Hi friends,

I just got home from work and decided to pop in. This was the first post I saw.

As most of us here on this particular thread have some sort of educational and/or medical background it's will be easier to discuss... I think we are all at least somewhat analytical people. I can see where each avenue comes from. I don't think anyone is incorrect, it is just being seen through different angles. So, I feel kinda left out , and thought I'd join in .

I, myself, am thankful to have access to a herp vet via this type of access. The 'apparent' herp vet here nearly killed and was negligent to the frogs that a local store send to her when they became ill. They were dehydrated, starving and had bacterial and fungal infections. The frogs were sent to her for 2 days for diagnosis and treatment. When I followed up to see how they were doing, my friend at the pet store said they still weren't eating and she wasn't sure which meds to treat with. She returned the frogs to the pet store untreated, not rehydrated with soaks, not manually fed...nothing. That is when I adopted them and called Dr. Frye. He helped me save them. I feel I payed for his services as well.

We all know medication prices are inflated. When I had my daughter I paid $200+ for one time doses of Advil and a quick lido injection before a few stitches. We pay for the service delivery. I think his way of pricing is acceptable to the buyer if the buyer agrees on the price. It is our job to research and compare costs between providers.

When I adopted Twiggy, my first retf rescue, he was full of infected scratches from being housed with lizards. I took him to a vet. It cost me $182 for her to to do skin cultures, and to provide me with a couple sterile saline syringes. Her answer to his treatment plan was to irrigate him daily with the NS syringe. That was it. I was not a happy camper. When I asked her if I should treat him with neosporin she said no. So, I ignored her instructions, went home and boiled dechlorinated water, sterilized a hospital tank, diluted the NS to 50% less with the boiled water, irrigated him with the cooled dilute NS mix, followed be a cooled boiled dechlorinated water irrigation, applied neosporin daily for 4 or 6 weeks I think it was, gently force fed him, cleansed the hosp tank with pre-prepared cooled boiled dechlorinated water daily, and also changed the water daily as such. He healed up. This was before the incident listed above. Money wasted.

I guess what I'm wanting to say is we are paying for the education, time consumed and then shared in terms of teaching, and then delivery of the care items. Is his care overpriced? Isn't all health and vet care? I wish we did have cheaper access to the meds we need.

Honestly, as a nurse, all I need is the infectious source and agent, the proper drug, and a proper dosing scale and I could do it myself. It's no different in terms of animals to humans except some of the drugs used and the Rx doses are tinier, so to speak. With culture results with sensitivities, we could all do it if we had a dosing guideline. Unfortunately most of don't, nor do we have direct access to the medications.

I talk to our infectious disease physicians at work quite often about my frogs. They love to talk about them. We discuss things like human diseases caused by bacterial flora most found on amphibians and common protozoan infections. Interestingly enough, some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics used to treat human bowel disorders and infections can be used or are derivatives of the antibiotics to treat common frog infections. I could write a whole book about it, but that's for another time. Now, if only they could prescribe the meds for me .

But, too, we have to remember that most customers are frog owners without a medical background. They are paying for the education that goes along with the medications, ailment of the frog, etc. Healthcare is overpriced no matter which way we look at it.

The best vet care would certainly be a well educated and experienced herp vet that is local so any sick frogs can have an actual exam. That I agree with for sure. I feel Dr. Frye provides us with a service for those that do not have that privilege. I may be partial because he has helped me save 6 frogs up to this point, but I am thankful.

Sorry to blab on and on...I tend to enjoy writing. And, of course, I also know that this is only my opinion.

Feel free to comment.