Nelly - Bad News

[BerryNight]

Most of you know my white's tree frog, Nelly. So August 5th I went to SC for vacation and left a responcable neighbor in charge of my frogs. We got back the 11th and my frogs looked fine and the friend that took care of them said they ate well and everything else was fine too. A few days later i noticed she hasnt been eating and now its August 18th and she hasn't eaten anything for 8 days! I'm very worried, she's getting thin and nothing has changed! The habitat and weather and feeding times have been fine but when I try feeding her she just won't eat. I found that she lays in her water dish a lot and soaks, even though the humitity is always around 70-75%. Can someone please tell me what I should do to help her? I'm feeding her the same stuff as well. (Crickets.) Please help?

[kevinpilon1]

hmm that's no good. I will offer some thoughts, but it's speculation. you will probably need to do a little research as well. could you post a current pic of Nelly? I'm a bit wary of the humidity level.

1) Possible impaction: this could result in a bloated frog rather than a skinny frog, and could be treated with various honey/sugar-water treatments. I've never done that before, so i don't know the method but i've seen people on other forums use it and maybe even on this forum.

2) Chytrid: pretty lethal disease, but treatable. The most common sign is excessive shedding of the skin but not all species exhibit this, some may become slimy, gooey or milky looking instead. The skin may start flaking and/or become dry, lacking the slime layer and making them feel rough or less slippery. The color may become pale or splotchy or even darker than normal. Infected frogs often may become lethargic and lose their appetite, sometimes not moving at all, not even to right themselves when turned on their backs. Some will have a hunched over posture. (symptom description obtained from petlifeforums)

3)Red Leg: read this article for description of this disease
'Red-leg' Syndrome in Amphibians | petMD

help for treatment with red leg: How to Care for a Sick Frog with Red Leg Disease: 8 steps

Now if your frog is sitting in the water constantly, it could potentially have chytrid, red leg, or a parasite outbreak. the soaking in water is an attempt to cleanse itself.

Some questions to ask yourself:
which symptoms are being displayed in Nelly?
have you been giving her proper vitamin calcium supplementation with her food?
is the water being kept clean and de-chlorinated?
did the frog sitters make any mistakes? like adding water directly from the faucet, etc?


immediate steps:
get Nelly in a quarantine tank if you haven't yet. simple paper towel on the bottom, changed daily, a place to hide, dish with super clean de-chlorinated water changed daily, ample ventilation.
Lower the humidity. 50 percent is just fine for her, and the higher humidity could possibly have been a contributing factor to the illness. if she is able to climb in to the water dish on her own, then the ambient humidity of your house is no problem for the time being, unless she's right next to an air conditioning duct or something like that. i have my white's in a screen tank and she has been healthy for years with zero misting and a northern midwest humidity level.
clean out her normal tank, use the 5% bleach cleaning method or something similar, rinse it very well and let it completely dry before setting it back up.

I'm no expert, but I hope this can help point you in the right direction in determining what the problemo is. Good luck!

[FrogLoving17]

I am sorry to hear about Nelly
It would be very helpful to post a picture so we can help you diagnose what is wrong with Nelly.
Like what Kevin said, I would try to get her into a hospital tank with paper towels at the bottom so you can watch her closely
Also try to keep the humidty st 50-60%. If Nelly still won't eat in a few days, I suggest you try force feeding her.
i hope Nelly gets better!

[BerryNight]

Thank you guys. I did put her in a hospital tank and I put a damp towel down with her water dish and a cricket. Also last night I put her in a dish filled with water so that she had just enough room to breathe and she soaked there for a little bit. Surprisingly this morning she looked a little less thinner than yesterday but the cricket wasn't eaten. I'm happy that she looks a little better. I'll try to post a picture. I'm going to take the picture right now and like I said, she might not look as thin as she was before.

[kevinpilon1]

that's good news! you may have to start force feeding her if she continues to not eat. Ideally, you want to get a fecal exam done by a competent veterinarian. there are people who have explained how to do this on dendroboard.com as well as this site I'm sure. she doesn't appear to have red leg, and i'm surprised she is climbing the walls and very active. What supplements do you use to dust her crickets?

[kevinpilon1]

one more thing, the quarantine looks good, but you should put some sort of apparatus in there where she can hide if need be, to reduce stress level. even black paper on three sides of the tank is helpful.