Croaking Spas

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Saunas are great for humans.

Turns out, they are pretty great for frogs, too.

In fact, a new study found that custom-built “frog saunas” can help the bouncy amphibians fight a deadly fungal disease.

Many frog species around the world are facing population decline, with one contributor being the chytrid disease: Believed to have originated in Asia, this ailment is caused by two species of fungi and is responsible for the decline of at least 500 amphibian species, including 90 species now presumed to be extinct.

The fungal disease can affect the amphibians’ skin and reduce the electrolytes they need for their heart function. Infected frogs can die of cardiac arrest.

Previous studies have found that the infection is worse during the winter, but the fungus cannot tolerate high temperatures.

So lead author Anthony Waddle and his team tested whether setting up frog saunas can help the amphibian fight off the infection.

“The whole thing is like a mini med spa for frogs,” Waddle said in a press release.

They built a series of small sunlight-heated saunas – or hotspot shelters – using common materials from hardware stores. They conducted their experiments on green and golden bell frogs, testing the artificial shelters’ effectiveness both in laboratory and outdoor settings.

The findings showed that animals using the saunas were able to shake off their infection quickly: Frogs cured with heat developed resistance to future infections, increasing their survival rate by a factor of 22 compared with those not previously infected.

Meanwhile, outdoor experiments with 239 frogs showed that they flocked to the sunny saunas to get their treatment.

“Think of frog saunas as little factories that pump out healthy, chytrid-resistant frogs,” Waddle wrote in the Conversation.

The authors believe that the DYI shelters can be used for other species, adding that they provide a promising and inexpensive strategy for amphibian conservation.

Frogs are vital to ecosystems by controlling disease-spreading insects and transferring energy between aquatic and terrestrial environments. They also offer potential medical benefits, such as combating antibiotic-resistant superbugs.