Impaction scare!

[DVirginiana]

I came home for Thanksgiving vacation today to find Trevor pretty badly impacted. My mother had been soaking him in warm water every night for a week, but nothing had happened. You could feel the poop not only on his right side but actually wrapping around and going all the way under his stomach! Trevor's probably four or five inches snout to vent, so you can imagine how big this was. I was pretty freaked out, so I soaked him for awhile and still nothing. Apparently it had been almost three weeks since he had used the bathroom, and his whole side was sticking out at an odd angle.

Then I decided to try and gently massage the impaction to see if I could loosen it a bit. I was really careful because I know it's fairly easy to damage frogs' organs doing this, but really had no other option. Then I remembered something I had read about having to rub kittens on their butt to make them use the bathroom (there's a name for the procedure but I really have no clue what it is...) and figured "Eh, it's gross, but Trevor's not doing well so I should probably give it a shot". After about a minute of that, he finally used the bathroom. Needless to say it was horrifying. But he's doing fine now.

I just had to share that little horror story! He's had problems with impaction ever since I got him.. They'd put him on the wrong substrate in the pet store, and he had ingested some. He made it through, but I'm starting to wonder if it could have somehow damaged his colon? I mean, this has happened several times in less than a year, I'm just usually around to catch things before they get quite this bad. It's getting a little ridiculous!

[wesleybrouwer]

What do you feed if i may ask?
I keep frogs for quit some time now, worst I've ever seen by ingested stuff was a prolapse,
makes me wonder how its possible to keep reading about impactions, especially in a way you described this.
Maybe malnutrition can be part of a cause?

[GrifTheGreat]

I've only really had this sort of issue with Grif and it happened on 2 occations. Both lasting for 2 weeks between pooping. First I'm pretty sure was due to a pinky I had fed her and between that meal I was giving her night crawlers. The second time I believe was from hornworms which she loves. I believe the food that the Hornworms eat may have caused it. All those things do is eat and a full grown Hornworm is 4 inches long and as big around as a finger on an adult human hand so they're full of that food paste. Both times I soaked her every night in warm water for 3 to 4 days. I also always gently massage the area very carefully and perform the rump rub Lol! It does take a little time but she passes them each time.

You can also put a few drops of honey in the water to help them pass the impaction and it has natural antiallergen and antibacterial properties.

[wesleybrouwer]

Or might feed appropriate sized food items?
Sometimes it feels to me like a game, which frog can eat the biggest prey or something.
Not sure why that is.
Take a look at the bottom on simmilair threads,
so many problems on this subject while around here i never hear about it.
Strange.
As i said, in all my years never experienced such a thing, even tho i got some species that like to get everything that gets in front of them as well; even their own almost similair sized sibblings.
Must be a reason to this problem and the amount of threads.

I do keep frogs with sand in the viv, i do have stones in there, but i never experienced anything bad from it.
I believe in nature there are more sticks, pebbles and sand then i can ever put into my tank,
should i think that a wild animal will never ingest anything with it's prey?
Now i keep reading about impaction problems caused by sand and stuff like that,
but most of the cases weren't even sitting in a tank with this substrate.

I;m clueless.

[DVirginiana]

I feed dusted crickets with the hind legs removed and dubia roach nymphs. He's only eaten a pinkie once in his life, he just doesn't seem to like them. There's nothing in his tank he could be ingesting other than coco-fiber, which I don't think he gets very much of. I've seen him hunting quite often and he's pretty accurate, so he doesn't end up eating very much of that. Plus, coco-fiber isn't supposed to cause impaction.

I don't think it could be malnourishment though, because he's pretty fat, even after pooping and peeing. I think certain frogs are probably just more prone to it than others.

[GrifTheGreat]

I feed dusted crickets with the hind legs removed and dubia roach nymphs. He's only eaten a pinkie once in his life, he just doesn't seem to like them. There's nothing in his tank he could be ingesting other than coco-fiber, which I don't think he gets very much of. I've seen him hunting quite often and he's pretty accurate, so he doesn't end up eating very much of that. Plus, coco-fiber isn't supposed to cause impaction.

I don't think it could be malnourishment though, because he's pretty fat, even after pooping and peeing. I think certain frogs are probably just more prone to it than others.

They never said that coco fiber doesn't cause impaction or constipation. Its just easier to pass and less likely tp cause such ailments in your frogs. Temps and moisture levels have a lot to do with their digestion. They need heat to properly digest and metabolize their food. Spacing out meals helps to prevent such large poops that take longer to pass.