Help! White's Tree Frog - Not Eating.. Sick?

[Frogman1031]

Excellent! I'm glad to hear that he's doing much better!

[Rezmay]

Unfortunately, his rash has returned and he hasn't eaten since that one cricket. Also, he pooped today and it was green, slimey, and it seemed a bit foamy. I'm taking him to the vet on Tuesday, but any advice on what to do until then?

[Frogman1031]

Sorry to hear that things aren't going well again

the best thing to do now is quarantine the frog in a separate enclosure. It should include

-damp paper towel as substrate
-a water dish
-a place to hide

that's all for tank setup

the enclosure and everything in it should not have been touched by the frog prior to quarantine. Make sure everything is fresh.

Once results from the vet are back you can determine the most prudent course of action. If it's bacterial or fungal you'll have to throw away all cage decorations that can't be properly disinfected and disinfect everything. Same goes for parasitic. Wait for the vet's analysis first though, you don't want to throw away something if you don't have to. In the mean time quarantine ASAP

[Rezmay]

Went to the vet about a week ago, and it was a bacterial infection. They gave me an ointment to treat him with and his rash is clearing up. He's also eating regularly again!

[Rezmay]

He's still shedding a lot though. Almost everyday and I am worried because he never did that before he was sick. Any ideas on the cause of his excessive shedding?

[John]

I highly doubt that the vet knew what they were doing regarding frogs. This is common, unfortunately. Here is what I recommend: do what Eli said with regard to quarantine. Keep it in a quarantine container indefinitely and change the water every 1-2 days and the paper towel when it discolors. I and others actually keep white's tree frogs this way as their normal terrarium (I know some people don't approve of that). Keep the frog in the mid to late 70s - keeping it in the 80s can cause stress from the fact that it hasn't got a good appetite yet its metabolism is forced to work harder at that high temperature.

My big question for you though is ventilation: how much did the terrarium have? My white's live in a completely open top terrarium that only has window screen covering it. Excessive shedding can result from poor ventilation.

Lastly, what are the drugs in the cream they gave you - it should say on the container. Given the vet's approach, I'm worried they may be treating it like a reptile and many reptile medications do more harm than good for amphibians.

[Rezmay]

To give an update: He is completely healthy now, back to his normal self! The ointment really helped. His rash is gone and he has a great appetite.

I don't remember the details of the ointment, but I did research it before using it and I read that it was fine to use on amphibians.