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Amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is responsible for the greatest disease‐driven loss of vertebrate biodiversity in recorded history. Understanding drivers of host susceptibility to this cutaneous disease is hindered by gaps in our knowledge of the host–pathogen relationship. One such overlooked aspect of susceptibility is variation in skin maintenance processes, particularly skin turnover via routine sloughing. It has been suggested that sloughing plays a role in immune defence, by removing skin‐associated microbes. Thus, skin sloughing may play an important role in the pathogenesis of chytridiomycosis.

To determine the relationship between skin sloughing and disease progression, we exposed adult Australian green tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) to a local Bd strain and monitored sloughing rates and individual infection loads on a naturalistic …