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Help! Sick toad

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Hello,
I have been an American toad owner for 10 years. Recently an unknown disease/illness has invaded my terrarium causing one of my oldest females to pass. My male is now showing the symptoms she had shown. I separated him and cleaned the tank to avoid further spreading. I love these toads so much, losing my female was heartbreaking. I will do anything to prevent it from happening again. I have tried seeing a vet but even he did not know what to do. I have called conservation places, zoos, reptillia, pet stores and tried to reach out to other herp lovers. I can't seem to find any help.

I was wondering if there's any possibility that you may know what could be wrong with my toads. I will list the symptoms here:

-first I noticed abnormal brown spots on the lower belly (near the drinking patch) never had I seen these spots before.

- agitation of the skin. ( they constantly rub their belly )

- soon the skin feels thicker or like its dying. The toad constantly shedding their skin. - the shedding is crazy and often I found my female with loose dead skin on her belly (no bleeding or sores)

-when in water I noticed the belly moving abnormally as if something were crawling inside of her (weird muscle contractions perhaps?)

-she got skinny super fast (appetite wasn't lost till later on)

-she seemed to act normal.

-appetite loss

- seemed extremely agitated when touched or picked up (this was unusual, as she loved to be picked up)
-near the end her mouth was extremely white on the inside, her tongue looked pale and dehydrated.

-slow breathing (looked like gasping or struggling to breath)

-when she died she looked like she was trying to swallow something. This was the first time I had seen a toad pass so I'm not sure if that's normal when they go or if it may have been apart of the sickness.

Please, any help would be amazing! I love these toads so so much and it's heartbreaking not being able to do anything to help them.

Thank you so much for reading this, I appreciate it very much!

Comments

  1. DartFrogDog's Avatar
    I don't claim to be any kind of expert on amphibian illnesses but the symptoms you describe are a pretty good match with Chytridiomycosis.
    It's caused by a fungus called Chytrid which is a major contributor to the current decline of amphibian populations around the world.
    Chytridiomycosis can be cured but it's extremely difficult and survival rates are still very low.
    Do a search for "Chytridiomycosis cure" and research it.
    Good luck!

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