Clear Stomach hernia/tumor? Thought it was a rock!

[Merfrog]

Hi there,
I'm a new poster to these forums but I've been lurking since I got my frogs. I'm very concerned about my fire belly. She had a lump on the side of her stomach that looked like she swallowed a rock last wed/thurs. I feed her small crickets so it wasn't one that was too large. I gently felt her stomach and it was hard, and I was afraid it was a rock.

On saturday the 8th is when I saw her swimming and something clear was protruding from the bulge. I thought for sure it was a rock that was cutting her stomach open. She was becoming very lethargic, not interested in food, extremely dark in color, abnormal breathing, shedding over and over, eyes mostly closed, legs going from being stretched out to up on her rock with her. It also appeared she was getting a prolapsed cloaca. It was bulging out, but eventually went back in.



Sunday it was even larger, but its been the same size since then. Last night I cleaned out the tank and took better photos of her to post. I gently felt it again and it was squishy, so I know now that it can't be a rock. And it appears there's still a layer of skin, so its like there's a hole, but on the inside, like a hernia. She was brighter green before I cleaned out the tank, and I gave her a honey soak in a small dish for awhile while I cleaned the tank and let it settle. I put moss in her tank again (hadn't used it since the last tank clean) and this time she laid in it, which she never did before, she always sits half on her rock/half in the water.



It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but the bulge is transparent. That sharp looking edge, which isn't sharp has a thin red line on it, and the bulge has white dots.

I have no idea what this could be. I've been searching online and couldn't find anything similar so hopefully someone has an idea. I love my little froggy!

[adinco]

I don't have any insight but wow that does not look good at all i'm sorry! i hope someone else can give you more of an idea of what it is.

[Merfrog]

Thanks Adi.

UPDATE: She walked, not hopped, but walked from the moss and sat in the water awhile (The walk looked a bit silly but it must be from pain ). Got back out while I was making dinner and I just checked her again because she walked to the other side of the tank. I couldn't see it very well as she's in the moss but the gel/sack think looked more white-ish and a bit smaller. Thought for a second maybe she might be getting better but then I noticed a trail of blood in the moss from where she got out of the water to where she is now. Setting up a soak bowl now.

[adinco]

if there's blood and the thing looks whiter and and smaller, whatever it was has probably popped which means it's not a tumor and was probably some sort of puss fill thing... don't add anything into the water like honey or anything. you don't want it to get infected. I'd try cleaning it and then rinse her off to make sure it all gets off her skin.

[Merfrog]

I was going to use tap water and aquarium water conditioner. Is that safe to use?

[Merfrog]

Well, as always seems to happen with mystery illness threads, my poor little frog passed away some time in the night. I'd still like to know what it was and if anything could have been done. I couldn't find anything when I was searching the internet so perhaps this will be able to help someone else that comes across this thread.

Update: I'm not going to do a necropsy, but since she isn't in pain anymore I tried to get a better look and more pictures. The pictures don't help, but it is not a hernia. It's a sac of some kind that feels like semi-hard gel. It was squishy but tough, if that makes sense. And whatever it was, it definitely tore a hole in her side. I was able to pull her skin back from it, so it had to be something inside her, one of her organs perhaps? . Anatomy pictures aren't helping.

[adinco]

I was afraid this was going to happen I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Rae]

I'm so sorry for your loss =( I hope you find out what happened.. even just for a sense of closure.

[Ebolavire]

Hi. My little toad, Gwen Stefani, recently had this same issue. Here's what we learned: The problem was a laceration to the abdomen. The herniated mess was her intestines. I wasn't sure what had specifically caused the wound but did narrow it down to a couple of potential factors. Gwen had recently been pregnant and her belly had been stretched to a wonderful balloon shape for a while. Her injury happened almost immediately after she laid her eggs. Her companion, Kevin Sorbo, was an aggressive little guy who may have been too rough with her and her tender belly and inadvertantly wounded her. The other, and more probably factor, was that she had gotten cut on something in the tank. Either way, the little toad was alert and active for a few days but had no chance of recovery. I was hopeful and cared for her by placing her in a small clear bottomed glass dish with distilled water. The clear bottom was important to be able to check on her injury without disturbing her. The water was changed daily by sucking it out with a sanitized turkey baster and fresh water put in. The main focus was keeping her comfortable and calm. I was fortunate to find a vet who deals with firebelly toads and took her in for a visit. The vet was great however things were not looking good. Here was the prognosis: Due to the time that Gwen's herniated intestines were exposed she had developed an infection which then went septic. There was no hope. The options regarding her care were try to sedate her and put her organs back in and stitch the wound. Aftercare would have involved heavy antibiotics. The other choice was euthanasia. Given how bad the infection was euthanasia was the only remaining choice. Given how sensitive these little toads are the sedatives would likely have killed her. Her chance of survival would have been higher if we had cught it almost immediately. The habitat is kept weirdly clean so the chance of infection would have been low and she may have pulled through. Given how alert she was right up until the end I was quite optimistic but the vet informed me that as prey animals that's how they all handle injury and illness. It can be hard to identify when a little firebelly is sick.

For anyone in Victoria, BC the vet who handles firebelly toads is Christie MacIntyre at Glenview Animal Hospital. Veterinarians Victoria British Columbia | Glenview Animal Hospital, BC

I hope this is helpful to anyone else dealing with this type of issue.