Red Leg???

[ejh805]

Hey everyone.

Today I took Keroro out of his tank for a soak and to replace his substrate.
When I put him in his container to soak ( clear plastic), I noticed some redness on his underside.
Since the forums wont let me search for "red leg" and google images is no help here, I was hoping somebody could either lay my worry to rest, or confirm that Keroro needs to be medicated. I love this frog and want to catch anything that's wrong as SOON as possible.
So far as how he has been acting, he's been eating well and moves around as much as ever. Which isn't very much lol.



Apologies if the pictures are blurry. He is getting too large for me to handle comfortably, plus my hands are small. The pictures had to be taken quickly because he was NOT happy being upside down. Please let me know if you need more.

[Mentat]

Hello Emily! I see the reddish areas you describe; what makes you think it's Red Leg? Have you missed enclosure maintenance lately? Other than turning him upside down; have you increased handling or changed anything in his enclosure to make him stressed? Reason I'm asking is because RL is caused by stress or husbandry issues. Best thing to prevent it and help cure it is to correct either issue. Also; read here of good results using a salt solution for soak.

Other possibility is an allergic reaction or rash. Even little things could give a rash (different de-chlorinator, substrate brand, etc.). Have anything like that changed recently? If you can't pinpoint a cause after reading this and are still worried, please answer all the questions here: http://www.frogforum.net/african-bul...enclosure.html. Good luck !

[GrifTheGreat]

100% agree with Carlos. Red Leg is caused by unclean environment and can be brought on by severe stress. What you can do if you are still concerned(though I don't think this is Red Leg) you can soak the frog in a chin deep luke warm bath of dechlorinated water with a drop or two of Melafix fish antibiotic and will help to stop the infection before it actually starts.

Note that normaly once Red Leg presents itself it is to late. Usually severe bloating is present, Lethargy, listlessness, loss of appetite and of course the tell tale sign of the capilaries that have burst beneath the surface of the skin in the lower abdomen and the legs. At the point of the blood vessels bursting there is little time to treat before the frog goes into shock and dies.

A preventative medicated bath won't do any harm so you may want to go ahead and do so.

[Mentat]

If using Melafix; think that dosage Colleen/Jerrod mentioned pertains to the normal strength solution sold in the smaller blue bottles: Welcome to API Fishcare: Melafix®. API also makes a concentrated formula in larger 64 ounce bottles that is 10x stronger and should not be dosed the same way before diluting it first.

[GrifTheGreat]

If using Melafix; think that dosage Colleen/Jerrod mentioned pertains to the normal strength solution sold in the smaller blue bottles: Welcome to API Fishcare: Melafix®. API also makes a concentrated formula in larger 64 ounce bottles that is 10x stronger and should not be dosed the same way before diluting it first.

Yeah. I'm referring to the smaller bottle. The one that calls for 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons.

[ejh805]

Thanks so much both of you.
I haven't missed any major tank maintenance. Still doing regular water changes and substrate changes, plus spot cleaning and stirring the substrate. However, I DID recently change substrate types (by accident).
I saw some of what I thought was his usual finely ground coco fiber on sale at an online store and bought 12 bricks of it. When it showed up to my door, it turned out to be almost like compressed coco bark with some fiber mixed in. He's only been tong-feeding, so there's not an impaction risk. Although since the stuff is rougher than what he's used to it's easy to see how it could be irritating his skin
His dechlorinator hasn't changed, and I never handle him unless I'm giving him a soak or absolutely HAVE to take him out of his tank.
He hasn't been bloated, eats like a hog, and has always been lazy. He does perk up anytime he sees food though.

Think I might need to just toss the new substrate and get him back on his old stuff.