Serious Injury To My ACF. Please Advise!!

Originally Posted by Trickerie

Hey All,

Ive been looking for a place with some frog lovers to help advise me on what I should do about my ACF. I have two frogs, and one severely injured his face on what I assume was the seiryu rock I had in the tank as hiding places. I woke one morning and his whole left side of his face was torn to shreds. I immediately removed the rocks and began treatment with Furan-2 to stop any infections. Today, about 5 days later, hes still actively hiding, not floating and swimming sometimes. However, hes not eating. 75% of the skin on his face has torn off, and I believe his left eye is damaged and perhaps blind (its cloudy and mangled looking). I'm really NOT sure how this all happened from a rock, perhaps my other frog attack him? Im not 100% sure. Im still treating with antibiotics but noticed some fuzzy/white "bloom" on the tip of his nose today, like what decaying fish food looks like. My biggest concern is this fungus looking spot, and the fact that he hasn't eaten in days. :|

This is a sad story. I hope he recovers.. if he is developing a fungus spot I would assume the logical thing to do is use an anti fungal medication.. I've never had to use one so I can't recommend a brand. I don't think Clawed Frogs 'attack' their own kind outside of larger frogs eating juveniles and I doubt a Clawed Frog has the capability to inflict that kind of tissue damage regardless..

Clawed Frogs can get spooked easily and they will crash into objects, or he got caught between the rocks somehow (I recently removed any coarse/jagged rocks from my aquarium because of this).

I would set up a hospital tank and treat the frog separately, I hope he recovers.

Furan-2 is supposed to treat gram- and gram+ bacteria, as well as fungal secondary infections. But, I guess its not working. Today he looks worse, fungus spreading. Hes probably in so much pain I just don't know what to do.

Originally Posted by Trickerie

Furan-2 is supposed to treat gram- and gram+ bacteria, as well as fungal secondary infections. But, I guess its not working. Today he looks worse, fungus spreading. Hes probably in so much pain I just don't know what to do.

Did you set up a hospital tank for him? Do you have pictures? It may take quite some time for those injuries to heal, considering the severity of them..

I do have a picture I just took, but you've been warned. Its very graphic. Hes in really bad shape.

Wow that looks very severe.. I can't even imagine what could even cause an injury like that, I honestly would contact a vet..

Did this happen in a Frog ONLY tank? There's nothing else in there that can do harm?

If you cannot find a vet that can treat an amphibian my only suggestion is to keep him in an environment that is as clean and sterile as possible and hope that he heals over time.. hopefully someone will chime in with some more advice, I hope he pulls through.

Take him to the vet!!! In the US we are fortunate to have all kinds of exotic vets. I'm sure that you'd be able to find one to help. This is a severe life threatening injury. He can go a while without eating, but the infection could prove deadly. You'll need to have him in a quiet, dark tank with SOFT hiding places (a solo cup for example). Watch the water parameters closely, any ammonia could aggravate this even more. Honestly, a vet might recommend humane euthanasia, but I really don't know. It might heal with proper treatment. Another frog couldn't have done this. Do you keep fish or inverts in the tank?
Please keep us updated.

EDIT: Also, lower the water depth if he seems to be struggling to get to the surface for air.

Wow. WOw. OUCH. Can't imagine any kind of rock that would do that.

I have never seen anything like that before. Wow. I would get him into a bucket with very clean water and perhaps put some antibiotic ointment on that. More than anything I would get to a vet. That is massive tissue loss. The water parameters will need to pristine for that frogger to have a chance. You could try doing a bath with lamisil but I'm not sure what you need.

If you do try spreading neosporin on it make sure it is plain ol' Neosporin NOT the stuff with pain meds.

My goodness! The poor thing! I would take it to a vet pronto. After you have taken him to the hospital take a look at these websites for a good reference:

Can I keep other aquatic life with my ACF?


African Clawed Frog Housing and Feeding


African Clawed Frog Disease and Injury


Disease & Illness


I hope he gets better. If he does not get better feel free to contact me. I will see what I can do if you need any help.