Hi there,
This is my first post although I have been lurking for several days, soaking up all the info and trying to put it into practice. I have been caring for a Northern Green Frog since Thursday, found with a severe open injury to one hind leg that resulted in the loss of his toes (flippers? I don't know the technical terms yet). He looks to be a sub-adult, and was found on land by the house rather than down by the pond so I guess that makes sense since at that age, they tend to wander. I have called several different local vets, including those that specialize in "exotics" including frogs, but have not found anyone willing to even look at or prescribe meds for a "wild animal" which seems unfortunate because it really is in the animals best interest. but oh well. After much research on various frog forums, I have been applying Triple Antibiotic Ointment (no painkillers), changing his housing with damp paper towels every day, and have just begun giving Pedialyte baths and also Tetra fish med soaks -- seems to be the best I can do without being able to find a vet to look at him? For the first few days he was pretty listless, lying around with his back legs splayed much of the time, although still responsive to mild stimuli back there. Now he seems much brighter and most of the time is assuming a more normal frog position with bent legs. And, although not really mobile, he is at least trying to move around and I can see him in different positions throughout the day. I work with horses for a living, so I totally understand the whole prey mentality about not showing pain-- but I also know that in most animals the will to survive is very strong so I would like to give him a fighting chance if at all possible.

Realistically, given the facts, I obviously am not incredibly optimistic-- although he does certainly seem to be doing better for now anyway. I am concerned that 1) I am handling him way too much, between the daily doctoring and the soaks (requires me to pick him up at least 4 times, to get in and out of water and etc), and 2) He has lost a lot of weight in the last few days...I think I read that the sub adults need to eat every day? He certainly won't accept food from tweezers and when small crickets (minus jumping legs) or worms I put in his tank so much as rub against him, he doesn't just ignore them, he freaks out... how worried should I be about the lack of eating? I guess its hard to say whether it is due to illness or just stress from his new environment and from my good intentions should the pedialyte soaks hold him over for a few more days in terms of nutrition? I would love to just leave him alone for a few days and hope that brings him around, but his injury really requires monitoring and attention. If there is no imminent danger of starvation, I would rather focus on treating the injury and not stress him out by trying to force him to eat. Any thoughts/advice/references would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance