Diarrhea

[dubbean]

Camo Frog hadn't gone poop in about a week, but is eating well, so I soaked him and he had diarrhea and it stunk horrible. Is this something I should be concerned about? I have recently switched him over to eating nightcrawlers. Could that be the reason?

1. Size of enclosure: 5.5 gallon. Have 10 gallon standing by for when frog gets bigger
2. # of inhabitants: 1
3. Humidity: 80%
4. Temperature: 82F degrees
5. Water: tap water with fish dechlorinator in it is used for misting and soaking.
6. Materials used for substrate: Eco Earth
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants: 3 small live vine type plants.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv: The frog was in a small 1-gallon terrarium at the pet store with sphagnum moss and Eco Earth with no dish for soaking.
8. Main food source: Nightcrawlers and gut loaded medium crickets
9. Vitamins and calcium?: Fluker's Calcium w/ vitamin D (2 times a week) and Rep-Cal Herptivite w/ beta Carotene (1 once a week).
10. Lighting: natural lighting from the many window in my home (note: frog is not directly in front of a window)
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure: unde-rtank heater stuck to the side of the tank with a Hydrofarm thermostat set at 82F.
12. When is the last time he/she ate: this morning
13. Have you found poop lately: Yes. Today
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure: s
15. How old is the frog: About 2 month old
16. How long have you owned him/her: 4 weeks
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred: captive bred I believe strongly
18. Frog food: 7 days a week. Nightcrawlers and/or crickets
19. How often the frog is handled: rarely
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area: medium
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc): Water changes every day. Soil is spot clean daily and changed out every 2 weeks.

[danfrog]

Nightcrawler poop will break apart in water very quickly. Your frog probably kicked it trying to get away from it and it broke apart. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Hypnotic]

I don't think you should worry either, my girl pooped a small solid chunk and the rest was mixed in the water last time. And get used to the smell, poop always smells.

[NialR35]

I feed night crawlers as stable, my ornate does solid poops ONCE a week and my pyxie poops every other day but his are very loose and get dissolved quick in the water... I think it's the nightcrawlers that act as softeners so it should be fine.

[dubbean]

Ok. Thanks everyone. I'm new to this so was a bit worried.

[GrifTheGreat]

Ugh!! Diarrhea is not normal. People anytime something is out of the ordinary there is cause for concern. Diarrhea is not normal. Night Crawlers do not cause a frog to have diarrhea, parasites and bacteria do. Protazoa infections also cause diarrhea. All these are bad and if a frog has very foul smelling diarrhea it is most likely a internal infection of some kind. No one should be saying that this is no cause for alarm.

On rare occations a digestive imbalance can cause diarrhea.

Does Camo Frog's cloaca appear swollen, puffy, or red?

[dubbean]

I just check and No. No part of the frog appears red swollen or puffy. I can't help but wonder if what danfrog said isn't the case. Wouldn't Camo Frog be pooping a lot if he had actual diarrhea? Should I just keep an eye on him for a while or is there something I can buy over the counter. Does he need to see a vet?

[GrifTheGreat]

I just check and No. No part of the frog appears red swollen or puffy. I can't help but wonder if what danfrog said isn't the case. Wouldn't Camo Frog be pooping a lot if he had actual diarrhea? Should I just keep an eye on him for a while or is there something I can buy over the counter. Does he need to see a vet?

No their systems don't work exactly like ours. They can go a day or more after haveing diarrhea before they have it again. Stool that falls apart when expelled is not the same as diarrhea.

[danfrog]

Did you see it the frog poop? Or did you leave for a while and find it like that? If you saw it poop out liquid yes something is definitely up. But if it came out solid then broke apart in the water its not diarrhea.

[Lija]

as Grif said diarrhea is not normal and always a sign something is off ( indigestion, protozoa or bacterial infection), frog ( or any part of it)might be and might not be swollen,but there is a difference between soft, due to the diet, stool and actual diarrhea. yes it should be pooping a lot and very stinky if it is actual diarrhea and it might be your case, not pooping for a week and then runny stool ( and very smelly) doesn't sound good. it might be one time thing that'll just go away but it might be a bigger problem. I'd keep an eye very closely right now on a frog, keep track of what he is eating and how he is pooping, if he continue to poop very stinky and runny for a few days, get a test done asap. keep in mind you might not see it on a substrate, watch very closely!

see with frogs there might be a very fine line between being ok and run asap to the doctor situation, sometimes when you actually see a frog is not well it might be too late to go for the second option, so it is better be safe then sorry.

[danfrog]

Reason I'm thinking its desolved worm poop is because the frog was in a soak tub and I've seen my frog kick his poop and it broke apart everywhere like it was nothing. Then the smell followed.

[Lija]

yes and that is why i say there is a difference between soft and broken apart poop in a water and actual diarrhea. it is not like normal poop smells like roses, but runny one stinks a lot worse.

[dubbean]

No. I did not actually see Camo Frog poop. It could have broken apart afterwards. I left him alone in a small container for about 10 minutes and when I came back it looked and smelled like he had had diarrhea. Perhaps I am mistaken. I'm sorry if I caused confusion. I will keep a close eye on him and soak him again in a day or two and see what happens. I'll keep you all updated on Camo Frog's poops for awhile.

[DVirginiana]

No. I did not actually see Camo Frog poop. It could have broken apart afterwards. I left him alone in a small container for about 10 minutes and when I came back it looked and smelled like he had had diarrhea. Perhaps I am mistaken. I'm sorry if I caused confusion. I will keep a close eye on him and soak him again in a day or two and see what happens. I'll keep you all updated on Camo Frog's poops for awhile.

I've started keeping a camera in my reptile room in case anything like that happens so I can take a picture right away.

I tend to think that this is a case of him kicking the poo apart while you weren't looking, especially if you haven't noticed any behavioral differences or anything. But keep an eye on him because like has been said, actual diarrhea isn't good.

[danfrog]

You can never be too careful. Just watch Camofrog for a few days.

[Lija]

I've started keeping a camera in my reptile room in case anything like that happens so I can take a picture right away.

i keep one in reptile room too, not just for emergencies but sometimes something interesting happens or you just see something that you just HAVE to take pic of

[dubbean]

Update: Camo Frog took a nice, healthy looking, poop last night . I will continue keeping an eye on him but I think he probably never had diarrhea and his poop had just broken up in the water as stated before. He is also eating like a pig and still bright alert and not looking swollen or puffy anywhere on his body. Thanks for all the help and direction.

[danfrog]

Good to hear!

[Hypnotic]

Just as I expected. Good to hear he's doing fine!

[danfrog]

Its so easy to freak yourself out over these frogs. Dont worry I do it all the time myself.