Sick whites tree frog! plz help

[nannas1mom]

UPDATE:
Dory and I just went to the vet. He was very nice and had already done a fair bit of research when we got there- he'd also contacted a friend that IS a herp vet to ask advice AND the vet that DOES treat frogs at that clinic happened to walk in just as we were leaving and took a look at her. She was quite sickly when I got there, and he radiographed her to make sure she didn't have any foreign bodies in her intestines (they were clean, with no fractures either). He gave he sub-q calcium (on the recommendation of the herp expert) and gave her metronidazole (an antibiotic) orally, and recommended I continue with the Lamasil treatment. The other vet also said since she was dehydrated we could either run her fluids or just keep soaking her in a warm bath until she re hydrated. (I chose to do the latter). Interestingly enough she perked up a LOT after the calcium, not sure if it was the stress of the injection or what- but she was actually repositioning herself into her little froggy stance. So that's good. And she's holding her head up on her own now too. I sterilized her environment (I'm throwing out her wood hutch- didn't think I could get that clean) and she's now back in there. I put 3 dusted crickets in there with her and left her alone for a little while to calm down- don't want to stress her with love. Oh and she pooped on the way home. She at least she's not obstructed.

ALSO, I saw this weird crawly bug- kinda centapedey in with her new crickets- the ones I bought after she was sick, but they came from the same place... So it's possible the old batch had them too... never seen that before.


PS- I would have totally driven an hour to the herp vet- but that vet doesn't have weekend hours and today is Sunday I would never let a car ride stop me from trying to save an animal's life.

THANKS SO MUCH!!! For all your advice, I will keep you updated on her progress and hopefully she will only continue to improve. I'm going to hold off force feeding her for a few hours- hoping the treatment the vet gave her will make her eat on her own.

[GrifTheGreat]

I'm so happy for you and Dori I really hope she makes a full recovery and am glad your vet did the research. Having someone who treats amphibians there makes it that much better. I know you would have driven that long. Anyone who goes through the trouble to do whatever they can to help their frog really loves it. I think I missed the part about the no weekend hours I wasn't making accusations I'm sorry. Post a pic of the centipede like insect maybe we can tell you what it is.

Hoping for a speedy recovery for Dori

[DonLisk]

So good to hear that the vet was well versed and had resources for helping you and Dori.

[nannas1mom]

Okay so she's in her water bowl (I put her there) and she's in a froggy stance- not floppy, and her head is up. She moves if stimulated, but she's still not interested in food. I'm about to call it and night and go to sleep early. How long until you guys think she will eat? Should I force feed her a cricket in the am if she hasn't eaten by am? Did I mention THANKS?? lol. You guys are great. I really hope she makes it.

[nannas1mom]

Praise Jesus!!! (or what ever your own higher power may be)!!! Dory just ate a cricket!!! I took her out of her water, and showed her there were crickets, and she lunged towards each of them in slow motion- very unsuccessfully so I caught one and held it in front of her and when she opened her mouth I put it in. Then she used her hands to smoosh it in her mouth and then swallowed that damn bug! I can't believe she's actually getting better. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

[nannas1mom]

More questions:

So Dory stayed in her water dish most of the night and then at some point moved herself behind the bowl to sleep. Her color looks much better, except she's developed these bright green (same color as she normally is) splotches on her back and part of her hind legs. She attempted to catch another cricket this am- but still can't do it on her own- I was afraid to put it in her mouth for her again since I'm not sure how much she really should be eating in a 24 hour period. Usually I just buy a dozen or so crickets and she eats them over a week or so. So I don't really know exactly how many she should eat in a 24 hour period. I'm soaking her now in a 2.3 percent calcium soln and she's SO much more active. The text book just said "continuous" so the vet and I weren't really sure how long that meant.

Any other care thoughts?

[DonLisk]

You could make it easier for her to get the crickets by sinking a glass cereal bowl down into the substrate an dropping the crickets in the bowl only a few at a time. Any that escape will fall back into the bowl later on. The glass is slippery to the crickets so they can not get traction to jump back out. I actually use a small glass desert bowl.

The calcium baths can continue forever actually since its one way to get all the calcium back into your frog.

I would just let her be comfortable with her home and really make no changes unless its needed for heat, humidity, or things to keep her off the substrate. Remember change is stress in a frogs life.

If she is going for a cricket, give it to her too.

[nannas1mom]

So how long should I put her in a calcium bath each time? Or should I replace her swimming water with the calcium bath?

I will try the glass bowl idea and I will help her get a hold of a cricket in the meantime. THANKS.

[DonLisk]

I would say a ten minute bath each time. How often are you doing the baths? My thought would be daily until you feel shes up to par and healthy again.

The calcium bath is replacing the missing calcium that she really needs. I would go for at least two weeks minimum.

[nannas1mom]

Well the vet gave her an injection of calcium last night and then today I went and bought the calcium at Tractor Supply- it's formulated at 23% for cattle and the veterinary amphibian book says the bath should be 2.3% so I titrated it down for her. I've only done it once today but I don't mind doing it more often.

I just put her in a glad container in her habitat and then dumped 4 dusted crickets in with her. It took her quite a few tries but she finally got one! All by herself. I'll probably try soaking her again tonight before I go to bed, and then in the AM I'll make sure she gets another cricket. She has a few in with her now, but at this point I don't think she can hunt them down by herself. I gotta say that calcium is a God send! I'm glad you guys suggested it. And for future reference (of course you should always take a sick animal to the vet, but I know some don't have that option based on their location) the calcium was over the counter at Tractor supply, but of course it isn't for frogs so you have to dilute it 1:10.

[Bolisnide]

Yay! So happy for you and the little girl!
Looks like she's getting what she needs.

[nannas1mom]

Ok I've got another question: She's still getting better, but is still kinda slow, tonight her new "feeding area" she actually caught 2 crickets at once and ate them both. Seemed like it took her a while to swallow them- is she still sick or do you think its just because she was swallowing 2 flipping bugs.... Thanks

[Kristen87]

Ok I've got another question: She's still getting better, but is still kinda slow, tonight her new "feeding area" she actually caught 2 crickets at once and ate them both. Seemed like it took her a while to swallow them- is she still sick or do you think its just because she was swallowing 2 flipping bugs.... Thanks

This is such an emotional post to read haha. Good on you for doing everything you can to get him/her better, sounds like she's definately on the mend I'm not an expert so if someone disagrees then just ignore me, but I wouldn't worry about her/him taking a while to swallow. My white's take a while to swallow their food sometimes especially if its larger insects, and her being a little sluggish still is probably because she is still getting over the illness and is probably still a bit weak. Keep up the good work, and I hope everything keeps going well for you. Keep us posted on the progress!