I had not see this frog in a few days. He/She was never a very bright green but he/she has never been this dark before either. Is this just because he is always sitting on the rock background or is there something wrong?
That frog needs to be taken to a vet immediately and tested for Chytrid. I can't tell by a picture but the texture and color look like it has the chytrid fungus. Don't turn it loose. If it is chytrid it needs to be documented by a vet.
Here is a pic of a confirmed Chytrid case, compare it to this.
I don't think I have the money to take him to a vet. How much (ballpark) would it cost for a test like that? Is there anything I can get "over the counter" to treat this?
I'm sorry, you cannot treat it with over-the-counter drugs. You need calcium sandoz syrup and amphibian ringers solution that you can only get from a vet. Call a local vet and if the animal was wild they might treat it for free. As a last resort and desperate attempt to save it you can try heating the enclosure to 95F for four hours and then letting it cool back down to room temperature. This might kill the frog but do not go over 95F. Do this once a day until symptoms clear. This is not a full treatment and it may die anyway. If I couldn't do anything else I would try this instead of doing nothing, but that's just me. One last note here, having a good prior relationship with a vet before you need one is a good Idea. I'm very sorry I can't do more.
If it is living with another frog, the other frog will also need to be tested.
Absolutely.
Keep in mind that I don't know if it is chytrid, I'm just giving you an educated guess at best. But be assured, I don't give knee jerk opinions and if I don't have any idea I will tell you that, I have seen this disease before, that's why I suggest it might be chytrid.
Ok well here is a little history on the matter. Before I new what I was doing I contacted a mail order dealer in Florida, I told them what species I was interested in. They told me that they would all be fine housed together in a 20 gallon tall aquarium. Originally It was (2) red-eyed tree frogs, (2) green tree frogs, and 1 Vietnamese blue tree frog. That was in august of 2008 since then both red-eyeds and the Vietnamese blue have died. Starting about 8 months after I got them first one red eyed, then the second, then the Vietnamese. Finally I talked to someone who knew something and they stated the obvious (don't house different species together) but after that the two green tree frogs seemed great. I clean their cage regularly, the only time I slipped up was a long weekend where i couldn't get someone to come and spray them, and it go so dry in the cage that both frogs buried themselves. I have since separated the two. The problem is that getting my car inspected is going to be extremely expensive, and I just cant swing a vet bill right now, and probably wont be able to for a month or so.
How long have the two been separated? If you do end up trying the heating method Paul suggested, and can keep the frog alive until you can afford it, I would still test both frogs for chytrid.
Anyone have a ballpark figure for cost?
Yes, if possible, both frogs need to be tested. I have never even had to take an amphibian to a vet, I'm sorry, can't tell you the relative cost.
Firstly, you can't tell a frog is suffering from chytrid just by looking at a photo of it. Is this frog eating regularly and well? It doesn't look thin. If its behaviour is normal, appetite is good and the frog is active, I wouldn't worry about it, just keep an eye on it in case things change.
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
[QUOTE=John;18136]Firstly, you can't tell a frog is suffering from chytrid just by looking at a photo of it.QUOTE]
Agreed.
I feed him 3 to 4 times per week one of those times with the calcium supplement, he eats so much that my main concern up until now was that he was eating everything I put in the terrarium before the smaller "healthier" looking frog had a chance to get some grub for himself. Anyway I appreciate your positive thinking John, as I really cannot afford to take him to the vet at this point. Do you think its a good idea to keep them separated while I'm observing the "sick" frog?
Founder of Frogforum.net (2008) and Caudata.org (2001)
I agree with John, I wouldn't panic as long as the frog is eating well and remains active.
I have dealt with chytridiomycosis, its nasty. In my case the animal was a fire salamander, that had stopped hiding, was refusing to eat, was quite lethargic, and when handled bits of its skin would flake off in my hands. Where not talking about a normal shed that looks kind of like wet tissue paper or sort of like runny eggs. We are talking about flakes of skin, kind of like what you get after a bad sunburn, but these wet and black. It was like the salamander was disintegrating right before my very eyes.
In a case like this, a vet must be seen and that vet needs to take skin samples to be sent to a lab like the Center for Wildlife Disease at the University of South Dakota or the Center for Integrated Biotechnology of Washington State University. Once confirmed, the standard treatment is a daily bath in an itraconazole solution. I have used this drug, it is expensive and has a very short shelf life.
Other solutions are raising the temperture up for a few days or using Lamisil solution bath. Since these have not come reccomended by a vet, I am hesitant to use them.
Now what I think you may be dealing with could be a skin irriatation from housing more than one species together. That being said, I would still get it checked out. Where are you located? Maybe one of us can reccomend a vet in your area.
Oh and the discolored skin feels the same as healthy skin.
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