Sick Pacman

[Kendar]

My Pacman quit eating quite a few months ago and I have been having to force feed him. He has recently lost a ton of weight to the point where his bones are visible. I put him in an ICU tank about a week ago and just decided today to trade out tanks with my scorpion because it was a bigger surface area. I had him in a tupperware while I was disinfecting his new one, and I noticed that his hands are red like they are sunburnt and he has a small round ulcer-like sore on his lower chest. My bf googled 'red feet on frogs' and it came up with red leg syndrome, all the symptoms point to yes, with the exception of lethargy. He is still completely capable of letting me know he is angry. I have him an an ICU tank now, with damp paper towel as substrate, a shallow wide water dish, and a heat pad on the lowest setting on the top of the tank, but only covering half. Is there anything else I can do for him? Can I use Neosporin, without painkillers, on the sore? Thanks in advance.

[GrifTheGreat]

My Pacman quit eating quite a few months ago and I have been having to force feed him. He has recently lost a ton of weight to the point where his bones are visible. I put him in an ICU tank about a week ago and just decided today to trade out tanks with my scorpion because it was a bigger surface area. I had him in a tupperware while I was disinfecting his new one, and I noticed that his hands are red like they are sunburnt and he has a small round ulcer-like sore on his lower chest. My bf googled 'red feet on frogs' and it came up with red leg syndrome, all the symptoms point to yes, with the exception of lethargy. He is still completely capable of letting me know he is angry. I have him an an ICU tank now, with damp paper towel as substrate, a shallow wide water dish, and a heat pad on the lowest setting on the top of the tank, but only covering half. Is there anything else I can do for him? Can I use Neosporin, without painkillers, on the sore? Thanks in advance.

You can use Original Neosporin on the sore. You will need to take the frog the a Vet to figure out what may be going on.

[danfrog]

“Trouble in the Frog Enclosure”
The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog
16. How long have you owned him/her
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
19. How often the frog is handled
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

by Lynn(Flybyferns) and GrifTheGreat.
Fill this out Asap and post pics plz.

[GrifTheGreat]

Answer the questions Dan has posted. Make sure they are answered for previous enclosure and for ICU setup.

[Kendar]

1. Size of enclosure - 23.01x16.75x6" ICU is 16.3” x 10.4” x 5.8”
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences - Just the one ICU - 1
3. Humidity - Around 80% all the time (soil was probably too wet) ICU - 70%
4. Temperature - Around 70 on warm side ICU - 70
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish - Dechlorinated tap water for misting and soaking ICU - Dechlorinated for both
6. Materials used for substrate - Coconut fiber ICU - Paper towel
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. - Just substrate and water dish ICU - Just paper towel and shallow water dish
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. - Everything was washed and rinsed thoroughly before being introduced ICU - Disinfected, rinsed, and wiped out
8. Main food source - Crickets but recently added pinkies to try and help gain weight ICU - Crickets
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) - Multivitamin every once in a while and calcium every second feeding (when he would allow me to force feed him. ICU - Same as before, fed calcium crickets today
10. Lighting - None ICU - no special lighting, but not in complete darkness
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure - Heat pad on top of enclosure ICU - Same
12. When is the last time he/she ate - Can't recall last time he ate willingly, but I was only able to feed him two crickets today ICU - Today
13. Have you found poop lately - No, and I cannot feel any hardness in his tummy
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog - Unsure, but he was an adult when I got him
16. How long have you owned him/her - Just over a year
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred - Unsure, but I am pretty sure he was captive bred
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats - Crickets but recently added pinkies to help gain weight
19. How often the frog is handled - Only when needed. ie. Bath, cage cleaning
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area - Pretty low, he is kept in dining room. My bf and I are pretty quiet
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) - Cleaning, I admit, wasn't done quite enough, but enclosure was never smelly. ICU - will be changing paper towel every day or two.



He is crooked because he had an old injury when I had him, so there is a bone in his back that sticks out a lot.
I will try to get a picture of his feet and stomach.



Here are the pics of his underside.......I think he might be a she, also.

[danfrog]

Kk ima try my best. Your temps are way too cold. 82-84º f is proper range for day time temps 77-78º for night. Calcium/d3 should be applied twice a week and vitamins once a week. Skip a day in between calcium days and vitamin days. The crickets should be gut loaded before feeding for maximin nutrients. Worms are better(nightcrawlers notvred worms). Lighting for day time should be 12 hours for dat and 12 for night. No uvb/uva bulbs. The dining room is probably too high trafic area in your home. Your frog needs to be In a low trafic area with minimal noise. In icu you need to change paper towels every day. Looks to me you have an extremely small ornate. I would ask the experts on this forum and find a herp vet. He is a tough little guy. Should be much much bigger.

[danfrog]

Sorry the degrees symbol on my phone is being stupid. &#186 is what my phone is doing for the degrees sign so your not confused.

[danfrog]

Looking at the eyes more it might be a cranwelli can't really tell from that angle.

[froggymomma]

Praying that he/she recovers.

[GrifTheGreat]

Too wet and too cool equals disaster. They can get Red Leg from dirty conditions and stress from improper climate can cause it to infect the frog.

He needs the temps that Dan has stated above. Warm him up and keep the humidity up keep him at a constant 80°.

Substrate should be moist or heavily damp not mud. Humidity 70% to 80%.

Go out and buy some Fluker's Repta Boost and force feed him appropriate dose everyday with other foods. Use Night Crawlers to force feed him they are highly nutritious and the Repta Boost will help with dehydration and malnutrition.

Also go out and buy some Unflavored Pedialyte. Prepare a bath of Dechlorinated water and Pedialyte at a 1 to 10 ratio so for every 10 ounces of luke warm dechlorinated water add 1 ounce Unflavored Pedialyte. Soak him for 20 minutes then return him to the hospital tank. Bath should be no deeper than up to his chin.

You will need to force feed him daily. I cannot say for sure that he will pull through, but this may be the best chance you have until he can see a Vet.

Make sure to change the moist paper towels in his hospital setup everyday to prevent bacterial and fungal growth. Water needs to be changed daily as well.

[Kendar]

Thank you so much for your help. I will do my best to help this little guy pull through

[Kendar]

Hi everyone! Just a quick update. I upped my Pacmans temps last night, put a heat lamp on him this morning, and changed his paper towel while I bathed him in the pedialyte solution. I put him back in his ICU and force fed him one cricket, the rest......he ate on his own! He was actually chasing them and acting excited, again, for his food! I was so ecstatic! I am currently strapped for cash until friday, but I will go to get some worms and repta boost when I get paid. It has only been one day and I am already seeing a drastic change. Thank you so much!

Edit: I was going to ask about a very strange way he was moving his back legs when I was feeding him, but apparently, after some research, he was luring his food. Super cute, I have never seen him do that before.

[Mentat]

Hello Kendar, glad your frog is eating again. Would keep it on ICU until that sore heals. Please read this good article if you have not done so before and do follow it's advice: Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding . Did you get the plain Neosporin?

When ready to move back into enclosure make sure the water to hydrate shredded coco is dechlorinated. Coco should clump in fist but not drip water out, slightly damp is good. Keep the temps up, 80 to 84F daytime is a must. Long exposure to lower temps can cause permanent damage to it's kidneys and lymph hearts leading to edema and shorter life. Crickets should be gut loaded with veggies and Repashy's bug burger. Dust 2X calcium/D3 and 1X vitamins weekly on different days with skip day in between. Good luck !

[Kendar]

I haven't been able to get the Neosporin yet, but I will as soon as I get paid. Thank you for your advice. I will definitely be keeping an eye on him and will take and use all the advice I can

[Kendar]

So, apparently, there is a Neosporin shortage in my area. This is so frustrating! I will try another pharmacy, in town tomorrow. But is there another brand that I can use? Polysporin?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I would think that any triple antibacterial ointment that has no painkillers would be ok.
store brand is ok.
I just used a small packet that is out of an small first aid kit on my little stumpy

[GrifTheGreat]

Lou is right or you can use Bactine which actually works a little better.

Glad the advice did the trick. Do keep us posted.

[Kendar]

Awesome! Will grab something tomorrow! Yeah, he is still doing great! Ate all his crickets tonight, all by himself, might I add! Hehe. He kept doing his little luring thing again, so cute, it makes me want to pinch his toes, which then makes me think I wouldn't last in the wild lol.

[GrifTheGreat]

Awesome! Will grab something tomorrow! Yeah, he is still doing great! Ate all his crickets tonight, all by himself, might I add! Hehe. He kept doing his little luring thing again, so cute, it makes me want to pinch his toes, which then makes me think I wouldn't last in the wild lol.

These frogs really don't like their feet touched. Better off not touching them Lol!

[UncleChester]

So, apparently, there is a Neosporin shortage in my area. This is so frustrating! I will try another pharmacy, in town tomorrow. But is there another brand that I can use? Polysporin?

I don't think Neosporin is an over the counter drug in Canada.


Glad he's eating on his own, and good luck with the continued recovery!