African Clawed frog wont eat or stay submerged, Sick, Disoriented, or?

[Dennis Whitmore]

First off I would like to apologize for this being jumbled and almost incoherient. It is almost 3am here and I am quite sleepy.

We had two African Clawed Frogs, and recently the first one died. We think they got something from the feeder fish I was feeding them. They used to be lively and now they wont eat.

So the first one died. We cleaned out the tank, treated the water, switched pumps. Now the other frog will not eat or even sink. He almost seems disoriented. He has been floating on top of the water and seems like he can not stay sunk. He used to stay at the bottom of the tank and come up for air. Now when he tries to stay down he has to anchor himself on some decoration.

We have tried everything we can think of and are using this as a last resort. Is there anything we can do to help or are we just stuck waiting it out?

[Jimbok3]

Can you post some pictures of it? It should help with identifying what the problem may be.

[Dennis Whitmore]

Here is a picture.Superman is just staying at the top of the tank,Not eating,Not swimming that much.



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[Dennis Whitmore]

Ive read other threads on here and we are going out right now to get a liquid test kit and Lymnozyme.

[Jimbok3]

He does not look good. you should get him in a holding tank with shallow water, and you need to get him to a vet a soon as you can.
Good Luck, and keep us posted

[Dennis Whitmore]

Thank you.we just made a tiny holding tank with good ph levels and nitrate because his big tank had high ph levels.Should i add salt to the tiny holding tank and formalin and malachite green? We went to our local pet store and they said they have never heard of Lymnozyme.

[tgampper]

It appears that the frog is bloating. One of the symptoms is difficulty in swimming. I suggest moving the frog to a "hospital" tank. You can use Maracyn II® and Maracyn Plus® for treatment. Adding a little salt to the water will help too. Bloating is caused by bacteria and if not treated can cause kidney failure and death. Good luck with your frog.

[Dennis Whitmore]

It appears that the frog is bloating. One of the symptoms is difficulty in swimming. I suggest moving the frog to a "hospital" tank. You can use Maracyn II® and Maracyn Plus® for treatment. Adding a little salt to the water will help too. Bloating is caused by bacteria and if not treated can cause kidney failure and death. Good luck with your frog.

Okay we could only find Maracyn II locally. We are going to order the plus online I guess. He has seemed to get slightly better but he still will not eat. His left eye (The one out of the water the most) has gotten really red and swollen. I do not know if this is because it is dry and irritated or another symptom of something but we thought it would be a good idea to post it and we also have a picture albeit a very bad one.

[tgampper]

Sorry for the confusion, you can use either Maracyn, no need to get both (I should of wrote "or" and not "and"). The injured eye is of some concern, however the treatment for the "bloating" problem may help heal the eye.

[Dennis Whitmore]

Okay good! There seems to be some good news finally. He can SINK!!! Yayy. His eye looks a bit better also. Now should we finish up the 5 day treatment of maracyn in the hospital tank (only 1 more day) or can we put him in the regular tank? He really hates the small tank we have him in. I am so happy for him to not just float there looking miserable. Hopefully he can eat soon. Should we continue trying for earthworms or should we try reptomin? He has never been keen on dry food but we will try what is best for him.

[Dennis Whitmore]

Well, his eye got so swollen it seems to popped from the pressure. Is there anything special I should do or just wait and see? Is there anything I can add to the water to help the open sore to keep from getting infected?

He is getting more active and staying submerged.

[tgampper]

Sorry to hear about the frog's eye. I am glad to hear that the frog is becoming more active and behaving normally. About the eye, I would continue the Maracyn treatment for a couple of days to prevent any further infection. ACFs can survive quite well without eyes. The frog is designed to live in murky water where visibility is limited. Studies show that vision is used to watch for prey above the water's surface, not in the water itself. The lateral line system will help the frog in locating food. It would be great if the frog will eat pellet food, but many individuals will not touch the stuff. Feed the foods that it likes, earthworms and blackworms will work nicely.

Also, there is a product called Lymnozyme, a probiotic, that will help prevent bacterial infections.

[Dennis Whitmore]

Again, thank you so much for the help.

He is getting more and more active though still very sluggish and inactive compared to what he used to be like. His eye looks like he is healing up. We have moved him back to his regular tank since today was his 5th day in the hospital tank. We figured we would give him a bath in the hospital tank once or twice a day for say 30 min with the maracyn and quick cure. Does this sound okay?

What should we do about food? He hasn't eaten in at least a week to a week and a half and I don't know how long they can survive with out food! We have tried live worms, floating reptomin and trying to hand feed both or let them float. He just isn't interested or even acknowledging them. I am starting to get worried. We have frozen bloodworms but he didn't like them when he was fine, we haven't tried those yet. Could we chop up the bloodworms and maybe stick an oral syringe in his mouth or is there a better way to go about it?