Discolored spot (possible sore?) on my male tomato, and mites in his terrarium.

[Mikae3000]

Seems that my male tomato, Makoto, is having some troubles again. Let me start with the mites and I'll lead up the spot I found on him.

Makoto has two favorite spots in his terrarium: underneath his half-log and buried in the corner of the terrarium next to the half-log. For the past three weeks or so he's only moved between these two spots, and I haven't seen him venture out from these areas the whole time. For the two months or so I've had him, this isn't unusual behavior. He eats his crickets and has seemed fine. He gets mad at me if I try to move or touch him, so I've just left him be and make sure he's fed, has water, etc. However, the past two nights he's been active and I've seen him walking around his terrarium (I added some new live plants, so maybe he was checking those out). Well, this morning he was out and about still, so I took the time to look at him for a bit, and I started noticing some things....

First, his hind quarters were all covered in wet substrate, and within that I saw all these tiny white bugs crawling on him. From reading, I figured these were mites, and after looking it up online, I'm pretty sure they are little detritus mites. So, I took a photo of his behind (later in the post), and set him in his soaking dish and poured some fresh bottled water on his back until the dirt and mites were washed away--he seemed to enjoy this too. I then pulled up his half-log and looked at the two spots where he likes to stay, and sure enough, these areas were quite moist and dirty (from his fecal matter I assume) and had a bunch of mites in it. I took out the substrate from these areas and mixed fresh coconut fiber in. I also found a piece of waste that he made last night, and sure enough, it was covered in the mites too. I broke open his waste to make sure there wasn't anything else in there, but only mites (took a photo too).

From what I can read online, the mites seem to be fairly common in terrariums and harmless to frogs. Dendrobates will actually eat them. However, I'm not sure being covered in them is good for a frogs health.... Should I be worried about this? Should I do a complete substrate change? Any way for me to reduce them in the terrarium? I don't seem to have them in my two adult female tomato's terrarium. Only in Makoto's.

Now, for the second part. After I washed the substrate and mites off of Makoto, I found a discolored spot on his lower back. It's a slightly pink area and the skin looks slightly transparent maybe. I might describe it as a sore, but not sure. There's no blisters, or cuts, or bleeding or anything like that. However, I gently touched the spot and he seemed to panic and jumped away quickly, like that spot hurt or was sensitive to touch. Otherwise, he seems fine. His behavior is fine and typical of him. He tries to hop and get away from being touched or picked up. Croaks occasionally at night. He has plenty of energy it seems. He's eating. His eyes are clear, and no other odd spots I've noticed. He did shed his skin about two weeks ago, but I don't think that would be a cause or symptom of this, but I'm not sure.

So yeah, I'm not sure if this is a sore, or a bruise or something else. Should I try to take him to a vet?

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At any rate, here are the "Trouble in the Enclosure" questions:
1. Size of enclosure --- 10 gallon long
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences --- 1 tomato frog
3. Humidity --- 70-80%
4. Temperature --- 75-80F during the day, 70-75 at night
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish --- bottled spring water for soaking dish, tap water for misting
6. Materials used for substrate --- coconut fiber
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. --- 1 artificial hanging plant, 1 small cork wood log thing that's halfway buried under the substrate, 1 wood half-log, few different pothos like live plants, 1 plastic soaking dish
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. --- Just put them in--washed off everything with water first. cleaned the tank with water first. Made sure the temp and humidity was correct.
8. Main food source --- Crickets
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) --- Vitamins and Calcium mixture at every feeding
10. Lighting --- I have a 15 watt day light spectrum CFL.
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure. Nothing at the moment. The temp where I live keeps it at the right temp.
12. When is the last time he/she ate --- Today
13. Have you found poop lately --- Yes, from last night
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) --- bottom of post
15. How old is the frog --- Around 7 months old.
16. How long have you owned him/her --- 2 months.
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred --- captive bred
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats --- Every other day right now. Just crickets with the occasional dubia roach.
19. How often the frog is handled --- Not at all if I can help. I've handled him some today though.
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area --- Low. Just me passing buy now and then.
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) --- Mist it when needed to keep humidity up, and I like to change the water out of the soaking dish every day.
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Photos:

Can see the discolored area and the mites that were on him.

Broken up waste with mites covering it.

Discolored area.

[GrifTheGreat]

You're going to have to remove everything and scrub down the enclosure. You want to get rid of those mites. They will begin to stress him out from crawling all over him. You will have to soak him really well to be sure all the mites are off him.

Remove any furniture and plants fake or live and waste them off really well. Throw away any driftwood because their could be eggs within it. Substrate needs to be new of course. They could have come from the substrate when you expanded it or if its the bagged kind that is pre-expanded. They seem to be more common in the pre-expanded bags of Eco Earth for some reason.

As for the discolored area. I can't be sure what may have caused it or if its a sore. All frogs react when touched from behind. Its a reflex so they react quickly to escape a potential predator. You can apply Original Neosporin to the area twice a day and see if their is any change for the better. Could just be a scrape from one of his furniture items.

Try and be more diligent when it comes to removing the frog's waste. If left in there it will grow mold, fungus, and bacteria. You don't want him becoming ill.

[KingCam]

Grif is right the mites need to be eliminated. As far as the discoloration, it looks like a healed up scar to me. Are you sure it hasn't always been there?

[Mikae3000]

Okay, I'll change everything out tonight and give him a good soak. I got some original Neosporin for him too, and I'll try a little on that spot--although I hope it is just something like a scar.

I always make sure to clean up any stray poop in the terrariums, but I tend not to dig around too much in the holes my tomatoes make. I'll start cleaning those areas too. I worry about Makoto though. He can spend days in one spot like a pac-man frog will, and he gets stressed out if I try to move him. Today he's already buried himself completely in the substrate in response to me messing with him yesterday. I guess I'll just try to clean up after he moves.

As for the spot on his back. I checked this morning before he buried himself, and it looks the same. I'm fairly certain that it wasn't there a few weeks ago. That's just the trouble. He's half buried in one spot for days and days so I can't see him well, and if I mess with him at all other than just feeding him, he gets all stressed out and reclusive. So, I always try to make sure I don't stress him. I guess I need to strike a balance between stressing him and making sure everything is okay with him. I don't have the same issue with my females as they're frequently active and I can give them a good look over all the time.

[Mikae3000]

Update on Makoto:

I did a complete cleaning of his terrarium the other night, and no more mites so far. I've put four applications of the Neosporin on the spot on his back, and it seems to be healing up. The pink discoloration has gone away and there's only a white area that's getting smaller now. I'll keep applying some ointment for awhile longer and keep a close eye on him. So far though, he's doing better. I'm beginning to think maybe it was some kind of irritation from the mites.

Thank you so much for your help! =D I'll be more careful to watch out for things like mites in the future.

[GrifTheGreat]

Update on Makoto:

I did a complete cleaning of his terrarium the other night, and no more mites so far. I've put four applications of the Neosporin on the spot on his back, and it seems to be healing up. The pink discoloration has gone away and there's only a white area that's getting smaller now. I'll keep applying some ointment for awhile longer and keep a close eye on him. So far though, he's doing better. I'm beginning to think maybe it was some kind of irritation from the mites.

Thank you so much for your help! =D I'll be more careful to watch out for things like mites in the future.

You're welcome.