Is chytrid fungus a concern for amphibian keepers?

[Skyespirit86]

I looked up the fungus as it is wiping out masses of amphibians in parts of the world. It was originally spread from Africa aparently by the trade in clawed frogs. According to the below website species also get it in captivity, including in UK zoos and other collections and its usually fatal. It could potentially be spread to native amphibians which would be very bad, and would probably thrive in our climate as it says the fungus likes cool, moist conditions. They say that ideally getting amphibians from anywhere should be stopped but its not practical, and so everything should be quarantined and at the same time kept at temps where the fungus will flourish if its present and simulateously taking swabs and sending them off for testing. All waste from amphibian's housing shoud be classed as clinical waste etc. Do you take this so seriously in reality and do many amphibian keepers know anything about it or its impacts? Does anyone actually test for chytrid fungus? It must cost money and so the few people who do have knowledge of it may feel inhibited by cost and the fact noone else is bothering....?

Chytrid Fungus

[linket22]

This is the reason you should quarantine any new stock completly in simple sut ups. Leave it for 6 weeks then move it to the desired viv, you can closely monitor the amphibs and you dont contaminate a newly furnished viv that you would have to pull apart. I have known people get frogs from Hamm that have come back and had chytrid and have wiped out the whole collection because they didnt have qurantine procedures.

[Saedcantas]

Originally Posted by linket22

This is the reason you should quarantine any new stock completly in simple sut ups. Leave it for 6 weeks then move it to the desired viv

To be certain that incoming amphibians are free of Chytrid infection you actually need to quarantine for 6 months and submit 3 swabs during that time. The swabbing protocol in itself is very precise so as far as I can see the chances of the average hobbyist having the ability to do this realistically are small.

It's a difficult topic.
There's no good answer other than that, if we're all going to be very bothered about it we should be completely bothered and close off all pet amphibian imports and only allow imports into bio-secure units for a 6 month quarantine and testing. But that's woefully unlikely, so all we can really do is keep our own animals safe.

[Pliskens_Chains]

Chytrid fungus is a very difficult fungal infection to detect.
contrary to saedcantas 6 month recommended quarantine, chytrid fungus can actually remain dormant for a longer period than 6 months and may only begin to flourish and cause a problem in certain species when the amphibian becomes stressed and its immune system dips.
chytrid has been so far successfully treated by upping viv temps and strangely enough, treated with lamisil, among private keepers.
after all chytrid is still another fungus.
As i already said the danger with chytrid is because its relatively hard to detect as it can lay dormant for quite long periods of time, once it begins to spread (for whatever reason) then its on set can very quickly kill an amphibian.
Our friends in the states have made leaps and bounds in the study of this fungus as its far more prevelent over there in the pet trade than it is here in the UK. That isnt to say that we dont have the problem here. infact we even have it attacking some of our native species here in the wild.
The best thing we can all do is be sure we are not contributing to the problem by making sure that water from our amphibian tanks has bleach added to it before its disposed of and making sure that any amphibian that may have died from the fungus doesnt make its way out to the garden for buriel..... brutal as it may be, but boiling the carcass or burning it will ensure the fungus doesnt spread.
theres a great frog forum, where some people have actually had many experiences with chytrid fungus, and im sure they will be able to help you with any enquiries.
talk to the frog
hope that helps.