Temporary paralysis or impending death?

[masonbuckyall]

So I'm pretty new to pacman frogs. Like April new. This guy has been giving me a little trouble lately. He hasn't been eating, which I understand they often do. He was eating a steady diet of crickets until last week when I ran out and fed him mealworms until I get paid. He has been eating them until monday or so when he stopped. Today I find him sprawled out and twitching. He wouldn't move when I touched him so I picked him up (still no movement). I put him back in the cage, presumably to die. When I go back an hour later and touch him he hops away. Another hour and we're back to paralysis. This has been the cycle all day. He also seems to have what looks like a ring of blood around his back. Let me know what you guys think or if you need anymore info.

[MeTree]

That sounds awful. I am sorry that you are dealing with this issue.

I can't tell you how to cure the issue (because I don't know), or for sure how he got it. I just wanted to address one issue. You said that you ran out of crickets are started feeding him mealworms? I would assume that this has a major part to play in his recient illness.

Mealworms are fine to be fed to Pacman Frogs on the occasion, but I certainly wouldn't recomend more than 3 a week. Mealworms have a very tough exo-skeleton. If Pacman Frogs are fed too many Mealworms, it can cause impaction. Hopefully yours isn't in a serious condition.

You can pick up the Pacman Frog (I'd use gloves at this point), and gently feel his belly for lumps. If it is impacted, you may feel a hard lump. That is the mealworms your Pacman Frog can't digest.

If you find that it is impacted, you should stop feeding him for abit. Food at this point is just going to get clogged, lengthening the time of impaction, and increasing the chance of death. Just let him be.

If he has a condition that is treatable, that a reputable person recomends (weather it be a frog forum member or an exotic vet clinic), then please, by all means, carefully treat it. If they want you to feed your Pacman Frog something, go ahead.

This is just what I'd do if my Pacman Frog was impacted if I wasn't treating for anything else. Hope this helps!

[masonbuckyall]

Thanks for responding. I'm at work now and will have to check for lumps when I get home. Hopefully this is the only issue and hopefully it's a reversible one. I suppose all I can do is wait and take your advice about mealworms to heart in the future. I'm glad to have that knowledge as most sources I read never mentioned the frequency with which they can be fed, just that they are acceptable.

Any ideas about the ring on the back? It looked like blood to me, but I don't know what it would be from. I suppose it could be some kind of deposit. Perhaps the paralysis and blood aren't even linked. I wish I could do more, but the nearest vet qualified to handle amphibians is about two hours away.

[Whistly]

Also another problem with meal worms is that hey are so high in fat so your frog can become obese when fed too many.

[DVirginiana]

As MeTree said, mealworms definitely aren't a good staple, but the paralysis and stuff doesn't sound like impaction.. Definitely still check for it and probably a good idea to not feed it any more for right now, but I've never heard of an impacted frog acting quite like yours.

I can't really see from the picture, but is the ring of blood above or below the skin? If it's above, then is there any way it could be old shed skin that for whatever reason your frog wasn't able to get off all the way? If it's been having problems with paralysis then it might not have been able to get all the shed off and it could've dried on there.

I really have no clue what's causing that though. Try looking around on youtube. I've seen people post videos of pacman frogs doing the same thing. Maybe someone somewhere had a good solution to it? Hope your frog improves.

[MeTree]

Oh yeah, that is a good point, DVirginiana. Perhaps it was related to shedding. I have heard some awful stories...

What is your humidity at? If the humidity is too low (below 60%), then your Pacman Frog could have been injured while shedding. I have heard stories (plural) of frogs loosing limbs during shedding, usually because the humidity was too low. It makes a big difference to Pacman Frogs.

[masonbuckyall]

That would make sense. I haven't seen him shed yet or seen any sign of skin in the tank. I do, however, maintain a humidity between 60 and 70. Sometimes it goes as high as 80.

I also read somewhere on this forum that a calcium deficiency may play a roll in the paralysis.

The "bloody ring" seems to be under the skin and I checked him for lumps when I got home and found nothing other than things I determined to be bones (but I'm not expert).

I took two more photos after I examined him in the hope that it may reveal something externally.

[MeTree]

When you say you haven't seen evidence of him shedding, you probably never will. They are quick to eat their own sheds.

From the picture, it almost looks like he is still shedding! I mean, everything at the top is crystal clear (color), but everything below the big swollen line is faded. Perhaps he was shedding, but he couldn't get it off past that point. Notice how the faded area looks tight, and the color area is "out more", or bigger. The red blood line may be where the circulation was poor (because of the tightness of the shed not coming off).

If you have a local exotic vet, I would recomend taking the little guy in. This condition looks pretty bad. I have heard of sheds where people have literally had to help their frog get it all off (I am NOT recomending that at this point!). I would increase the humidty to about 80%, and see if you can get some vet assistance.

If you are having problems with himidity, block part of the screen lid (assuming you are using screen), and put the water dish on the warm side (assuming you have a side-mounted UTH). Don't put the water dish too close to the UTH. Mist the tank well, and then mist it frequently as needed.

That may not be what it is at all, but I don't know that I'd want to take a chance. Besides, this wont hurt your Pacman Frog either way, so he is alright.

[whiffer01]

i agree with MeTree, he looks like he is in mid shed, but cant get it off. i hope your frog gets better.

[DVirginiana]

Definitely looks like a shed issue. You should probably check with an exotic vet if you have one around. Also, if he keeps having problems, in addition to increasing the humidity you could try giving him a warm water bath similar to what you've probably seen suggested as a treatment for impaction. This might loosen up the skin if that's the issue, and if not then it couldn't hurt anything.

[frogmike]

The "blood ring" you speak of is him shedding! spray him down with water and if necessary, help him shed by gently peeling him. Go get those crickets and cover them in calcium dust! Put at least six in the tank at a time. he may only eat two, but if you only put 2 in, they might not crawl near him. Up the odds!

[SethD]

Frogs don't have issues with shedding like snakes and so forth can. When you see sloughed up shed skin on a frog(like your pics) and the frog does not quickly remove it it generally indicates a serious fungal(like chytrid) and or bacterial issue. The Temporary paralysis could be related to dietary deficiencies like insufficient calcium or it could be related to the fungal/bacterial issue.

[masonbuckyall]

Thanks so much for all the advice. Edmund finally managed to shed completely. Took a while, though. I have more information concerning the paralysis, which is ongoing. Whenever I mist him or disturb his cage he hops a few paces then spreads his legs out and goes into the paralysis. This makes me think it may somehow stress related. If it is a calcium deficiency I've started dusting his crickets so hopefully that will be wet right. What can I do to alleviate his stress, though? He's in my livingroom so the television's often on, but it's quiet besides. No one's tapping on his cage regularly or anything. Let me know if you guys have any further ideas about that. Also, thanks again for all the help. I'm so glad I joined the forum.

[John]

Definitely looks like an incomplete shed. Soak him in some water for a few minutes and try to peel it off him. It could be a humidity issue causing the difficulty to shed. Paralysis can be a symptom of bacterial septicemia. I'd try to get the skin off, leave him for a day and then try to feed him a thawed frozen pinky mouse and see what he does.