Hi, I am new to this frog thing and honestly, am taking over for my son who is not taking as good of care of his frog as he needed to be. I am involved now because the frog is sick and I am worried sick about her.
Our frog (Cha Cha) has not eaten more than 2 wax worms in the last month. She had been sitting in her water for almost all day sometimes. I finally treated her for chytrid and I know that this is not recommended but I used the cream because I went to every store in town and that is all I could find. I used one ml of the cream and 200 ml of frog safe water. I melted the cream in warm water and took the solids out. I kept him in the water for only one minute because I was rather scared about how it would impact him. But I will say I took him out and he was more lively than he had been in a month and turned bright green which he has not done for the longest (he has been brown or dark green all of the time lately). He was moving in a weird way with his legs and sat in the water the next day and it some of his skin was shedding. I realized he had been shedding for a while in the water but I had not realized what it was.
But that was two nights ago. I have not done it again.
I noted that his legs are red and it is not normal. They were white when we first got him (I looked at an old pic my son had taken).
So I decided to treat him for a bacterial infection with some baytril that the vet had given me (long story but I took him to the vet on Friday and he did not know anything about frogs cause he told me to put drops of the medication on his back) I put .3cc in a gal of water and he has the water in his enclosure. I am spraying him with it also. I have just been doing that today.
He is more lethargic today than ever. I thought he was dead and was going to pick him up (I was heartbroken) and he finally woke up. I feel like he is dying. I am in desperate need of advice. I noticed it looks like the skin on his back is a little thick and it is kind of peeling.
Please help.
Carol
Sorry to hear that you're dealing with a sick frog. It is not a fun thing to do, and can be heartbreaking. The most alarming thing you have said about the sick frog so far is the red legs. This could be a sign of having "red leg disease" which are any of a few bacterial infections that can cause hemorrhaging in the legs. It is serious and usually fatal.
The biggest cause is usually. The following questions are in the "trouble in the enclosure?" thread that can help people better help you diagnose what went wrong. Pictures of the sick frog are also highly helpful.
1-size of enclosure
2-# on inhabitants - specifically ( if there is another frog ---size differences ?)
3-humidity
4-temp
5-water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6-materials used for substrate
7-enclosure set up i.e. plants( live or artificial) wood, bark etc -how were things prepared prior to being put into the viv
8-main food source
9-vitamins and calcium ? ( how often )
10-lighting
11-what is, specifically, being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12-when is the last time he ate
13-have you found poop lately
14-a pic would be great ( including the frog ) any little cell phone pic is fine
15- how old is the frog
16-how long have you owned him
17- is the frog wild caught or captive bred
18- frog food- how often and if its diverse what other feeders are used as treats
19- about how often the frog is handled
20-is the enclosure is kept in a high or low traffic area
Aside from telling us more about the enclosure, you can do a couple of things to help him in the meantime. First thing is a hospital tank. Move him into another tank (a smaller tank will do Put a couple of fake vines or vine clippings for hiding, moist plain white paper towels as a substrate, a food bowl and water bowl. Keep the enclosure at around 80F in the day and a little cooler around 75F at night. Try to keep the humidity around 75%. This is to try to keep a sterile environment for them to recover in. You can also try giving him a bath in a solution of 1-10 non flavored Pedialyte and distilled water. This may help to give him a bit more energy. You may have to force feed him soon if he doesn't start eating on his own. Note that this is very stressful to the frog, and is not fun to do. I wouldn't worry about the shedding skin, they do this every day, they usually shed and then eat the skin.
If he still has problems I'd look for a veterinarian that specializes in exotic animals. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. I have him in a bath with pedialite and baytril because the vet we went to last Friday gave us some. He knew nothing about frogs and luckily I read on here how to administer it because he told me to put it full strength right onto his back. I put .3cc in a gallon of water. He has been doing that for a day off an on. He seems a little better to me. I guess. I am going to just keep treating him for this and see if he gets better. He is still not eating. He lunges at the cricket and then he kind of gives up. It is kind of weird.
If you have any other ideas let me know. Thanks, Carol
Please post a photo or two of the frog and enclosure.
What are the enclosure temps both day and night?
What is the humidity and ho often do you mist the enclosure?
Do you de-chlorinate the water? Is the wwater tp or spring water?
You can try putting the crickets into a cereal type glass or similar bowl. Let him go in after them. The bowl needs to be slippery inside that is why I suggest glass but anything slippery and a rounded bottom works since the crickets can not get traction and jump out.
The crickets need to be no longer then the distance between the frogs eyes.
1.0.0 Red Eyed Leaf/ Frog - Agalychnis callidryas
1.1.1 Bumblebee Dart Frog - Dendrobates leucomelas
1.1.0 Dendrobates truncatus - Yellow Striped
1.1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius – Bakhuis Mountain
1.1.0 - Dendrobates tinctorius - Powder Blue
1.1.0 - Ranitomeya vanzolinii
Okay so the enclosure just changed. I did not realize that the old one we were using was not adequate until I started reading on here to find out what was wrong with him. I think the problem may be that he was in a smaller enclosure with holes in the side. I was not staying humid at all. It was all wrong. I feel horrible about it.
So now, as of last weekend he is in a 10 gallon tank with a read heat lamp and foil on the top of the screen enclosure (vet said to do this, hope that is okay). I keep the tank about 80 now. Was more like 75 prior to this. He was sitting in the water all the time before we moved him to get wet enough because there was not enough humidity and then my son was not changing the water every day. It was mostly my fault because he has told me over and over he needed a different tank and I did not believe him.
So I believe he may have gotten a bacterial infection from the water not being cleaned for like 3 or 4 days at a time.
Now I am a cleaning it every day. Misting maybe 5 or 6 times per day and keeping the temp like 80 day and night.
He has always eaten crickets by taking him out of his enclosure and putting him in a 12" round container with a few crickets at a time. He would eat them and we would put him back. We did not want to just leave them in the enclosure to stress him out.
I think that the crickets are a little bigger than the space between his eyes.
He is on paper towels at the moment due to being sick and trying to keep it sanitary in the tank. There is a vine and a branch in there with the small water bowl and another bowl with a few wax worms which he has not touched. We use spring water with him.
What do you think?
Carol
Hi Carol,
Sounds better
Temps can drop at night down to 68 - 70 and day of 75 - 80 is good. Humidity should be between 50 and 70 percent and Heat and lighting will burn off humidity but light is essential to create a day and night cycle. Humidity will rise when you shut off the tank lights also.
Temps can be controlled by raising or lowering the light off the top of the tank and usually there is no need for a special bulb unless supporting plants. A Compact Florescent 13 watt bulb should do you fine for controlling both heat and lighting in a 10 gallon tank.
Stress is also a frogs enemy so handling should be kept to a minimum if possible.
A few loose crickets won't bother him as long as its not over run with crickets. The bowl method works great and if sunk into the substrate will catch loose cricket since they fall in and can't get back out. My RETFs are fed by the bowl method and wait patiently for it to be filled :-)
Put a gauge for monitoring humidity in the tank, it will raise dramatically when you mist but will give you a good idea of when the humidity is dropping and rising. Place it about 1/2 way up the side of the tank. Note that when you mist if will probably max out at first since the mist got it wet, but will soon drop to what the ambient humidity is in the tank soon after misting.
Hope some of this help and keep us posted on his condition. Oh, find a good Herp Vet so you know where to go in case of an emergency.
Here is a link that may help in finding one: Herp Vet Connection
1.0.0 Red Eyed Leaf/ Frog - Agalychnis callidryas
1.1.1 Bumblebee Dart Frog - Dendrobates leucomelas
1.1.0 Dendrobates truncatus - Yellow Striped
1.1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius – Bakhuis Mountain
1.1.0 - Dendrobates tinctorius - Powder Blue
1.1.0 - Ranitomeya vanzolinii
Okay, I was thinking I need to get a humidity guage. I will. I also need to get some calcium for his crickets. We feed our gecko calcium but not the frog. I talked to a vet that deals w/ frogs out of Australia and he said that the batril I am giving him is way to diluted and I should do .23ml to an ounce of water and put two drops on him per day. I put one on him this morning. I am guessing that it was not strong enough to make much of a difference from what he told me.
I hope he starts to feel better but all of these are huge changes so I see how we were not keeping him in the right conditions at all. I feel super bad. Thanks for your help.
Oh, so this may be kind of dumb but does the bowl need to be clear glass so he can see the crickets? Are you sure they can't get out?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)