Frog Emergency

[gbatemper]

My male frog is not eating at all.
He is extremely skinny and I am very worried. When I came home I found it upside down and flipped it back, it was luckily still alive.

I tried to force feed it but it would keep spitting the dubia roach back out. I can't afford to go to a vet, what should I do?

[Gnag the nameless]

I apologize that we haven't replied to you yet. Usually, replies come in within minutes.

For now, transfer him to a hospital tank with moist paper towel for bedding and a water dish. You may want to buy some pedialyte (the kind you find for children), unflavored neosporin with no painkiller or bactine. We also need you to answer these questions:

1. Size of enclosure -
2. # of inhabitants -
3. Humidity -
4. Temperature -
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 and other materials -
8. Main food source -
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) -
10. Lighting -
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure -
12. When is the last time he/she ate -
13. Have you found poop lately -
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog -
16. How long have you owned him/her -
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred -
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
19. How often the frog is handled -
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area -
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

[gbatemper]

I apologize that we haven't replied to you yet. Usually, replies come in within minutes.

For now, transfer him to a hospital tank with moist paper towel for bedding and a water dish. You may want to buy some pedialyte (the kind you find for children), unflavored neosporin with no painkiller or bactine. We also need you to answer these questions:

1. Size of enclosure -
2. # of inhabitants -
3. Humidity -
4. Temperature -
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 and other materials -
8. Main food source -
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) -
10. Lighting -
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure -
12. When is the last time he/she ate -
13. Have you found poop lately -
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog -
16. How long have you owned him/her -
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred -
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
19. How often the frog is handled -
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area -
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

Unfortunately he passed on. I'm really surprised and I have no clue on why or how he died because I also keep a female in the enclosure and she is perfectly healthy and eating like usual.

I'll fill out the form anyway, I really want to find out what killed him so I can make sure it doesn't happen to my female.
1. Size of enclosure - 20 Gallon Long
2. # of inhabitants - 1 Male 1 female equal size
3. Humidity - 60-80%
4. Temperature - 70-80f (Sometimes depends on outside weather)
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish - I use a flat chinese container (round edges) I mist once in 2 days and have the container water replaced ever 2 days
6. Materials used for substrate - coconut fiber
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials - None
8. Main food source - Dubia Roach (I have a colony)
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often) -I haven't done so for a while
10. Lighting - Zoo med 25 watt heat lamp
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure - Heat lamp when it's really cold , otherwise 2 small zoo med heatpads. on a corner of the tank (sides)
12. When is the last time he/she ate -Over a month ago. I assumed it was going into aestivation or some sort. (I know, ignorance on my part for not noticing such a thing. I feel stupid.
13. Have you found poop lately -Nope
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog - Not known I believe they are sub-adults
16. How long have you owned him/her - 1 year
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) I feed 3 times a week as much as it can eat. I feed feeder mice once a month.
19. How often the frog is handled - Rarely unless I clean the tank
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area - High traffic I suppose
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)I change substrate once in 2 months and I change water every day.

[Eel Noob]

Sorry to hear. I'm not a vet so won't be of much help but I recommend probably not force feeding it, you'll probably just stress it out even more. I like Caspian's suggestion of getting pedialyte.

[Lija]

so sorry to hear and I'm so sorry for not being able to respond sooner, but given he passed away very soon after your first post not much you could have done then.
don't blame yourself, sometimes they just die, or even if it is because of some mistake on your part, learn from it, we are just human.

speaking of which and going forward a few things need to be addressed as i have a question based on your responses above.
what water were you using?

what you need to fix:
- temps - 70 way too low, no less then 78 at night, over 80 for a day
- humidity, it can't be 60 at any point, make sure your water dish is big enough and substrate wet ( not muddy like though) at all the times.
- cleaning - you have to do complete substrate changes every month.
- you have to supplement food with Ca/vit3 and multivitamins, that is not just for babies.
- a bit more variety of food items would be nice, just get once in a while hormworms may be.

- it would be a good idea to do a fecal exam for your female, but since you can't go to a vet, then just keep an eye on her and her poop, look for anything unusual, like runny poop or white tiny squirmy things in it.

[Quijibo]

Here is a question that maybe someone would can give insight into about this situation, would carnivore care be any good to give a sick ABF?

I have used this product many times on recovering reptiles(geckos, snakes, pretty much anything that can eat meat) after a bad impaction/sickness and it works magic. If you have a lot of reptiles this is a MUST have incase of an emergency IMO.
Amazon.com: Oxbow Carnivore Care 70grams: Pet Supplies