red eye tree frog

[Heatheranne]

Hi Mandy,

Okay...keep that temp up to 78'F during the day and about 74-76'F at night. You can add a heat matt to an outer side of the glass or add a 50 watt black ceramic bulb or a 50watt red heat bulb to the top of the tank with a dome lamp that has a dimmer.

Keep the humidity up at 70-80%. You can either run the mister/fogger longer or try manually hand-misting the tank 2x/day, or even both.

Only use dechlorinated tap water or spring water for their water bowl and to moisten and substrate. Using a filter only removes chlorine, it does not remove chloramines or toxins from heavy metals. Dechlorinating drops do. You can use distilled water for fogger or misting, but not for water bowl or substrate. Distilled water will not leave hard water spots on your glass because it has no minerals in it, though soaking a frog in it (ie, using in water soak bowl) will cause a shifting of the frogs electrolytes out through their skin. This can cause electrolyte deficiencies and will make them sick.

It sounds as though your frog has nose rub, although without photos I am not certain. It will look like a grey or tan area on the nose that looks wet and sore. Nose rub is caused by the frog rubbing its nose against the glass or other parts of the tank when climbing up and trying to push itself out of the tank. He is trying to escape. This is usually due to him feeling stressed.

How to treat nose rub...ideally, remove the stress. Move his tank to a quiet area of your home with minimal noise, traffic, and disruptions. Cover the back and 2 sides of his tank with some type of background covering. This helps them to feel more safe and secure. Minimize handling by doing tank chores very quietly during the day while they are sleeping or quickly in the evening right before feeding time. We are big scary predators to them until they learn to trust us as feeders, and sometimes even still. And, get those temps and humidity regulated. Low humidity causes dehydration in them. This stresses their systems, and as the survival of the fittest quote says, they will look for an area of higher humidity, which they can't find. Another way to add security is to be sure to provide them with hiding spots such as broad leafed plants. Be sure they have lots to climb on within the top 1/3 of their tank, or more. Like a nice canopy of leaves and branches. This is where they dwell in the rainforest...in the canopies of tree leaves where a nice mist settles . Their little paradise. Create this for them and they will be happy . And of course, keep their homes tidy in terms of poop and their water source. They are like little sponges and will absorb what they're in contact with, including dirty water and bacteria/fungus.

Now to treat the nose rub skin...it depends on how bad it is. If it's a surface rub only with no infection you can use plain ORIGINAL Neosporin (WITHOUT pain reliever - this type is toxic to them) and apply it very, very gently with a new Qtip each time, daily. Of course, you'll have to get him to stop trying to get out or this is useless. Stir the neosporin between 2 qtips to make it softer before applying it and roll the qtip as you are putting it on. Because the nose is damp the neo will not want to stick. This helps. Or super gently slightly dry the nose by rolling a qtip across his nose first. Be very careful not to hurt him because he may jump. The best treatment for surface skin lesions, in my opinion, is silversulfadiazene (SSD). It is an antibacterial and antifungal cream diluted to proper dose by a vet in which you can apply a few drops each day. It is wonderful and also helps minimize scarring. It is prescribed by a vet. Sometimes Dr. Frye in Michigan will prescribe it for you if you email him, tell him your situation, and send a photo. I will link his information below in case you'd like to try and contact him.

If the nose is infected and if the infection has spread and is now systemic, or within his blood stream, you will need more than topical treatment. In this case, you will definitely need a vet to prescribe systemic antibiotics, such as Metronidizole and/or Baytril. These need to be dosed properly for each frog by their size.

If the rub is more than a mild outer rub, you'll also need to remove him to a hospital tank. This would include: tank, screened lid, water bowl, paper towels changed daily, background/side coverings, temp and humidity gauges, and necessary equipment to keep temps and humidity accurate. Being he is already stressed, I would get a new fake plant with smooth edges for him to climb on also (rinse in very, very hot water followed by dechlorinated water before use). The goal is to allow healing without infecting or reinfecting the wound. I would also recommend a glass feeding bowl with sides of 1 1/2" or taller for food/crickets to keep the crickets from running loose and biting at his nose.

Is it possible to link a photo to here on this post? It would be helpful for me to see the wound. I use the tapatalk app from my iPhone, if you'd like to try it. It's easy to load phone photos. Just a thought.

The best way to reach us in an emergency is to send us a private message (PM). I will see it quicker than scrolling around through the bazillion posts . Lynn (flybyferns) also knows bundles about retf's. We work together to help our members here, so if one of us is away at work or other, contact the other . I'll shoot her a pm to see if I have overlooked anything. Perhaps she has even more suggestions .

Please keep us posted on how he is doing.

If you have a vet nearby, I would recommend a visit for some SSD cream. Or, try and contact Dr.Frye today, before the weekend. If you can't see a vet today, start using the original neosporin today and daily.

Dr. D. Frye, DVM
(734) 439-2273

Email:
dr.frye.vetatmilan@gmail.com

Website:
http://milanareaanimalhospital.com/aboutus.html