Steve is ill! Possible infection?

[SwimminSteve]

Please excuse my frantic tone, but I just noticed that something is not right with my lil buddy, Steve-O. Here's some background.

1. Tank Size and volume of water in it (full, 1/2 filled, etc.)? 40 gal breeder

2. Number of inhabitants including all frogs and any fish? 6 ACF; 1 White Cloud Minnow, 4-5 feeder guppies

3. Water source and any conditioner treatments? Tap water; Seachem's Prime for water changes

4. Water Temperature and how is it heated (if so)? approx. 78 room temperature

5. Water chemistry levels: pH; Ammonia (NH3); Nitrites (NO2); Nitrates (NO3)? Note that if you do not have test kits, most aquariums/pet shops will do complimentary tests if you take a clean water sample. pH 8.2; ammonia 0ppm; nitrite 0ppm, nitrate ~100ppm (my tap water is 40+ppm)

6. Describe any filter system including model and media? Aquaclear 110; biomax, charcoal, sponge[/COLOR]

7. Substrate type? bare-bottom

8. Tank set-up (plants (live or artificial), driftwood, hide outs and other decor? - How were things prepared prior to being put into the tank? artificial plants and hides

9. Main frog staple food and any treats? How often you feed? Staple: HBH frog & tadpole bites + earthworms twice a week. Treats: bloodworms or feeder guppies (once per month)

10. CA, vitamins, and any other additives used (how often)? no

11. Lighting set-up and hours it's used? natural lighting

12. When is the last time frog ate? last week

13. Have you found poop lately? community tank, don't know who's poop

14. A picture would be helpful including frog and tank (any including cell phone pics are fine).

15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area. I noticed today that Steve's face is an angry red color. His eyes also appear reddened and swollen. His skin generally has a mottled appearance, but his pigment seems different today too. He is still active, but spending more time near the surface resting on plants than normal. He rejected a piece of worm tonight, but that's not unusual for him.

16. How old is the frog? 8 years old.

17. How long have you owned him/her? 8 years.

18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred? CB

19. Any medications in the water (treatment doses and for how long)? no

20. Any salt in water (how much)? no

21. Is the tank kept in a high or low traffic area? low traffic

22. Describe tank maintenance to include water changes, cleaning, media changes, etc.). Water changes every 3-4 weeks. Media gets rinsed in tank water. Rarely replace media. Tank decor gets scrubbed every few months.

I hope that's helpful! I will be contacting a vet in the morning, but I'm hoping that someone here might also have suggestions.

I don't do visual checks on each frog every single day (they often hide), but I make sure to check at least every other day. Today I noticed that the skin on Steve's face is very red and irritated. His eyes also look red and swollen. His coloration can change slightly from time to time, but I've never seen such a drastic red coloration before. I'm fairly certain that it's some kind of infection, probably bacterial. I'm not sure what from, because my water parameters seems decent and the other frogs all look fine and are eating. I'm not sure what's going on with the nitrate being so high, but I'm due for a water change and my tap water is generally 40+ppm. A few minor things have changed in the tank over the last week or so. I added a new charcoal bag to the filter, I increased the amount of earthworm feedings, and I offered some feeder guppies (I've never had an issue with feeder guppies in 5 years of using them).
I've moved Steve into a hospital tank. Ten gallon, partially filled with a hide and some plants and a whisper 10i filter (added some used filter media to prevent cycling). I'm really concerned and hoping that this is something I can treat. I will take him to the vet if need be, this guy is my baby!
Is there anything else I can do for him right now? I'm going to look in my exotic animal formulary to see if I can get amphibian safe antibiotics tomorrow at work, but are there good products available at pet stores too?
I would really appreciate some help! Thank you.
Some photos of my boy's Rudolph nose:



And a photo of his normal, healthy coloration: (frog selfies ftw)

[rupertxgiles]

Hey there,
So sorry steve isnt feeling well! Definitely looks like a bacterial infection to me but if possible i would get that little guy to a vet to get any necessary medications! In the mean time, isolating in a hospital tank with clean water is definitely the best choice . Also, if i read correctly you have 6 acfs in a 40 breeder half full? So that means 6 acfs in approx 20 gallons which is no good :/ pretty overstocked which could be contributing to water quality/bacteria issues. I would fill the tank all the way and do a 50 percent water change.

[Mentat]

First get rid of that charcoal; then do a 25% water change with same temp water and make sure to do weekly water changes from now on. Get some Melafix and Pimafix and treat whole tank for a week according to label instructions.

If you have a local herp vet it's a good idea to have Dr. see frog since they got access to strong antibiotics. Let us know how frog reacts to treatment two days after it starts. Good luck !

[SwimminSteve]

Thank you for the replies!

No, the 6 ACF are in a filled 40 gallon tank. Yikes, they'd be pretty pissed at me if it were only filled half way! I did a 60% water change on them yesterday and rinsed their filter media. I also added some aquarium salt in case any of them were starting to come down with something. So far the other 5 ACF look great, no issues at all. I'm keeping a very close eye on them, but they are all very active and have great appetites. Carlos- why do you say remove the charcoal? Is that just in the case of using medication to treat the whole tank?

I work in a wildlife rehabilitation clinic and I do occasionally work with amphibians, mostly birds though. Fortunately I have access to strong drugs and veterinarians! After consulting our exotic animal formulary for recommended amphibian antibiotics and talking to our two vets, we have decided on a course of injectable Baytril. I did purchace some Maracyn II as a back up, but I don't plan to use it for now. It was hard to find, apparently the company, Mardel, went out of business!

I am experienced with some amphibian treatments, having previously drained fluid from a bloated ACF among other things. Therefore, I am comfortable doing these subcutaneous injections. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for everyone, though! But for anyone who may have a similar problem, I though it might be helpful for me to describe the treatment.

DISCLAIMER: The following treatments were prescribed after consultation with a veterinarian. I do NOT recommend attempting any of the following without prior veterinary guidance and experience. This treatment is minimally invasive, but still caries a high risk for the patient.

Baytril has a high pH (11!) so the drug must be diluted with sterile saline at 1:1 to prevent damage to delicate amphibian tissues. The recommended dose of Baytril (Enrofloxacin) for amphibians is 5-10mg/kg every 24 hours. It can be given orally or by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection. Forcing a frog's delicate mouth open would be highly stressful and potentially dangerous, which is why I elected for SC. IM injections are painful (think of a tetanus shot) so I wanted to stay away from that too. Steve weighs 45g so his dose (at 10mg/kg) was 0.02ml (+0.02ml sterile saline added).

Wearing gloves, I picked up Steve and placed him into a shallow tupperware dish with about an inch of his tank water. I placed damp paper towel (unbleached is recommended) over the top of his body leaving his back and hind legs exposed. After giving the injection, I applied a dab of triple antibiotic (without pain relief!) to the injection site. Then I slowly filled the container with tank water and let him swim out when he was ready. All told the process takes about 60 seconds. He will receive this treatment once per day for 5 days total. We will re-evaluate his condition after 5 days.

In addition to the antibiotic, I also added a tablespoon of aquarium salt to his 10g hospital tank. Salt is a mild antiseptic and can aid in the healing process. I am also looking into finding injectable Vitamin A which can be used topically and is often recommended for any clinically ill amphibians. I don't know if I can get access to the injectable, so an alternative is using Vit A gel caps and diluting them 1:9 with corn oil for oral dosing.

Steve ate a couple frog bites last night. I'm not worried about his appetite at the moment, he could easily go a few weeks without food, but hopefully that won't be the case.

I'm still worried about my little boy, but at this point I'm certain that I'm doing everything I can to help him. The redness on his face as become more of a pink, but his eyes remain swollen. I'm hoping he can pull through!

[rupertxgiles]

Sorry i misread the thing about your tank being half full haha. Sounds like you have things under control! Wishing Steve a speedy recovery! Oh also i noticed you said you rinsed your filter media? Make surenot to rinse in tap, youll kill your beneficial bacteria.

[SwimminSteve]

It was a heck of a week for me. First Steve got sick and then I got into a car accident! My car is going to be out of commission for quite sometime while it's in the shop, but fortunately Steve is feeling much better! And he's the one that really matters anyway.

After 5 days of injectable antibiotics, Steve's color returned to normal and he regained his appetite. I moved him back into the main tank last night as he was very active and singing a beautiful song. He was obviously thrilled to be back in the 40 gallon as he darted frog end to end maneuvering around all the decor and finally piling on top of the other frogs.

What a relief!

I am going to be more diligent with my weekly water changes to ensure that we don't have another scare.
(and yes, I only use tank water to rinse my filter media )