Toad with hurt leg/foot

[ribit]

Hi, I have posted here before about a hurt toad I found, that could not eat. Just to let you know she is doing great, and I have had her for about 4 months now. Today I was feeding my chickens and I noticed they had a toad in their mouth. I frantically picked up the poor baby toad. It carefully opened up one eye then the other. I put it in the cage with my other adult toad. I layed down a damp paper towel and set her on it. It appears that she has a broken leg, since the chickens were carrying her around by her leg. I put some Melafix on the foot, that was red, to avoid any infections. She drags herself around with her hurt leg laying out strait behind her. I don't want to take her to the vet, because I don't think it is very necessary. I have asked a vet before about my adult Western toad that I found almost dead, and she said she had knew nothing at all about toads, and she did not know any other vets that did. Is there any way I could help her without a vets help. Or will she just heal over time? Please help. Thanks.

[lindsayshocking]

I would keep her separate from your other toad. If she gets an infection she could get your other toad sick. Also, when toads have an injured leg, they will need to be in a pristine set up to prevent them from not just infection, but also from getting things in the wound. If possible, I would put her in a keeper with some paper towels and a nice clean water dish. You will want to change the water frequently. When my toads get injured, I use a little bit of neosporin. It's always worked well for me and my babies. It should heal well over time. Also, when you go to feed her, watch closely. She may not eat right away, and if she doesn't be sure to remove the food so it doesn't attack her.

I hope this helps...good luck helping the baby.

[ribit]

Okay thanks. I will sepeerate her from my older toad asap. I have one more question. What size crickets do I feed her? I have herard that you are supposed to feed them the same size crickets as it is inbeetween their eyes. Is that true? Or should I get smaller ones? She is a really small toad. Thanks.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I have done something similar.

And I will agree that you should keep the little one in a separate hospital bin,
The melafix is a good antibacterial, if there is any broken skin I would use triple antibacterial ointment with out pain killer.

Since the little one has broken bones I would dust its food with calcium with D3 at least every 2nd feedings and a multi vitamin
once a week to help.

Good luck.

and post picts we love to see the little one improving

[ribit]

Can I soak the little ones food in goats milk? We have a whole fridge full of that. Goats milk has a lot of calcium in it. I just got done preparing her separate cage. It is only temparary, because it is not a very big cage, but she is very small. If her leg heals I was hoping I would be able to release her back into the wild. Or if her leg wound heals but her bones don't, I guess I will have to keep two rescued toads. My tank is a old 10 gallon fish tank, so I think it is big enough for two if necessary. I can't see any broken sking at this point. Her leg is pretty much smashed were a knee would be on a human. That is what the chicken was carrying her by. The reast of her leg including her foot is pink and swollon. Poor little girl. I will post pics as soon as I have time today. Thanks.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Soaking in milk I don't think will help.

can you post a a picture of the injury?

and a 10 gal is ok for two full sized toads.

[ribit]

Here is her in her new seperate cage:
There is some good shots of her leg there too. I will buy some calcium powder for her too.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

What you have set up is great,
hopefully you are using treated tap water to moisten the paper towel and fill the water dish.

Your little one looks a bit bigger than my stubby. so feeding small crickets shouldn't be an issue.

I would keep it in a dark quiet area to keep the little one as still as possible.
just make sure the temp doesn't fall below 70.

[ribit]

The temp. in our house is normally at about 79 degrees, so I think she should be fine there. I put her in the dark laundry room but I have to move her every time we turn on the washer. So I am still trying to find a dark quiet place to keep her. I am going to go buy some small crickets either today or tomorrow. If I can't make it to the pet store today I can feed her moths from outside. I am just using our normal whale water at the time. Is that okay? Because that is all I have right now. How does her leg look in the pictures? Does it look treatable?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Well I don't think it will ever be normal.
Hopefully the blood supply to the rest of her foot hasn't been compromised.
If it has it will get infected and need to be amputated.
If you have a vet that can treat the toad that would be the best thing.
Keep a close eye on the foot if turns a dark color not like the rest of the skin.
then the foot will need to be amputated.
Or it might just fall off on its own

I would hold off until you get some crickets.
She doesn't look like one day without food will hurt her.
Has she had any Bowel movements.

also I would change the paper towel every day and the water.
Well water is ok for now.
but for long term use I would use a water treatment for fish.

Also it looks like the break is at the ankle not at the knee joint.

[ribit]

I just got her some crickets, extra small. Would a vet have to amputate it? I don't want to do that. I do not trust myself at all. I hope it just falls off on it's own if there is no blood going to it. If it does fall off I will just put melafix on it. Would that be okay? I will post pics about every 2 or 3 days to keep u updated on her leg. Thanks.

[ribit]

Sadly, thismorning I found her flat out on the floor of her cage with her legs spread out almost dead. I picked her up and her eyes were open, but very watery. Her lower stomach area is all brown. It is hard to tell if she is dead, so I layed her back in her cage to take her last breath. She must have gotten an infection?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

That was too quick for an infection,
It was more than likely an internal injury and bleeding.

Sorry to hear the little one didn't survive the attack.

You did the best you could for the little one and made it the most comfortable it could be.

[ribit]

I hope she wasn't in any pain. She did have a small pink bump on the very top of her leg. Poor little toad.

[redeyedtreefrog123451]

Its fine theese guys heal very quick ive had a few toads with legs MISSING including a baby and a raised them back to heath and one i found a toad that jumped off a ledge and was paralized i put him in a little water and after a few minutes he healed!

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Sadly not in this case,
The toad sustained internal injuries causing internal bleeding.