White's Tree Frog having trouble with his back legs - advice needed please.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Got the test results back - the nurse says the sample had a few, not loads, but a few parasites. She says nothing necessarily needs done but if he's being acting funny recently treatment is a good idea for the long run. They'd like to see him to get a look and weigh him etc.

A few questions - if one of them has a few parasites will both of them need tests/treatment? Could I give treatment to Bertie as well without getting him looked at too? They've been together all the time we've had them and living in the same conditions so is it even possible that only one of them will have the parasites?
It's £30 (~$45) for a consultation (I assume any treatment is not included in this fee); is that a standard charge for a vet? It seems a lot to me, but then I am a final year student...

Anyway, not fantastic news but it also seems as if nothing too huge is wrong and the previous issues were bark-consumption related.

(Also been reading threads about gut-loading and I've got the insects on a new varied diet which they (and hopefully the frogs) are enjoying!)

[Heatheranne]

Got the test results back - the nurse says the sample had a few, not loads, but a few parasites. She says nothing necessarily needs done but if he's being acting funny recently treatment is a good idea for the long run. They'd like to see him to get a look and weigh him etc.

A few questions - if one of them has a few parasites will both of them need tests/treatment? Could I give treatment to Bertie as well without getting him looked at too? They've been together all the time we've had them and living in the same conditions so is it even possible that only one of them will have the parasites?
It's £30 (~$45) for a consultation (I assume any treatment is not included in this fee); is that a standard charge for a vet? It seems a lot to me, but then I am a final year student...

Anyway, not fantastic news but it also seems as if nothing too huge is wrong and the previous issues were bark-consumption related.

(Also been reading threads about gut-loading and I've got the insects on a new varied diet which they (and hopefully the frogs) are enjoying!)

Yes, they will both need treated and you'll need to clean out their house. They will likely need Panacur once a week for 4 weeks. I would recommend this. Parasites do not go away on their own. I'm glad you had them tested. Their fecal exams should be negative for any parasites. There is no need to have a second fecal exam done for the other...it will almost certainly have the same parasites. I would keep them in a hospital tank until they finish the full treatment. This also allows you time to clean and kill any parasites in their home.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

At least the treatment is straightforward and not stressful for them.

Could I use a large cricket pen (20.3 x 30.5 x 21.3 cm) for transporting them? I'm guessing this would be too small for a hospital tank though?

How can I prevent this from happening again, other than being more vigilant with cleaning? Will the little guys have caught something like this from unclean tank, or food source or ? I hate to think I've caused them any unpleasantness and want to learn everything I can learn about preventing it in the future.

[Sasha]

Most likely if one has it the other does. As long as the vet knows the weight of the other frog he should be able to just give you the medicine. Shrek was being treated for parasites when I got Olive and Skitter. On one of our visits I brought their samples in to be tested and they were positive. I had weighed Olive and Skitter on a food scale before my visit and he was able to give me doses for each of them.

As far as the cricket keeper, you can use that to travel back and forth to the vet. Just make sure there are no holes for them to crawl out. I would get something a little bigger for a hospital tank.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Got the little guys an appointment at their new vet on Friday. Since he's never seen them before the vet said just bring both in so he can have a look at them. That way if there's anything we've not noticed, he will.

Other than that, things seem ok, they're both a little less active than usual but both going for food and legs working ok. Got a treat for them tonight - baths and LOTS of crickets!! Keeping the baths up every few days till we're told something more direct by the vet.

[kueluck]

I hope all goes well at the vet. Having sick babies is no fun.

[Heatheranne]

It can be from their home or from their food source. Good luck at the vet! Please keep us updated.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Thanks for all the support guys hopefully the little guys'll be perky and happier soon.

Few questions about transporting them tomorrow ... we have a reasonably big plastic storage box that we sometimes feed them in, we'll use that to transport them. The journey will be around an hour to get there (and an hour to get home again). It's pretty cold up here right now; around 40F. We need to walk (outside) for about 20minutes in total. I was planning on strapping a hot water bottle to the box and enclosing the whole thing in a thick towel. I'll take a thermometer too, so we can adjust the heating as much as possible. Can you think of any better ways to keep them cosy?

In terms of enclosure, I'll use some coco fibre since they seem to like that, plus a water dish, a vine and some plastic plants.

Hopefully they will sleep during the journey.

[kueluck]

I use a small deli type cup with holes in it with paper towel on the bottom of the container. Make sure the holes are punched from the inside out so the inside is smooth. I then use one of those foot warmer things that people put in their shoes and stick it to the bottom of a insulated bag. Put a wash cloth over the foot warmer since they can get very warm. I put the container in there and just keep and eye on the temps. They stay warm for hours.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

It would be easier to keep a smaller container warm, but wouldn't the frogs get stressed out by being enclosed like that?

[kueluck]

Mine was fine, didn't even change his colors. The container was about 5 inch round and he was in a nice dark, warm, moist place.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Excellent, we have plastic soup containers we can use that are a little bigger than that.
Thanks

[Sasha]

Good luck Heather. Let us know how it goes.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Just back from the vet. He thinks they look a bit sluggish and there's a bit of a size difference but otherwise just fine.

Treatment - 5 day worming treatment in a solution form, to syringe into their mouths or inject into bugs. He tried to give them the first dose today but they were being stubborn little things! Going to get some meal worms to bulk them up a bit and they'll be easy to catch too.

He also recommended getting a UVa bulb, since apparently amphibians see in tetra-colour. They never fail to fascinate me!

[Heatheranne]

I would avoid mealworms, they can cause impaction. You could try earthworms cut to size.

[helm96]

also if you cannot get a hold of earthworms, you can look for Wax Worms. They are very fatty so not a regular diet item, but the whites seem to really like them and will usually gobble them right up.

[SongsAboutRainbows]

I would avoid mealworms, they can cause impaction. You could try earthworms cut to size.

Said mealworms, meant wax worms. Apologies!

[kueluck]

If you have to give oral meds and they are eating well, inject the meds into the wax worms or crickets, roaches, what ever you are feeding. This is what I did and it works GREAT!!!

[SongsAboutRainbows]

I was lucky with that yesterday, and I dropped the grub into Ritty's mouth whilst he was shedding - success! He looked a little confused but seemed to enjoy it when he realised it was edible

I've yet to get them to open their mouths for the med syringe but my partner's found the knack to it. He annoys them gently till they grab the thing then scoot! Two days to go and they should be on the way up again

[SongsAboutRainbows]

Last night of yukky medication for the little ones tonight.

Both seem a little run down, like the vet said they would, not eating or hopping around as much as usual.
Aside from being a bit skinny, they look fine - bright eyes, good reactions, brightly coloured, shiny skin. Ritty's limbs still seem stiff and I'm keen to get plenty calcium and protein into him but he doesn't seem interested in food. Any tips?
I'm planning to gut load, dust and inject the meds into some bugs tonight to give him everything he needs with minimal stress.

Once the meds are done, it's plenty vits and bugs to get them back into shape.