Yes!! Regardless of whether or not your frog was born in captivity or caught in the wild, fecal samples should be taken to your vet for examination during its quarantine period.

Why?

1: Pet stores often put several types of frogs in one set up. Many pet stores do not clean their displays very often, if at all. One day they may have five frogs in it, the next day only two. Did they sell three, or did they die? The store will say they were sold but you have no way of knowing for sure. The new frogs can pick up parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses left by previous frogs, dead or alive.

2: Many pet store suppliers buy large quantities of animals caught in the wild to keep cost down. Animals caught in the wild almost always have internal parasites, and those born in captivity can carry them too. Humans live with internal parasites and don't know it (That's something to think about!!). The stress of being caught, shipped, handled, shipped again and put in less than standard setups all lead to the frog's immune system becoming depressed and they fall victim to parasites that they could previously keep at bay. The parasite(s) flourish and the frog shows signs of illness.

3: It's very difficult to tell if your frog has a parasitic infestation without having a vet look at the feces. This is done by taking a fresh sample (you can refrigerate overnight) to the vet. You can collect a fresh sample in a sandwich bag, pill vial, film canister or ask the vet for a specimin vial. They will either do a smear or floatation examination of the feces. Smearing is taking the feces and directly smearing it onto a microscope slide. It is dyed and looked at. More common is a fecal floatation. The feces are put into a container with a solution to separate the feces making the parasite's eggs (if there are any) float up to the top of the vial (hence the name). A slipcover is placed over the top; dyed and then looked under a microscope. The eggs are different for each species of parasite and can be identified by shape and size.

4: More than one fecal sample will be needed to guarantee your frog is parasite free as the parasite's eggs aren't constantly shed. It is ideal to bring in three samples, one every two weeks. This way there is an overlap, allowing time for any parasites present to become reproductive and shed eggs. Depending on the parasite species, they either have an indirect or direct life cycle. Indirect life cycle means that the eggs are passed out of the body via feces, and an intermediate host is needed to further the egg development, the resulting larva are shed by the intermediate host, and can now be picked up again by the original host (your frog). Direct life cycle means the organism does NOT have to leave its host's body in order to flourish and grow. This type of parasite is harder to identify by fecal tests, but they should be done anyway.

5: Regardless of whether or not all of your frogs came from the same place at the same time, always quarantine them separately and take fecal samples to the vet for evaluation. Obviously runny, smelly or bloody stools point to an infestation. Even normal looking stools can have parasite eggs in them, so while that's a sign of infestation it isn't a reliable method.

If you get three consecutive negative fecal sample results in a row, consider your frog parasite free and free from quarantine, FOR NOW! Take one sample every four to six months as a follow up. New stresses can have an effect on the health of your frog.

From Gary Hartlage, Lead Reptile Keeper, Scovill Zoo