Hi BeckyM,

Calcium was definitely the treatment.

Pick up some Repcal with vitamin D3. Lightly dust on insects every other meal. Get some Repashy calcium plus multivitamin and do a light dusting on insects one day a week, on a different day than Repcal. Gut-loading the crickets makes them nutritious but they generally still lack in calcium. Dust right before feeding. The crickets can surprisingly remove a good bit of the powder with their feet.

A bit of teaching that comes in handy...

Tetany is a group of symptoms caused by low calcium levels in the blood. If untreated, it will progress in severity.

Symptoms of tetany: numbness, tingling, twitching tremors, loss of coordination, lack of intestinal peristalsis leading to abdominal swelling, cardiac dysrhythmias, loss of muscular functions and movement, inability to swallow, seizures, death.

Calcium is not well-absorbed without vitamin D3. Calcium carbonate is insoluble in water and will just sink or float. Calcium chloride is too caustic and can cause burns. Calcium gluconate can be injected by a vet in emergency situations. Doses are calculated by animal species and weight. Flukers does make a liquid supplement which can be used in an emergency as a soaking. It needs to be made into a dilutional soak with either dechlorinated or spring water. This is not a proper long-term treatment. The body best regulates the amount of calcium and vitamin D3 needed through the gastrointestinal system, ie. by oral supplement with meals, by a properly dosed amphibian powder.

Too much calcium and vitamin D3 are also harmful. This is why we use a rotating schedule.

Why are frogs in captivity more prone to MBD than frogs in the wild? Frogs and amphibians in the wild eat insects which eat lots of nice leafy green plants and fruits, which have calcium. The frogs in turn eat the insects. They also have a few hours a day of UVB light exposure from the suns rays in which they can produce vitamin D3. Run-off water and puddles contain some minerals and trace elements.

Now that your frog is doing well, get him on a nice schedule . Start your next feeding with the calcium/D3 dusting. You can use a cup or baggie (pinch of supplement, add bugs, gentle shake).

For water: use either dechlorinated tap water or spring water. Be sure to check if the spring water is chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metal free. If any are present, use a dechlorinating solution which neutralizes heavy metal ions. You can use distilled water for misting only. For water bowl and to moisten substrates, use dechlorinated or spring (as above).


Will you keep us updated?

Good luck!