Blister looking thing on leg

[Mandy]

I have 8 DWARF african aquatic frogs, tonight when I went to feed, I noticed one of my frogs has a white blister looking thing on it's back "thigh" area. It covers most of the upper leg. Anyone heard of this. I do have a picture, hoping it uploaded ok.... HELP?

[Mandy]

Haha not really the thigh area either...There's a picture....anyways I'm off to bed, hope there are a few answers in the morning, and froggy is okay! Thanks in advance!

[kmichael55]

To me it looks like some sort of trauma occurred to injure the leg. It is possible that one of his tankmates may have bitten him over food.
What size tank do you have them in?

Are there any sharp decorations that he may have rubbed against/gotten scratched by/ etc?

A blister is fluid building up between layers of skin, usually from an injury or possibly a burn. Do you have a heater in your tank?

I don't see any blood under the skin, so that's a good sign. Is the frog acting like it hurts? (I know this is a loose description but favoring the other leg, acting funny, etc.?)

Do you think it is more like a fungus/infection?? I don't think ADFs can get Ich...but they can get a fungus called Chytrid in which case I would isolate the frog.

I don't think it would hurt to do a slightly salty water bath. I am copying the following from another thread:

"I would set up another tank - about 10+ gallons for the frog and use a tupperware to administer salt baths.

Use Epsom salt, 1/2 TEAspoon per gallon of water. Remember to treat with conditioner like you do for your tank during water changes. Leave the frog in the bath for up to one hour daily.

Put the frog in the QT (10 + gallon tank mentioned earlier). Do not put the salt bath water in the tank."



Sorry for the lengthy/all over the place reply, just trying to throw some ideas out there of what it may be.

[Mandy]

Thanks for all of your valuable information.
I wondered if it could of been a burn from the heater as well... That's what it looks like to me.
Thus far it just looks like a white blister, no sign of blood/redness.
He is acting like it hurts, but still swims up for air, and such.
These guys currently live in a 25 gallon tank, with 2 small pleco's and a betta ( not aggressive towards the frogs at all )
There are decorations, that he could have injured himself on I suppose.
But to me it looks like a burn. I don't see any open bites or anything like that.

[rodsboys]

Lots of possibilities as to what the cause could be. I would just let it heal on it's own for now. If it gets worse then the possibilities are a bit more limited.
That is a nice size ACF by the way. I assume it is a female. How old is it?

[Mandy]

I got this one in November 2012 - They were MUCH smaller than, so I assume they were either underweight, or babies.
Mine are all quite large, I feed them well! They Love their blood worms, and Brine Shrimp!
The wound is looking better already...I assume it is just a burn from the heater. Acting normal now!
Thanks.

[mpmistr]

That is one huge Hymenochirus. If it was a heater burn, you should really put some kind of plastic guard on it to avoid burns. Frogs seem to burn themselves on heaters, I'm unsure why they don't seem to feel pain from heat like we do or they react slowly to it..

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Until I put a mesh cylinder around my heater one of my ADF got burned also.

It happens when they look for a spot to wedge them selves in for the night while they sleep.
they wedge themselves in between the heater and the side of the tank when the heater is off and cool.
then the heater starts and warms up slowly and they don't feel the temperature rise if it slowly rises.
Until they get a burn.