Woodhouse Toad sick - reddish brown spots on belly. Please Help!

[Amphibifan]

Hello Everyone. My wild caught woodhouse toad is sick. Princess Petunia Pearl (My sister helped come up with that one) has ruddy colored spots on her belly, just above her forelegs. They're about the size of her eyeballs (Not too big, not too small). There isn't a ton of them, and there isn't any kind of consistent pattern. In fact they sort of resemble a star constellation. They're concentrated in that one area. Over the past couple of days they have darkened from a bright red to a muddy brown. I also noticed a few on her sides but am not sure if they're just warts, as she is brown right now due to the winter temps and her upcoming shed. Also, her hind legs have a tint of red to them. I've lost some amphibians in the past to red-leg, so needless to say I'm really worried.

As to the spots, my theory is that they are bites from mites. I noticed a few tiny red bugs crawling over her lately so I believe they are the cause of this. I'm currently cleaning her cage thoroughly: Rinsing some objects in a bleach solution and others I'll be heating in the oven. I believe the tinge of red is either my overactive imagination or a sign of the stress which the little beasts are causing my dear toad.

I tried an experiment with substrates on several of my enclosures and I believe that repti-bark is pretty awful. It became soggy too quickly and the mites seemed to set in super fast. I've switched to a different substrate now so I hope to avoid the mites, but Anyway, let me know your thoughts on the subject, especially as to the cause of the spots. Princess hasn't been herself lately, she hardly moves at all whereas before she'd keep me up at night with all her antics. Please help.

P.S. I am selling my Male juvenile Pyxie. He is a great frog but I have to let him go as I'm about to leave on an LDS mission and he'll be too much for my family to take care of in addition to my other critters. Please check the wanted/for sale section soon.

[Pandora3d]

aw, poor little girl

i don't know enough to offer any help, i'm sure others will let you know their thoughts soon though - good luck!!
ps. if you have any pics that might help others, i'm sure someone will ask eventually....lol

[Poly]

Hello and welcome to the Forum!

This does sound like a possible case of red leg, some photos would help.

If you could get a photo of one of the red insects, that might also help.

Could you post a photo of it's enclosure the way it was before you cleaned it?

Also, the best and safest substrate to use is coco-fibre, what are you currently using?

~Royce

[Amphibifan]

I've spent the afternoon researching and I've found some clues - none of which are very comforting. I looked into a bacteria named Serratia. Apparently it strikes Bufo Americanus in a similar way that my Woodhousei is experiencing with the red abscesses. Apparently intense fluctuations of temperature might contribute in bringing it about. If this is indeed what she's come down with, then it might've stemmed from an honest mistake on my part. Where I live it is darn cold during the winter, and I started to notice Petunia winding down and sleeping most of the day. But like I said, it gets DARN cold, so I put a lamp on her anyway just in case. About a month ago I adopted an adult bearded dragon which this kid didn't want anymore. I was slightly unprepared by not having an extra lamp, so I temporarily gave petunia's lamp to the dragon just until I could buy a new hood and bulb which I did within 48 hours of getting the lizard. So petunia got cold, as I didn't have the heat vent on full bore as it dries out tropical terrariums far too much. I gave her back the lamp, but she didn't even seem to notice it (she loves the lamp) so I took it off after a few weeks, thinking that perhaps it was best just to let it be and accept the winter. (It's her first by the way, I caught her in July.) I heard some animals needed that. Then I started to notice her "Drunken" wobble while I was feeding her and so I switched once again to the lamp. I just couldn't make up my mind what was best for her, as I never had to deal with the issue in my other reptiphibians nearly as much, if at all. I'm afraid that through these good intentions I really stressed her out, thus leaving her open for either the Serratia theory or the Red Leg theory. Add on top that the mites, and you can see the poor girl is having a rough time of it.

In reply to Royce, the substrate I used was repti-bark. I don't like it at all for the toad, as the area around her bowl gets soggy fast, and then it seems to spread to the other chips. Also, the chips are quite sharp and perhaps through a combination of a cut mixed with the gross bark, Petunia may have gotten infected. I don't know, as you can tell I overthink way bad. It's just I'm so worried, the scholarly books I consulted at the university mention several diseases with similar symptoms and they all say that it is more than likely fatal. I'm trying to get to a vet now, but even if she does pass away, at least I've learned a great amount to help prevent anything like that in the future.

P.S. I'm working on the photos, but I can't guarantee I'll find a bug. To tell you the truth, I'll be happy if I never see another one of those bugs again. There wasn't a whole lot of them, mind you, and most were living on Petunias favorite hide, a typical "Half-Log" you find in every pet store. I haven't cleaned that yet so maybe I can find one there. Just know that they were absolutely TINY and red. And as to the enclosure, I can recreate it in the photo with the same furniture, but it won't be the "Original" per say, as the bark is already in the garbage. Basically it is comprised of fake and synthetic stones including a wall upon which she can climbs or dig under...wait a minute! Perhaps the bark wasn't the cause, just something that made it worse! The natural stones may have harbored the mites! When I collected them I rinsed them in hot water for a couple minutes but that probably wasn't enough-it was only recently that I learned you have to bake them prior to putting in the enclosure. That's probably it, I didn't really think about it until I started to describe my tank. I had them sitting around since fall, and I only put them in about a month or so ago which is when all the trouble started. Yikes, I feel so bad. And to think that I thought she was the easiest out of all my pets! I just need to remember to learn from my mistakes.

Sorry for this long post, but it helps me to think things through.

Thanks all for your concern and wish her luck!

[tgampper]

Mites are a common parasite with wild caught frogs and toads. Treating mites is quite easy. You can open a tetracycline capsule (for treatment of tropical fish) and pour powder in a 1/4 cup of distilled water, mix thoroughly. Place a couple of drops on the toads belly. Refrigerate unused portion. Retreat procedure 24 hours later. Before applying to toad, make sure the solution is at room temperature. Discard after second application. This should get rid of the mites. Clean and sterilize the terrarium, furniture and replace substrate.

[Amphibifan]

Great News! The blotches are entirely gone! She just shed and her belly is clear again. Her legs are still a little pink, but I've personally seen red leg and it doesn't look too threatening at the moment. I've got the lighting under control and fresh substrate. She's moved out of her log and back into her pool again, and has even attempted to climb her rock wall like she used to before the illness. (She's made it to the top a couple of times, and just sat that like she was so proud of herself.) I think we made it!

Thanks for the advice and concern!

PS: I mentioned posting a pixie frog for sale on this site. I still might do that, but I'm trying to do it locally first. I'll give it about a month before I resort to selling him online, as I have no experience either selling or buying animals through the internet. Anyway, I'm going on an LDS mission very soon so I'm trying to lighten the load for my family while I'm gone when it comes to my reptiphibians, otherwise I wouldn't even think of selling Johann Sebastian Bullfrog. Just so you know!

[Amphibifan]

Update on the selling of my pixie frog: I have now posted in the give away section of this forum an ad for sebastian. Time is of the essence with my mission departure coming up very fast, so I've changed my mind and decided to expand my market to the internet right away. Please go and read that post and message me if interested.