Please help...not a frog person but have an injured frog, what should I do?

[Liz De Vries]

Hi, I found this forum through a google search. We live in Michigan and I *think* we have an injured Gray Tree Frog. idk? I am not a frog person and have never noticed tree frogs in our yard before (plenty of toads, but never frogs.) Three days ago my husband found what we thought was a toad on our deck. Our deck is at least 10 feet off the ground w/ stairs leading to the backyard. Now that I think of it, it was pretty dumb that we thought it was a toad 10 feet off the ground but we don't have experience w/ frogs so our frame of reference was toads. He brought it down and put it on the grass. Then yesterday my four year old found the frog on the deck again. We brought him back down to the grass. Well, thinking it was a toad the mystery of why this "toad" was up on our deck was driving me batty so I started googling and figured out it was probably a tree frog. Then, just now, my kids found the frog sitting on a wooden chair that we have under our deck. I put it in a transparent water pitcher just so we could enjoy it for a little bit before releasing it. But we noticed that his right hand is all shriveled up and he doesn't use it at all.

Is there anything I can do or should do for him? Or is it best just to put him back on the deck? If I can help him in some way we'd love to do that but not sure what would be best for him.

TIA!

[Mentat]

Since you are not a frog person; recommend check to see if there are any amphib rescue persons in local area and see if they will take it. If not; try to take and post a picture (include damaged area) and someone here might make a positive ID and at least know what we are dealing with. Thank you !

[UncleChester]

I'll just add a couple of questions to Carlos' great advice:

Does the shriveled up hand look like a fresh wound?

Roughly how long is the frog from the tip of it's nose to it's rear?



ps. Gray Treefrogs were once sometimes referred to as "Tree Toads". So if it is a Gray, you aren't far off in your thinking. They have dryish, bumpy skin that is typical of a toad.

[Liz De Vries]

I did take a couple of pics this afternoon. I don't know what to feed him or even square 1 of how to care for him so what I did was put the water pitcher on its side and put that back out on the deck. My thinking was that he can get out if he wants to. This was at about 4:30 this afternoon since I had to go to work. I'm home now and the frog is still sitting in the pitcher. Here are a couple of pics:



From the tip of his nose to the end of his rump is probably 2-3 inches at most when he's stretched out climbing. Sitting he's smaller, from nose to rump is probably 1.5 inches or so.

It mostly appears that his "pinkie" finger is crossed over the other fingers making them harder to use. He can (apparently?) stand some pressure on it b/c when he was climbing he did put it up onto the plastic side of the pitcher but it was his left hand that's doing the work of climbing.

If he's still in the pitcher tomorrow a.m. I will try to find any amphib rescues around but I'd appreciate anything you folks have to tell me about him anyway. We're getting fond of him around here, which is why we'd like to help him if there is a way to do that.

P.S. I know it's hard to tell from the photos but as far as I can tell the skin isn't broken anywhere near his injured hand.

[UncleChester]

It's definitely a Gray treefrog. Have a look at Frog Forum - Gray Tree Frog Care and Breeding to learn more about them. You have both species in Michigan, which version yours is won't matter as their care and appearance are identical.

I'd guess it's broken a finger or two, but that's hard to tell. It could be an old injury that didn't heal properly. If you are unable to find an amphibian rescue to help this frog out, some vets are also willing to treat wild animals for free but even finding one familiar with frogs can be a challenge.

It otherwise looks in good shape, so it's probably been successful at feeding itself. If you end up leaving it on the deck to fend for itself (and this wouldn't be wrong), there are a couple of things you can do to make your deck more frog friendly. If you have a potted plant or two, you can put them on your deck. They'll often be drawn to moist soil on hot days, and it will also give it a place with more cover to hang out in. If you have a deck light, you can turn it on in the evening to attract flies, moths, or other insects. 'Wild' grays are sometimes known to congregate near lights for easy meals.

Good luck!

[Liz De Vries]

Thanks! This morning I went out to check the pitcher and he was gone but had left us a "gift" of frog poo. So, my guess, is he's just fine. I'm not a "frog person" but am a "caterpillar person" and have had an injured caterpillar who pooped one day but still died the next day so I know it's possible that he could still die but he seems pretty healthy otherwise and moves well so I'm going to assume that he'll be fine. Since we've seen him several times I could try to catch him and take him to a vet, etc, but if he's fine why put him through the stress? My 6 y/o daughter said, "Mom, maybe he's not injured. Maybe he just has one hand smaller than the other like Nemo."

It was fun learning about him and getting to enjoy him for a little bit. We do have some potted plants out but they're on the other side of the deck. I think I'll move them closer to the big tree and turn the outside light on to make it more frog friendly and maybe we'll have a "deck pet".

Is there a way to tell if he is really a "he" or a "she"?

Thanks again!

[Tubby0512]

[QUOTE=Liz De Vries;176977

Is there a way to tell if he is really a "he" or a "she"?
[/QUOTE]
I have a Grey Tree Frog as a pet. Had him since he was an egg. Males are the ONLY ones that croak and they have black specials on their throats (sometimes it can be a solid black color). Females do not croak and their throats are white.

[ICFrogs]

That's a Gorgeous Grey!!!
Wish I was closer, I'd take care of him.

[Liz De Vries]

Yeah, he is beautiful. And he's wiggled his way into our hearts...that was unexpected! We're going to set our deck up in a frog friendly manner and hopefully he'll be our little deck pet.