Aussies stumped after green tree frog 'turns water purple'
Was it the frog that turned the water purple or is something else to blame?
A man’s encounter with a green tree frog that he said turned the water in his dog’s bowl a bright purple colour has Aussies puzzled.
The Queenslander, who lives northwest of the Gold Coast, said he has “several green tree frogs as regular visitors” to his verandah, and they “usually hang around for a while” and take a “quick dip in the water bowl” before heading off into the garden for the night.
However, last week he noticed that one of the regular guests had somehow turned the fresh water a “bright purple”. Stumped by the vivid colour, he posted an image of the green tree frog sitting in the water to a Facebook page dedicated to Aussie frogs and toads with the hope of discovering the cause of the “beautiful” sight.
Aussies stumped by frog's purple water
Social media users appeared to be just as confused as to how the frog was able to change the colour of the water, with many joking that’s “what he gets for peeing in the pool”. “What the hell?” one person commented, while another wondered if it was “some sort of wizard's spell”.
One frog enthusiast theorised that the animal may have come into contact with Condy’s Crystals — otherwise known as potassium permanganate — a purplish-black crystalline oxidising agent with disinfectant that can be used to treat skin conditions, clean algae from ponds, and purify water.
“Maybe frog got dry crystals on it and they dissolved in the water dish?” one man questioned. “My first thought was Condy’s Crystals, too,” a woman agreed. “It truly looks like potassium permanganate.” Others wondered if the frog had eaten a mulberry or purple bugs that then changed the water through its faeces.
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Frog not to blame for purple water, says expert
Perhaps much to the disappointment of the frog enthusiasts, amphibian and reptile expert Dr Jodi Rowley from the Australian Museum told Yahoo News Australia the purple water is “completely unrelated to the frog”.
“It’s definitely not the frog itself, that’s not something that happens,” she explained. “Something else like a bird, or somehow they put in Epsom salts that made the water turn purple, most likely. There’s a small chance the frog ate something that had something [purple] in it but I doubt it.”
Dr Rowley said the “most likely explanation is that the frog doesn’t realise the water is purple and got in for a usual drink”, noting frogs drink through their skin. “Hopefully the frog is ok and the water isn’t toxic,” she added.
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