Bullfrog skin problem...

[gspcom]

Hello all - I have kept an adult male bullfrog for a few years now and he has always had a lighter patch of pale, smooth skin on the top of his back. It was like this when I got him and didn’t seem to cause him any problems but recently the skin seems to be getting lighter, looks thinner and you can sometimes see red veins under the skin. This area on his back is always left attached when he moults so every time this happens, I have to place him in his water dish to soften the area so the skin comes free.

As for his set-up, he as a 3ft glass exo terra with mesh lid and a heat mat placed against the side of one end. He has a deep water dish and damp coconut fiber substrate deep enough to bury himself if needed. No additional lighting is provided, just indirect light from a nearby window. There is a night time temp drop also.

Any ideas on how get his skin back to a healthy condition? Picture attached also...

[Gnag the nameless]

Hi! Sorry to see your Bullfrog isn't doing so well.

I'm no expert, but if there's one thing I can tell it's that an Exotic Vet is the person to contact. I've never seen this ailment before but I suspect it will require medication from a Vet to cure.

Being an American Bullfrog owner and not an African Bullfrog owner, I'm not sure whether it's being caused by something in your tank as I've never done much research on how to keep African Bullfrogs, but I'm positive someone who has lots of experience with African Bullfrogs will chime in soon.

Some things that we may need to know in order to help him are the humidity and temperature of the tank, the last time he's eaten, whether he's captive bred or wild caught, and how old he is.

Once again, if you've got an Exotic Vet in your area, contact them ASAP and take him in, preferably in a Critter Keeper. You may want to set aside a hospital tank, which can be a small tank such as a 10-20 gallon. Use moist paper towel as substrate, add some cover, perhaps a black background to help reduce stress, and a water bowl.

Keep us posted.

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF ! A skin condition that has lasted a few years and suddenly becomes worse needs some testing at vet like Caspian mentioned. Unless it's caused by some pathogen that the frog's immunity had contained but not eliminated; it could be something gone wrong with the frog's physiological processes. Note you state it got worse recently; has anything changed in his care (products, food, etc) or the enclosure's environment (substrate, decor, etc.)?

[GrifTheGreat]

Has this condition spread? Meaning has the affected area become larger over the years you've kept him?

[gspcom]

Thanks for the quick responses! The only change in environment is I moved him into a much larger tank in the last few months, everything else (food, water) remains the same. Temperature is similar but humidity may be a little less but the substrate is always damp.
He’s never been a voracious feeder, sometimes not showing interest in food for several weeks at a time.
Time to find a local frog vet ASAP!

[gspcom]

Yes, the area is getting larger in recent months…

[GrifTheGreat]

Yes, the area is getting larger in recent months…

How does it feel? Is it textured differently than the rest of the skin?

[gspcom]

Yes, it looks and feels very smooth, lacking the characteristic colour and ridges usually found in the species.

[GrifTheGreat]

Yes, it looks and feels very smooth, lacking the characteristic colour and ridges usually found in the species.

Find a Vet fast. If it has increased in size over the years it could be anything from bacterial infection to cancer. Don't become alarmed until you know for sure what it is.

[gspcom]

Vet appointment booked for next Tuesday. Will let you know what happens...

[gspcom]

Back from the vets. Prescribed a 7 day course of Baytril injections that will hopefully clear up the suspected subcutaneous infection. Cross your fingers!

[GrifTheGreat]

Be careful with Baytril. It is a very powerful antibiotic that can have negative effects along with the good effects.

[gspcom]

Hi guys,

just to update this thread.

Well the 7 Baytril injections failed to make any difference so I took him back to the vet. They took swabs and while waiting for results, told me to bathe the frog in Alamycin solution for 10 days. This didn't help either. Swab results came back and he's now had the 3rd of three Fortum injections but there still doesn't seem to be any improvement.

Frustrating!

[GrifTheGreat]

Hi guys,

just to update this thread.

Well the 7 Baytril injections failed to make any difference so I took him back to the vet. They took swabs and while waiting for results, told me to bathe the frog in Alamycin solution for 10 days. This didn't help either. Swab results came back and he's now had the 3rd of three Fortum injections but there still doesn't seem to be any improvement.

Frustrating!

I have never seen anything like this before. Im sorry there is no improvement. This could*be some new disease all together. I wish there was more we could do.

Thank you for the update. I hope something is figured out soon.

[gspcom]

Another update - I'm currently continuing with the Fortum injections every three days but again, there's no real improvement so I hoping that someone can offer further advice. The vet says that these injections are more or less the last resort. If this doesn't work then I may be faced with euthanasia...

[Heatheranne]

What did the vet say the swabs (cultures) grew? Which bacteria?

[GrifTheGreat]

Has he been exposed to any chemicals? High output UV bulbs?

Has he been eating at all?

[Mentat]

Your veterinary initially prescribed a fungicide, then 2 different antibiotics and none appear to improve your frog's condition. Did the swab analysis provided a clue of what is the pathogen if any?

Any presence of a virus or unknown pathogen? Have any testing or x-ray being done on the frog's internal organs and their functioning; specially for cancer like growths? I'm sorry you have to consider euthanizing your frog !

[Ratz]

Hello, did you or the person who had the frog before feed him many feeder fish like goldfish?

It might be a stupid question but since neither the antimycotics nor the antibiotics show any improvement, could it be something like a cronical mykobacteriosis which starts to get acute? I haven't heard much about "Frog Tuberculosis" and its symptoms so far, but skin alternations seem to be plausible.

I know that this is very uncommon, but given the high abundance of the pathogen in ornamental fishes its not impossible that a frog gets infected... I hope it is something else and you dont have to euthanize your frog!

[Nikko]

hi all i'm new here and currently doing some research about gabf, never came across skin disease like this before, any update on the frog?