest results from UK scientists showed that this infection is rather widespread and wild animals can well deal with it if their environment stays optimal. E.g. tree frogs suffer from a lack of UV radiation with which they used to control it in their body. I know many breeders of dartfrogs and if Chytrid was even 1 % that problematic as people tend to believe there would not be a single dartfrog left in the hobby.

Who tested the individual for Chytrid? With what testing? We all know of laboratories which always find something even if there is nothing to be found. No diagnosis is the worst diagnosis as customers won´t come back that easily. Keep in mind, it is all about money. What symptoms did the kaiseri show that you suspected it to be ill or even being infected by Chytrid? One of the mean characters of Chytrid is that it kills the animals without any symptoms being visible. It works so quick that frogs die while walking! To me, and many breeders I have spoken to, Chytrid is the swineflue of terraristics. ;-)

Anyway, buying from a breeder is to be preferred as the trade is the main source for infections. One example: if you buy a tigersalamander from a shop where they keep colubrids then you have a high chance to have them being infected with Coccidia, Amoeba, Girardia, which are amongst the most dangerous protozoa. Particularly Coccidia can and will eliminate entire groups or stock without e real chance for cure as it goes fast after symptoms are evident.

Best,
Steffen
 

Jennewt

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Hello,

the year 2009 to me seems to be the year of continuously spread rumors and nonsense!
First of all, who has ever bought a wc kaiseri in the pet trade? As mentioned in another thread, the kaiseri sold as "wc" from 2004 until last year were farm raised F1 from the ukrainian farm and wholesaler BION. They sold way more than 1000 heads in the first year which is a number they can impossibly have collected in the wild. Thus it is not "immoral" to buy them as it is not immoral to buy any animal in the trade. The only immoral activity in animals is not to care for them properly!
Not possible. There is no newt breeder (or farmer) who keeps offspring until they reach adulthood. The animals arriving in the pet trade were mostly full-grown adults, many already in breeding condition (which takes 3 years for this species). There is no way they were F1.

And in my opinion, there are potentially immoral actions in this hobby, besides improper animal care.
 
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