Swollen back leg!!

[monster]

Good evening everyone. So I was digging up my pacman tonight for her bath and noticed her back leg was pretty swollen. I also noticed she is kinda pink underneath her back legs so now im worried about redleg. I have never really looked underneath her so I don't know if it is normal. I have tried to attach some pictures but not sure if it is going to work. It worked, im editing my post. L.O.L The temperature is 83 on the warm and 79 on the cold during the day and 80 on the warm and 76 on the cold at night. My humidity is always around the 70to80 mark. My tank is a 20 gl tall. I don't use any lights only uth on the side. Oh and it is the left back leg, it is kinda her whole leftside. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest they are from my phone.

[monster]

Here is my trouble in the enclosure answers. She is in a 20 gallon long tank, and it just him. Temp is 83on the warm and 79 on the cold during the day, 80 on the warm and 76 on the cold at night. Humidity is always inbetween 70 and 80, I try to keep it closer to 80 range. She is on cocofibre its about 4in deep in the front and about 5 to 6 in the back, it has a small slope towards the front and evens out. I use treated tap water with reptisafe for substrate and waterdish, and r/o for misting. I change her water every second day even though she doesn't use it. She is fed nightcrawlers and every 2 weeks I will give her a couple small horn worms, she refuses crickets. I use exo terra calcium/d3 and also there multi vitamin. I feed her every 3 days so one feeding she gets no dusting the next feeding calcium/d3 then the multivitamin the next. For the first couple months I fed every other day so she got the calcium almost 2xs a week and the multi vitamin once. This schedule has just been since its gotten cold, probably about a month and week. The only light she gets is the outside light from the picture window, and now that it gets dark earlier she gets the light from the living room lamp in the evening. I use 2 under tank heaters on each side for heat, I know this seems overkill but it was the only way for me to get the right temp. At night I unplug one. She ate tonight and the last time she pooed was about a week ago. I don't know if she is wild or captive bred, she is from petsmart. Got her in august and she was about the size of a loonie. The only symptom is the swelling and the pink on her legs. If I forgot something please let me know, im a single dad and my youngest has the flu so I have been trying to deal with her and type this at the same time.

[Mentat]

Sorry frog is not well . Does not appear red leg or low temperature related edema. What did leg felt like when you took pics? Was it solid; squishy as in filled with air; or wavy as in water? Either way; think a visit to a herp vet is required for this one. Probably a local internal infection (requiring antibiotics) or subcutaneous parasites requiring surgical removal and meds. Good luck!

[monster]

Good morning, im trying to find a herp vet this morning to see if I can get her looked at. Carlos to answer your question her leg looked kinda clear and it kinda felt squishy but the skin looked really tight around the swelling if that makes any sense. My oldest daughter said it seemed like her leg looked like you could see inside it, almost watery looking. She has buried herself again this morning so I haven't really had a chance to look at it today. And when I first got her I got a fecal exam done through my vet and she said it came back negative. She doesn't take frogs but since im there so often with my dog because she is allergic to everything under the sun, she said she would send out the fecal for me but that was about all she could do. I then asked if the lab she sent it to would even know what to look for her and she said yes, that she has done it for a few other customers before. My veterinarian for my dog is one of the best in the city so im hopeing she wouldn't lie. I guess what im trying to get at is if the fecal passed for parasites could she have contracted now, or can they be to young sometimes to catch it when the test is first done. And all she has ever been fed since I have had her is crickets, nightcrawlers and hornworms, could she contract anything from those feeders?

[monster]

So I found a herp vet but he wont be able to see her till Friday, is there anything I should do until then? She is eating and moving around so im not sure if I should quarantine her or just leave her. And I have a quick question about edema due low temps. So I have just noticed the swelling and recently she has burying herself all the way down to the glass, probably for the last month. Now even though my air temps are ok(my gauges are about a inch from the substrate) I find when I stick my finger into the substrate it is pretty cold when u get about halfway down and even colder at the bottom were she sits. Do u think this could be part of the problem.

[SwimminSteve]

I'm going to copy this answer directly from my Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry textbook by Kevin M Wright (regarded as one of the best books in amphibian medicine/research)

"Horn frogs, Ceratophrys spp., are often noted to have subcutaneous edema with or without fluid reserve for this and other frogs, but often it is linked to a problem such as metabolic bone disease and concomitant hypocalcemia (presumably due to alteration of the lymph heart function), acute bacterial infection, renal failure, hepatic failure (low plasma protein), or exposure to water with low dissolved solutes (often suggested by low levels of plasma sodium and/or potassium and protein). Supportive care should include bathing the frog in electrolyte solutions such as amphibian ringer's solution along with treatment of the underlying etiology if known."

It goes on to discuss localized edema (which is what your frog has on the leg/left side). Localized fluid accumulations are considered less severe and are sometimes known to spontaneously resolve on their own.

My advice: Don't worry too much until your vet appointment. Minor localized edema is more chronic than acute. The text makes no mention of subcutaneous parasite concerns (I'm not ruling that out, I'm not an expert on parasitology, but I don't think that's the case here).

The vet may aspirate some fluid from the leg to have it analyzed. It could be a bacterial infection and if that's the case than you will get some antibiotics. There's also the possibility that the lymph heart which supplies drainage to that area has been damaged. That could happen from trauma or rough handling (not saying that's what happened, just trying to give you more info).

Basically! Frogs are far trickier to diagnose than your cat or dog. Kudos to you for seeking vet treatment for your lucky pacman! I suspect that the frog will be alright. Good luck!!