Unnecessary Hitchhiker?

[jlfrogfan]

I was getting ready to do a PWC on my ACF's tank (20G long, bare bottom, Tetra Whisper 40i filter), and found a large white stringy item attached to a piece of poop. There's another piece of poop nearby that looks perfectly normal. The white string hasn't moved all day (I've been watching it ever since I found it). I normally find little aquatic detritus worms, etc. that inevitably show up in aquariums, but nothing like this. Does anybody have an idea of what it could be? Diet is mainly Reptomin.

Thanks!

[jlfrogfan]

Hi all,

Sorry for the double post but I wanted to give a disturbing update. I'm not sure what that white thing was, as it has been disposed of (not moving even once the whole time), but its excretion seems to have caused a problem. The day I found it, the frog didn't seem overly active and took a while to eat. I've seen that before and she went back to normal in the past, so I didn't think much of it. However, over the next couple of days after that, she has been spending more time under her hiding cave and almost never swims. She is still capable of it, though--I've seen her go up to the surface when it's time to get air. (The same goes for food, she's just slower to eat).

Today, though, an odd new symptom arose. She started making odd movements--not so much a seizure as a hiccup, so to speak. She does this occasionally whether she's swimming or sitting still. It looks like she's trying to do The Worm (the dance move) in slow motion, undulating starts at the head and goes down. Her toes and claws also twitch on occasion. I think her filter may have something to do with that--I let the water level get a bit too low, and now there's a stronger-than-usual current in the tank. Maybe it's stressing her lateral line out.

She doesn't appear to have bloat either, but a patch of skin on her back turned somewhat lighter than I remember it being before. When I get home, I am planning to do a 50-55% PWC.

Any advice is appreciated, at this point!

[jlfrogfan]

Anybody...?

Today, she tried to swim a little bit but seemed to tire out after a few minutes and went back into her hide. Her breathing seems a bit shallower than usual. I also think I've found 2 nematodes (the thin, squiggly free-swimmers) in the tank. I researched them, and everything I've read says that the kind I found are more of an aesthetic problem than a real health threat. Is this true, or do all nematodes cause lung problems in ACF? If so, could they explain at least some of my ACF's symptoms?

[jlfrogfan]

I finally got some pictures of the actual frog. Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday, when her condition was the worst:



Here is one from today. She spent most of her time sitting under her hide and staring at the wall...Still breathing more shallowly than normal, and occasionally twitching (usually one front leg and one back leg simultaneously).

However, she did eat 2 Reptomin pellets and is swimming around somewhat awkwardly (i.e., her legs don't seem to be very well-coordinated when they kick). From what I understand, this may be a soft bloat symptom. Does anybody else agree or disagree?

[mpmistr]

You're frog looks okay. With most parasites, if you can see them with the naked eye, they probably aren't really something that will harm your frog.

What temperature do you keep your frog at? Have you tested Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia lately? What does her diet consist of? Also what size tank is this frog kept in (how many gallons)?

[jlfrogfan]

Thank you very much for your reply! The temperature is usually 68 or 69. Unfortunately, I haven't tested the chemistry lately (and, unfortunately, it wouldn't help to do so now--I've been doing significant PWC's every day since this thread began). I'm using a Tetra Whisper 40i on a 20 gallon Long tank. It's bare-bottom, and the frog is the only creature in there. She eats Reptomin pellets. I've tried earthworms before, but she normally just got so excited she ended up kicking them into the filter. If it's any help, she is 8 years old (which, from what I understand, is well below the average).

The frustrating part of all this is that her "normal" appearance is completely at odds with her behavior...While her breathing is at the same intervals as it was before this, it's like she's taking "half breaths" compared to how she's breathing now. She ate 1 pellet the day before yesterday, and hasn't eaten since. Although she did poop today, so she probably has a good amount left in her stomach.

Before, she used to swim constantly. Now, the few times she does swim it's very awkward-looking. It's like one of her legs will move, there will be a 1-second delay, and then the other one will move. Apart from that, she has developed a weird twitch that looks like a combination of a big hiccup and The Worm. Sometimes, that's the only way she can start "swimming" along the bottom.

However, I should clarify that her back legs work together just fine when she uses them to jump/push off from the floor to the surface, when she needs air. After moving around at the surface for a minutes or so, she goes back down, scuttles around on the floor a little bit, and then returns to her cave. Finally, when she moves around on the floor, it's like she thinks there's food down there (again, there usually isn't). She keeps directing her hands at her mouth on the floor, but stops when she gets to the surface (where food usually is). It's like she's seeing the world upside-down.

She doesn't have any redness or problems going to the bottom, so for me that rules out Red Leg or bloat.

[jlfrogfan]

Hi again everyone,

I know that it seems people are as stumped as I am about my frog's condition--but I just have to vent a little bit. This is Week 3 without taking any food. I even dropped Reptomin right in front of her; in fact, it literally floated over and sat against her mouth. No reaction whatsoever; she just finished taking in her air, then swam back down. She's still pretty chunky, though--how long can they last without food?

[amphib]

i am sorry i don't know what the problem is but none of the less as far as I know as long as she still has fat she should be fine. But if she isn't eating it could be water quality or as i once experienced the water moving to much to the point that the frog fasts. This was caused by the filters water current being to strong, so that may be something to check?

[jlfrogfan]

i am sorry i don't know what the problem is but none of the less as far as I know as long as she still has fat she should be fine. But if she isn't eating it could be water quality or as i once experienced the water moving to much to the point that the frog fasts. This was caused by the filters water current being to strong, so that may be something to check?

Thanks for your response! She has a lot of fat left, and I've been doing PWC's every other day (about 25% per change). I do have a Tetra 40i running on a 20L tank, so you may be on to something about the filter current. She's shedding today (hasn't for a while), so maybe that will help things!

[mpmistr]

Hi again everyone,

I know that it seems people are as stumped as I am about my frog's condition--but I just have to vent a little bit. This is Week 3 without taking any food. I even dropped Reptomin right in front of her; in fact, it literally floated over and sat against her mouth. No reaction whatsoever; she just finished taking in her air, then swam back down. She's still pretty chunky, though--how long can they last without food?

Try a canadian nightcrawler, they sell them in the bait section at WalMart. Clawed frogs have a hard time resisting them, but they are known to ignore reptomin (mine do not go crazy for it all the time).

Clawed frogs can go a long time without eating, a while back I had a clawed frog that would not eat for over a month but then one day she just started eating like normal and has been eating ever since.

Also make sure your water quality is good, I would invest in an API Freshwaster Master Kit so you can test your Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate level so you know water chemistry is ok. You want zero Ammonia/Nitrite and a low amount of Nitrate, if that checks out your water quality is good.

Last suggestion would be to make sure the tank is in a quiet place, clawed frogs are kind of skittish, I keep my frogs in my office room which is a low traffic area of the house. Having a background can help with stress too. I noticed your tank is kind of bare, you may want to invest in some water sprite or some other floating plants, these make clawed frogs feel more secure (and improve water quality too).

[jlfrogfan]

Try a canadian nightcrawler, they sell them in the bait section at WalMart. Clawed frogs have a hard time resisting them, but they are known to ignore reptomin (mine do not go crazy for it all the time).

Clawed frogs can go a long time without eating, a while back I had a clawed frog that would not eat for over a month but then one day she just started eating like normal and has been eating ever since.

Also make sure your water quality is good, I would invest in an API Freshwaster Master Kit so you can test your Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate level so you know water chemistry is ok. You want zero Ammonia/Nitrite and a low amount of Nitrate, if that checks out your water quality is good.

Last suggestion would be to make sure the tank is in a quiet place, clawed frogs are kind of skittish, I keep my frogs in my office room which is a low traffic area of the house. Having a background can help with stress too. I noticed your tank is kind of bare, you may want to invest in some water sprite or some other floating plants, these make clawed frogs feel more secure (and improve water quality too).

Thanks for your input! The tank is in a very quiet room already, and I'll test the water tonight--although I've been doing PWC's on average about every 36 hours, so I don't know how accurate it would be. I have a test kit, but it only has Ammonia and Nitrate tests. I'll try to find another one at the pet store (as well as the Canadian nightcrawlers).

I've been trying to keep only the hiding place in the tank, because the frog usually destroys anything else. But I do live next to a pond store, so I'll go check out their stock.

Do you think a salt bath would help? If so, would I use the same salt concentration as I would for a frog with bloat? I'm a little concerned, since her lower back has turned lighter and looks a little rough. Before, it used to be naturally pigmented-looking.