I don't think my WTF is feeling very well

[bargaviking]

Hi guys,

So I've had my White's tree frog for about 3 months now, other than that I am completely new to taking care of frogs. For as long as I've had this guy, his behaviour seemed to be fairly consistent: he'd sleep during the day (naturally), at night 60% or so of the time he would be found sitting on the edge of his water bowl (not touching the water), occasionally he'd hop into the water, the other approximate 40% of the time he would be roaming around the walls of his tank or on the branches and fake plants. I've even heard him (I actually have no idea what sex he is) call a couple times, so I assumed all was well and I was doing things right. I'd handle him for short periods of time every day to every two days, he didn't seem to mind, he'd squirm a bit when I picked him up at first but eventually I figured out how to get him out of his tank without making him feel uncomfortable. Once he was in my hand he'd either climb around on my arms or settle down for a nice long sit, as is known to be the talent of the White's. Once he was on my arms he has pretty much never made any attempt to escape. Anyway, maybe some of this background information may be useful.

The past two days he's been acting kind of strange. First let me say that absolutely nothing has been changed in his environment as far as I am aware...The first warning sign came last night when I was watching him in his tank, as I often do. At first everything seemed fine, he walked a little bit along the rim of his water bowl, sometimes staring out at various things overhead and so forth. He settled down in one particular spot and I went off to do something...I checked on him a few hours later, and he was still on that exact same spot. Puzzled, I turned on the light and it turns out that he was sleeping! Well, I mean...his eyes were closed. I thought, huh, that's kind of weird, a nocturnal frog falling asleep in the middle of the night. I ended up gently waking him up to feed him, his appetite was absolutely normal (he has always had a good appetite and never refused a meal). After he ate, I picked him up and in a matter of minutes he fell asleep (i.e. closed his eyes) right on my arm. Well, I placed him back in his tank and went to sleep myself, after misting the tank a couple of extra times to make sure he's comfortable.

The next morning, I awoke to find him sleeping buried in the coco husk substrate, under the water bowl. He has only done this a few times the first couple nights when I got him, after that he has without fail slept attached to the glass in the upper or middle back corner of the tank; so I thought that was really unusual. When nighttime came (and it was pretty late, too) I got impatient again and woke him up for food. He ate normally, even more enthusiastically than the day before. I picked him up to look him over to make sure he is all right, and noticed that the area underneath his legs and butt were redder than usual. That area was always kind of pink, and I heard that that's normal, it's just the muscle showing through; but looking closely this time I could see a bunch of tiny, tiny red blood vessels. I panicked and thought it was redleg at first but it's just a uniform reddening, not lesions or any kind of irregular red markings, and his appetite is perfectly fine. Anyway, just to be safe I put him in a tupperware lined with wet paper towels, so he'd have something extra clean to sit on. After feeding he was pretty frisky at first, he didn't jump out of the container but did hop up onto the border once, and then back in...and then, about 10 minutes later...asleep again. Strange, even when he's alert sometimes he squints his right eye for no reason, and closes and opens his eyes a little too often in general (they're not really supposed to "blink"...are they?). So, for the past several hours again, he has been sleeping like a lump on a log or otherwise sitting motionless with closed eyes in this container. His breathing and coloration are normal.

And another thing --- he eats consistently like a champion but for a long time recently I have not been finding any stool.

Any idea what could be going on? : / I've also thought that it could be stress but I can't think that I've been doing absolutely anything different in these past few days.

[DonLisk]

I would post your environments stats such as day and night temps along with humidity percentages.
What water are you using for the water dish and misting?

Usually when WTFs burrow down into the substrate its due to low humidity. How often do you mist the tank? Pics of the tank may help too.


Don

[bargaviking]

I would post a picture but I don't have a camera on hand, it's a very basic set up anyway so maybe just a description would be ok? It's a horizontal tank but fairly tall as it is. It's lined with coco husk substrate approximately 2 inches deep, there is a water bowl, a fake plant with broad leaves that he used to hang out on sometimes, a piece of driftwood, and another fake plant (someday, perhaps, I'll be able to afford a vivarium...). That's pretty much it. I don't have a hydrometer but I mist the tank often, usually at least 2-3 times per day, and even more lately because that's exactly what I heard earlier, that my frog may be burrowing because of low humidity. I've been dutifully keeping the tank moist, but the frog stayed asleep and buried. It's not even the burrowing that concerns me most, more the weird eye stuff and atypical inactivity at night, coupled with the odd reddishness and lack of stool...

As for temperatures...winter is coming here but it's been warmer these past few days than before. The room with the tank is pretty consistently warm no matter what the temperature outside.

Oh, and for drinking and misting water I use spring water, as I have been for the entire period of taking care of this frog.

[Badger]

You should pick up a digital thermo/hygrometer when you can, make sure it has a probe, the analog type ones are infamous for being as much as 20 degrees off. Temps should be somewhere between 70-80 during the day, and have a slight nighttime drop, maybe 5-7 degrees or so. The only time I've ever heard of White's burrowing is like previously stated, when the humidity is low. If you have a space heater/radiators you could put a ceramic or metal bowl on top filled with water, this will raise the humidity in the room. But as said, you need a good hygrometer to get any accurate measure.

[DonLisk]

You should get a hydrometer since your frog depends on having the proper levels provided. How must screen material is on top of the tank?
You said you have coco husk.... is that the chunks or are you using coco fiber that is like soil?
Your WTF can easily swallow the coco husk chunks and that will cause the loss of ability to expel waste.

I would see a herp vet soon as possible if you are not finding droppings since he may have a blockage.

My other suggestions are to check that humidity. Live plants such as Snake Plant, Pothos, and Bromeliads will help retain humidity. Coco Fiber or Plantation Soil are the choice substrate.

[Badger]

If you need help finding a herp vet, this is a great website: Herp Vet Connection

Edit: I totally missed the "have not been finding stool" line. I thought about mentioning the husk, but it didn't seem relevant to this issue. Vet visit is in order. Is he more bloated than usual? If so, is he squishy or more firm? (Liquid/air).

[bargaviking]

Thank you. So, I should definitely take him to a vet? DonLisk, I am using coconut fiber but it's got some chunks in it. Badger, I don't think he is more bloated than usual, but he has been very squishy.

It's 9 in the morning, and he's right where I left him last night, in the tupperware container with paper towels, apparently sleeping...Not even moving to a different place to sleep is definitely a first. I want to check his underside to see if it's gotten any worse or better but I don't want to bother him : / And what could the weird narcolepsy be a sign of?

Edit: I just called a few offices that are close to home, and I don't think I can afford a vet visit right now, I didn't expect it to be that much...what should I do?

[bargaviking]

I might be going a little crazy but I swear I can't find the edit button this time. Sorry for the double post.

Anyway, a little update: fearing impaction, i let him soak in warm water for about 10 minutes (until the water got cold). I figured even if it doesn't help, it wouldn't hurt. The frog didn't mind, he sat there rather peacefully looking around until he fell asleep again. After the water cooled off, I heated up some more and gave him a second bath. This time he perked up a little bit, stayed alert and watched some youtube videos with me. After I poured out the water and lifted him up with the wet paper towel, I got a chance to look at his underside and it looks more normal now --- still pink but not so much red anymore. Another thing I noticed was that the area around the cloaca (that looks like a T) was reddened and appeared...I don't want to say swollen, but enlarged somehow. Maybe it means that he was trying to pass, or is about to soon? Anyway, I put him back into the tupperware and kept it on my desk as I worked for a little while. He sat still (awake) for about 5 minutes, then started shifting around a bit, then eventually crawled over the edge of the tupperware and into my lap, and hid in a fold of the blanket that was over my shoulders. I assumed this meant he wanted privacy, and put him back in his tank.
Long story short, I think he's doing a little better...Sorry if I describe everything in obsessive detail, I'm just a bit worried.

[DonLisk]

Just keep an eye on him and get a hydrometer.
Sounds like you have regular coco fiber and not husk so you should be fine with that. He can pass the fine fiber if he eats it.
You should try to give him something more natural in plants if you can, even just a single wide leaf bromeliad and snake plant.

Besides the live plant helping in humidity, you will find they love to sleep in or on the bromeliad leafs and snake plant leafs. When adding a plant you need to wash it off well to remove any chance of fertilizer or the introduction of some critter that is dormant in the plant.

I usually remove all the dirt from the root of the plants and replant it right into the coco fiber or attach it to a piece of wood, or insert it into a piece of cork round.

Good luck and keep and eye on your little guy.