ACF shedding excessively

[RayneBowfish]

Hi, I recently bought an african clawed from a local pet store. Poor guy was housed with oscars and blood parrots. His eye looked pretty bad, its been getting better, no fungus, or redness, but my bigger concern with him is the excessive shedding he has been doing. I have watched my other frogs go a bit crazy and then eat their skin, but this guy hasn't, it just kind of hangs off him. It doesn't look fuzzy, or discolored.
I am hoping that maybe its just stress, or getting accustomed to my water vs the pet store water, I did acclimate him slowly to the water here. I have read a lot of conflicting opinions on using salt in their water, so I skipped that.
If anyone has any advice or ideas on what to do UI would greatly appreciate it, thanks!
I've filled out following as best as I can...

1. Tank Size and volume of water in it (full, 1/2 filled, etc.)?
10gal, 3/4 full

2. Number of inhabitants including all frogs and any fish?
three, he is in there with two guppies

3. Water source and any conditioner treatments
Tap water with Prime

4. Water Temperature and how is it heated (if so)?
70*-72*F, room temp

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 7.8 Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 Nitrates 0
6. Describe any filter system including model and media?[/COLOR]
No filter

7. Substrate type?
None

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?
Three fake plants, and a plastic cave, all rinsed under tap water

9. Main frog staple food and any treats? How often you feed?
Reptomin, and the sinking pellets from Xenopus Express

10. CA, vitamins, and any other additives used (how often)?
None

11. Lighting set-up and hours it's used?
Room lighting only, I don't have a light for this tank

12. When is the last time frog ate?
This morning

13. Have you found poop lately?
Yes

14. A picture would be helpful including frog and tank (any including cell phone pics are fine).
Will try to get one up soon

15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
Just the shedding skin that seems excessive. It just hangs off him, and he is shedding each day. I am not sure of his normal behavior, as I have only had him a few days. He eats, he gets startled and hides when there are loud noises, and swims fine. His eye looks like its healing up very nicely, no fungus that I can see, no redness or signs of infection.

16. How old is the frog?
Not sure of age, but he appears to be adult sized, if that helps

17. How long have you owned him/her?
three days

18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred?
I don't know

19. Any medications in the water (treatment doses and for how long)?
None

20. Any salt in water (how much)?
None

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

22. Describe tank maintenance to include water changes, cleaning, media changes, etc.
25% water change each day

[Geoff]

This topic arose a couple of months ago. Check out this thread:: http://www.frogforum.net/aquatic-cla...ress-coat.html Unfortunately, we don't know how the matter finally concluded.

[RayneBowfish]

I must have missed that one while searching, thank you
I checked his skin, its very smooth, so that would rule out nematodes. He is still shedding, I have since added a filter, and used media from an established fish tank for him. I had to also increase his water level, so he is now in a 10gal thats about an inch below the black frame. He seems fine with more water in there, and has had no issues with the filter.
Other than that skin shedding, he is doing very well.
I am not sure if I should add anything to his water, other than keeping it as perfect as possible. I do have salt and Pimafix on hand, I just don't want to dump in a bunch of things too quickly, yet another lesson I have learned in keeping fish.
I am going to see if I can get a picture posted up here, hopefully tomorrow when 3 of 4 of my kids are at school, I will have time to figure it out
Thanks again for your help

[Geoff]

I think you're wise to be cautious about using medications. These discussions about Pimafix (and Melafix) make interesting reading:

• Melafix & Pimafix - Why they work and don't work
• PIMAFIX - 4807
• Do Melafix and Pimafix Work?

[RayneBowfish]

Those were an interesting read, thank you.
Well, I have still been searching for what could have caused the excessive shedding, and couldn't find anything that matched him, other than stress. I do really appreciate you taking the time to answer Geoff, I never would have thought to check the skin for roughness.
I wanted to let you know what I ended up doing. I went ahead and added him to the main tank, which is NOT what you are supposed to do. I thought about it for a few days, and since stress was the only thing that it seemed like he could be suffering from...his tank was in a very high traffic area of the house. He seemed healthy, active, no red spots, nothing that would indicate he was ill other than the skin shedding, is skin was in rather large pieces when it came off, so not tiny little tattered pieces.
Within two days of adding him to the 40gal, he stopped shedding, and has been singing every night. He seems even more active now that he has space to really swim, and has friends.
I consider myself lucky that this has worked out the way it has, and was questioning whether it was the right choice or not, but in the end, this time, it worked out well. Not always the case though.

[Geoff]

Thank you for reporting back on the outcome. I'm glad that your thoughtful gamble paid off and I suspect that you're right by concluding that stress was a contributory factor to the frog's health/immune system being compromised. I hope that all goes well from now on.