Re: Toad leg amputation (lawnmower)
Day 4 and he's still doing well. He seems to be a bit more alert and active today. He still hasn't eaten. We've offered small crickets and tiny super worms. Our feeding methods have been to just drop them in with him and we have also tried feeding with tongs. How long is too long for them to go without food? With turtles, they can actually go several weeks (and in some cases, months) without eating. I realize frogs/toads likely have a faster metabolism, however. I'm going to forage in the yard after dark tonight and see if I can find him some "natural" bugs. (And no worries about chemicals or pesticides...we keep our yard turtle-friendly. The local wild toads come to our house by the hundreds, and we leave our outdoor lights on for them, to attract more bugs for them to eat.)
The arm is looking good. No signs of infection. We're cleaning it daily and applying silvadene. No redness, no unusual swelling (there is very slight swelling at the amputation site, but I suspect that's normal with any injured tissue), no pus, and no outward indications of septicemia. We're still being diligent with it though.
Here are a few more pictures of him. We moved him from the plastic shoe box into a 20 gallon aquarium. We've provided several hides, a shallow water dish, and have covered the sides of the glass with brown paper to help him feel more secure. My hope is that the larger environment will trigger his appetite. We've left the bottom of the tank bare for now, and will add substrate when we're sure his wounds have healed completely.
If anyone has further information about his exact species, I'd love as much information about him as I can get.
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