Help: Injured Bullfrog Care

[Pleasantly]

First off, I want to apologize if you get this kind of post frequently on the forum, however, I could really use some help regarding an injured bullfrog my boys found. This particular little frog has been sitting on a hill near my house for 2 days, according to my boys. They just thought he was sitting there, but today they discovered his leg was wrapped up in a net used to protect new grass seed. The land used to have a large pond, but was drained last year for new construction At the base of the hill, some water still accumulates. There are quite a few frogs over there, but it's still pretty cold here.

Anyway, they cut him free and brought him home to me, and I then gently unwrapped the string around his leg and cut it free. His leg was pinched down quite a bit near the knee and there is a cut. When the boys brought him home, he appeared almost dead. He was limp and wouldn't try to jump at all. I didn't think he was going to survive at all, and it was 41 degrees outside when this happened. So I thought I'd bring him in and make him a comfortable place to pass away, but he has perked up! This is what I have done so far:

*Placed 2 rocks and a small plant into a medium plastic tote with dechlorinated water in the bottom, laid him limp on the rocks.
*Gently ran some water over him to get his skin moist.
*Applied very very diluted (in olive oil) essential oils to his wound but then read this is not good for frogs, so I washed him off with dechlorinated water and changed out his tank water.
*After 15 mins in the tank, he sat up.
*Provided live crickets (only 2 are in there).
*Placed him in the sun for half an hour until he moved to the shaded area, then I put the tank back on the kitchen counter.

Here is how he is acting:

*Isn't eating.
*Won't jump or go into the water, but moves slowly from the rocks to the plant.
*He is currently sitting up in the tank sleeping. He's been in there for about 6 hours and this is the first time he's slept.
*He lets the crickets walk on him, including his face and mouth, but won't eat.

Is there anything else I should be doing, or anything else I shouldn't be doing? Should I attempt to force feed him? Is neosporin safe for frogs?

Thank you so much in advance. I hope the little guy makes it.

[LilyPad]

You can use neosporin WITHOUT pain reliever on the wound. Beyond that, I do not know much about bullfrog care to help. It sounds like he's probably really stressed out right now though and force feeding probably wouldn't help that. Could you get a picture?

[Pleasantly]

You can use neosporin WITHOUT pain reliever on the wound. Beyond that, I do not know much about bullfrog care to help. It sounds like he's probably really stressed out right now though and force feeding probably wouldn't help that. Could you get a picture?

Thank you. I was thinking the same about stress and force feeding.

The first pic is when he first sat up from a lying limp. The second pic was taken several hours later and shows his injury (somewhat), near the knee. Eta: FYI, I have not been putting the lid to the bin he's in, on all the way to allow air.

[Pleasantly]

So it looks like this guy is not a bullfrog. I think he is a Northern Green Frog? He appears to have ridges.

Anyway, he is still not eating. I'm going to try small earthworms. I've let him be in the tank except for gently washing him over with water every couple hours to keep his skin moist. Today I did a pedialyte soak, from which he perked up a bit, but currently he's laying with his face resting on a tuft of moss at the base of the plant in his nursing tank. While I was transferring him from the pedialyte soak to his tank, I applied bacitracin to his leg with a Q tip.

He seems to be getting darker in color? Darker green. I don't think he looks so hot today. I was really hoping I could help him out. Poor guy

[BrittsBugs]

Awe, I wish I knew more about first aid and care tips, especially for wild frogs. But I don't, it sounds like your doing all you can for the little guy. If he doesn't make it. (: You at least know you gave it your best shot, and your boys are angels, it's absolutely sweet they cared enough about one little ole frog to bring him in so you could free his leg and do your best to nurse him to good health.


-BrittsBugs
5 AUS White's
1 Hon Milk
1 SM Corn
1 BP
5 HC
1 CG
4 RB Newts
6 Betas
5 MHR

[Pleasantly]

Awe, I wish I knew more about first aid and care tips, especially for wild frogs. But I don't, it sounds like your doing all you can for the little guy. If he doesn't make it. (: You at least know you gave it your best shot, and your boys are angels, it's absolutely sweet they cared enough about one little ole frog to bring him in so you could free his leg and do your best to nurse him to good health.


-BrittsBugs
5 AUS White's
1 Hon Milk
1 SM Corn
1 BP
5 HC
1 CG
4 RB Newts
6 Betas
5 MHR

I'm so glad my boys care about animals and show compassion. When I was a kid, a little boy was a death sentence for a wild frog.

[Pleasantly]

The frog is still with us. The boys named him "Survivor" His leg appears to be getting better, but I just noticed today that his toe on the same leg is either cut with a small bone poking through, or maybe a tendon? I'm not sure, but it is white. I try to apply neosporin to it and he gets really jumpy. I don't want to cause him too much stress. He's still not eating and he's not going into the water, but he appears to be improving. He has more energy overall, and more life in his eyes. I'm still washing over his back with water and plain pedialyte. So for now I'm just going to continue what I'm doing and hopefully he will fully heal up and we can release him.

[Emily1]

Have you tried tong feeding (if you have some) just rub the prey on it's mouth and hopefully it will bite.

[Pleasantly]

Have you tried tong feeding (if you have some) just rub the prey on it's mouth and hopefully it will bite.

I haven't, but I will give that a try in the morning. Thank you.

[BrittsBugs]

The frog is still with us. The boys named him "Survivor" His leg appears to be getting better, but I just noticed today that his toe on the same leg is either cut with a small bone poking through, or maybe a tendon? I'm not sure, but it is white. I try to apply neosporin to it and he gets really jumpy. I don't want to cause him too much stress. He's still not eating and he's not going into the water, but he appears to be improving. He has more energy overall, and more life in his eyes. I'm still washing over his back with water and plain pedialyte. So for now I'm just going to continue what I'm doing and hopefully he will fully heal up and we can release him.

That's good to hear. Poor guy, he must've have been tangled in there pretty badly.


-BrittsBugs
Reptile & Amphibian Enthusiast
Insect Breeder
Former Rat Breeder
Pets: 6 AUS WTF's, 1 Hon Milk, 1 SM Corn, 1 BP, 5 H.Crabs, 1 C.Gecko, 4 RB Newts, 6 Betas, 5 MH Roaches, 1 L.Gecko, 1 W.Hognose, & so much more

[Pleasantly]

That's good to hear. Poor guy, he must've have been tangled in there pretty badly.


-BrittsBugs
Reptile & Amphibian Enthusiast
Insect Breeder
Former Rat Breeder
Pets: 6 AUS WTF's, 1 Hon Milk, 1 SM Corn, 1 BP, 5 H.Crabs, 1 C.Gecko, 4 RB Newts, 6 Betas, 5 MH Roaches, 1 L.Gecko, 1 W.Hognose, & so much more

Yes, he must've been. It's a shame they put stuff like that netting down.

I was just looking at the pics I posted here, and you can see a little bit of the toe wound in the second picture. It's a little white spot on the toe and the tip of the toe beyond the white spot is bent.

[Pleasantly]

We tried the tong feeding, but he still wouldn't eat. Even though he hasn't eaten, he is looking better and better. He moves around a little more than he was, but that just means adjusting his position on the land at the base of the plant. He still won't go into the water, so I'm still hydrating him by pouring a little water or pedialyte over his back.

Another thing I take as an improvement is the speed of his throat movement. Previously, his neck was moving very seldom, sometimes so seldom, I wondered if he might have passed. Now it looks to be the speed I would consider normal from what I've observed in frogs or toads in the yard. I hope that's a good sign.

Aside from the lack of eating, my only other concern is that he has an odor and I don't know if it's a normal smell or a sign of infection. He smells like worms after a heavy storm, if that makes sense. The smell seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Yesterday I changed out the water in his tank thinking it was the water. That seemed to help, but today it smells just the same. Is this a normal wild amphibian thing?

[Emily1]

As long as it does not smell rancid I'm sure it is fine an earthy smell is normal.

[Lija]

Looking good so far, poor guy.

you need to change your set up a bit, it's not helping to heal properly, but it's definately seems it's getting better.

hospital set up - wet papertowels changed daily, some easy to clean decor ( plastic or silk plant), cover all sides of the enclosure to minimize stress levels. You might want to cover the top though, or you might not find the guy soon
You can get melafix ( fish section of the pet stores), dilute it according the instructions on a bottle and use it for spraying and papertowels. It's a very diluted tea tree oil that is safe to use for frogs. Use it in an addition to neosporin, that you need to apply 2-3xday.
The most important part here is that a leg is not broken and he can move around, you are doing pretty good job so far!

[Heatheranne]

Sorry I missed this thread, but what a great story .

Survivor Pickle Banjo is looking so much better . Great job!

I do believe his toe will shrivel up and possible fall off. You're doing a great job of keeping it clean. Congrats!

You are correct... Your frog is an adorable male Northern green, aka Rana/Lithobates clamitans .

I do have a recommendation for you if you build him a water area... and that is that you add a really good water filter, such as a turtle filter or canister filter. Water frogs tend to pass urine and feces in their pond. You will still need to do water changes, but a filter will do wonders.

Another great idea is to have a side wall of the glass near the pond drilled... As in, have a small hole drilled into the glass and add a spigot. It is not necessary, but makes water changes so easy .

Supplememts you'll need if you decide to keep him as an "indoor" frog:

1. Calcium with vitamin D3. In captivity, crickets and insects in the captive frogs' diet lack calcium and lack of sunlight limits the vitamin D3, which helps them to properly absorb the calcium. Without calcium/D3, all captive "indoor" frogs will develop metabolic bone disease. It's as easy as adding a light dusting of the powdered supplement to his crickets every other day. I like Repcal, but there are other brands as well. The supplement should be phosphorus-free.

2. Amphibian multivitamin. My favorite is Repashy calcium plus. It is given in the same way with a light dusting on his crickets one day a week. In some cases, two days a week is preferred. Without the MVI he will develop nutritional deficiencies.

I tend to feed over a non-water area to limit the amount of supplements that may get into their water area.

😊

[Pleasantly]

Sorry I missed this thread, but what a great story .

Survivor Pickle Banjo is looking so much better . Great job!

I do believe his toe will shrivel up and possible fall off. You're doing a great job of keeping it clean. Congrats!

You are correct... Your frog is an adorable male Northern green, aka Rana/Lithobates clamitans .

I do have a recommendation for you if you build him a water area... and that is that you add a really good water filter, such as a turtle filter or canister filter. Water frogs tend to pass urine and feces in their pond. You will still need to do water changes, but a filter will do wonders.

Another great idea is to have a side wall of the glass near the pond drilled... As in, have a small hole drilled into the glass and add a spigot. It is not necessary, but makes water changes so easy .

Supplememts you'll need if you decide to keep him as an "indoor" frog:

1. Calcium with vitamin D3. In captivity, crickets and insects in the captive frogs' diet lack calcium and lack of sunlight limits the vitamin D3, which helps them to properly absorb the calcium. Without calcium/D3, all captive "indoor" frogs will develop metabolic bone disease. It's as easy as adding a light dusting of the powdered supplement to his crickets every other day. I like Repcal, but there are other brands as well. The supplement should be phosphorus-free.

2. Amphibian multivitamin. My favorite is Repashy calcium plus. It is given in the same way with a light dusting on his crickets one day a week. In some cases, two days a week is preferred. Without the MVI he will develop nutritional deficiencies.

I tend to feed over a non-water area to limit the amount of supplements that may get into their water area.



Thank you. I still need to pick these up for him. Currently, I've been feeding the crickets food that is made for them with calcium and D3 added to it. I don't know how well that works though.

[Heatheranne]

Prob helps a little, but he'll need a bit more .

[Pleasantly]

The Panacur came and I began treatment today while he's in the temp "tank". I removed the rocks and plant I had in there with him and sanitized the rocks. I removed the plant altogether because I assume it's totally contaminated with parasites. The issue is, that plant was his favorite. He absolutely loved sitting under it and even sometimes letting his head rest on the moss at the base of it.

I cleaned out his temp tank and then put him and just the 2 large rocks back in, then fed him a Panacur dusted cricket. Currently, he is sitting in the water, attempting to jump out. He only ever does that when I put him in the bucket to clean his tank. He's ignoring the rocks like they don't even exist. I think he wants his plant.

Any advice on what I should do? I absolutely do not want to contaminate his new vivarium with parasites, so treating him in the temp one is perfect. Do I keep his plant with him over the 4 week treatment and then just put him in his new vivarium without it? Or will that plant keep him infected the whole time I'm trying to treat him?

He seems stressed, trying to jump out...as I typed that, he started calling in his tank again, haha. Maybe he's ok, after all.

Eta: I covered 3 sides with towels and he is now sitting on a rock. I hope he stays happy with this set up for 4 weeks :/

[Cliygh and Mia 2]

Well, since your setting up his permanent tank/treating him I would let him keep it until he doesn't have any parasites, and once the treatment is over don't let him have it anymore

[Pleasantly]

Well, since your setting up his permanent tank/treating him I would let him keep it until he doesn't have any parasites, and once the treatment is over don't let him have it anymore

He's sitting on the rocks now, so I'll try to see if he remains happy with this set up. I'll just have to keep sides covered again like I did when he was doing really bad. I think the plant made him feel secure, so hopefully the covered sides can help meet that need.