Please help. I think it's dropsy. :(

[Rorschach]

Are you certain its dropsy? Dropsy would need a vets attension.

Does the bloat feel like fluid or air? Is it hard or soft?

I'm not a vet, but from all the sites I've read, that's what I'd guess. I wouldn't say his belly is hard. It feels more like it's full of fluid than air. Firmer than air would be, I think. It's the only FBT I've ever had, so I am completely inexperienced, but I've had him for over a year and a half with no issue. I got him from a friends sister who no longer wanted him and she didn't have any problems either. I didn't even know this sort of thing could happen.

What would a vet do to treat dropsy? I have a hard time believing there's nothing I can do myself. I'll call my regular vet in the morning to see if he treats frogs and will do so without breaking my bank.

[GrifTheGreat]

I'm not a vet, but from all the sites I've read, that's what I'd guess. I wouldn't say his belly is hard. It feels more like it's full of fluid than air. Firmer than air would be, I think. It's the only FBT I've ever had, so I am completely inexperienced, but I've had him for over a year and a half with no issue. I got him from a friends sister who no longer wanted him and she didn't have any problems either. I 8didn't even know this sort of thing could happen.

What would a vet do to treat dropsy? I have a hard time believing there's nothing I can do myself. I'll call my regular vet in the morning to see if he treats frogs and will do so without breaking my bank.

A vet could possibly drain the fluid. Something that isn't in your ability to do safely.

I could suggest giving him a shallow bath of de-chlorinated water and Epsom Salt. The mixture should be one teaspoon of Epsom salt per 1 gallon of de-chlorinated water.

What kind of water do you use and do you have a filter and circulation pump in the Toads water source? Do you regularly make water changes?
I'm not sure if the bath will work for Dropsy.

[GrifTheGreat]

If you attemp the Epsom salt bath make sure the water is shallow enough for the frog to sit in comfortably and not havebto swim. Also be sure the water is luke warm. Soak for 20 minutes per day until the bloating is gone.

I would still consult a vet.

I have to go. Have to work early in the morning. Do keep me posted.

[Rorschach]

I use tap water treated with aqua safe for reptiles & amphibians. It's a half land/half water 55 gallon tank, but there's maybe 15 gallons of water in it. I have a small in-tank filter with a bio-scrubber thing and a waterfall that contains 2 filter cartridges. I remove/add water periodically and change filters, but obviously not often enough. I also recently learned that my timer wasn't working and the light had been staying on all the time, which led to a lot of algae growth, which I'm sure didn't help.

His quarantine tank is set up with a rock-bowl that's shallow containing water treated with honey and the maracyn 2. I will try the epsom bath tomorrow as I, too, have to get to sleep for work in the morning. I'll also call my vet.

Thanks very much for responding. I really appreciate it. Hope my poor little guy pulls through.

[FrogFriend]

I had an African Dwarf Frog that came down with Dropsey. It's horrible! His entire body swelled up to the point where he looked like he was squinting and his mouth swelled making it difficult to open his mouth to eat. From what I remember he was quite hard feeling, like a balloon blown up with too much air- ready to pop. Everything I had read gave a bad prognosis. I am not a vet either, but if your toad is still eating and active then you are still doing ok. You can check online for Vets in your area and see if any of them do exotics. I chose my vet because she did have exotic knowledge and experience (her parents were vets at the Phoenix Zoo for over 20 yrs). I see her Monday, I will pick her brain- she knows I have FBTs and got excited to hear I had them. But ask your vet if he doesn't do exotics if he knows a vet who does.

[Rorschach]

I called my regular vet this morning and as I suspected, he doesn't see frogs. There's one exotic vet I've found, but it's expensive and not close, which means I would have to take off work to take him, and I have not been able to do so. Not to mention the expense in just getting there, plus just an exam is $55, any treatment will be well beyond that, and I'd lose wages by not working for at least half a day. I simply don't have a couple hundred bucks to spend. As stated originally, a vet just isn't an option.

He was still alive this morning but didn't look any less swollen. He's pretty firm like a full water balloon, as you describe. Did your ADF pull through? Were there things you tried to treat it that worked/didn't work?

Thanks so much for your input. I'll look forward to hearing what your vet says.

[FrogFriend]

Well, just as you have done, I isolated him from the rest of the tank because if I remember correctly it can pass to other members of your tank. When we had an infection in one of our fish tanks we emptied the tank, sterilized everything (sat in hot water with white vinegar, once water cooled we took tongs and DIPPED everything into a large pot of boiling water and left everything out to dry) left the fish in the tank and treated with Ick that covers a few different things, and then scrubbed down the tank. You have to be careful what you dip into the hot water, we dipped our gravel hose in there and it messed up the shape of the hose because the plastic is thinner there. Once everything had cooled we reassembled the tank and everyone has been doing great. When I did my search for Dropsy, it was for ADFs. I just did a search now for "care for Dropsy in amphibians" and got this:How to Cure Frog Dropsy | eHow.com I would say give it a shot. If it is Dropsy it's not going to make anything worse. As for my ADF, he died within a couple of days because he couldn't eat. I cut up the food into tiny little pieces and used a chopstick to get it down to Fabi to eat, but like I said, he got to a point where he was so swollen he couldn't even open his mouth. He also got VERY pale and turned from a nice tan/brown color to creamish white. Do you have any pictures of your toad that you can post? That might help for those of us who have seen it. You might also consider searching for images of dropsy in FBT. I hope this helps! I really hope that it isn't Dropsy or that you can do one of these home remedies to help him! Keep us posted!