Moving my injured clawed frog?

[mintyfresh]

Hey guys,

I know I have posted a lot lately, but I'm pretty worried and I don't know what to do. My clawed frog has been injured in some way, and I don't want to exacerbate his injuries, but I need to move him in order to change his water. Any ideas?

[Gemma]

To move mine I get a plastic cup and hold it on its side in front of them so the frogs are facing the opening of the cup, and then gently touch their back legs. They usually just swim right in there. If you do this then just make sure you're extra careful to cover the open part of the cup completely to stop him jumping out when you're carrying him to his new container.

[mintyfresh]

The problem is, he can't use his back legs and he seems to scrunch up (whether in pain or not, I don't know) when I get near him. I need to clean his tank out, but I don't know how I can.

[Gemma]

Poor thing. Can you not touch him at all? Would it not be possible to gently push him into the cup with the palm of your hand against his feet, or to push the cup over him in any way?

If you can't touch him at all to move him then it sounds like the only thing you can do is siphon as much water out as you can and then replace the water.

[mintyfresh]

I think I may have to siphon the water, though that will probably cause him to scrunch up too-it might be a seizure. Any tips on how to do that?

[Gemma]

How big is the container you've got him in? I know it's shallow until he gets better. If a normal gravel vacuum is going to create too much disturbance then you could use airline/airhose tubing and make sure not to touch him with it. You could always siphon the replacement water back into his container with it as well to minimise disturbance. It might take a while though.

[mintyfresh]

It's a long tupperware container, just a few inches shy of the length and width of a ten-gallon tank. I don't actually have a gravel vacuum...I have airline tubing, but it's for a bubbler. Is there any way I could use it to siphon the water out?

[Gemma]

Airline for a bubbler is fine. Just fill it with water from the tap, put your thumbs over both ends of the tube to trap all the water inside, and then bring it to your container and hold one end in the container and one end in a bucket that's lower than the container. When you then release your thumbs from both ends, the water will start flowing into the bucket.

[mintyfresh]

Thank you so much, that worked perfectly! There was almost no disturbance and he seemed quite content with the situation.

And on a related note, is it odd I find that siphoning effect awesome?

[mintyfresh]

Also, his legs are looking rather thin and emaciated...is this because of the fact that he hasn't eaten in a while, or is there another reason?

[Gemma]

How long has he gone without food? Could you post a picture?