A few days ago I was given a pair of frogs, and they’re in a bad state. I’ve never kept frogs before and could really use some advice! From an internet search, I think they are male/female adult Chinese flying frogs, but I’m not positive.
I live in China and haven’t been able to find any local vet or pet store to consult, so would really apprciate your help!!
I have several large terrariums at home,and someone thought it would be a good idea to give me tree frogs. They arrived in the MAIL in terrible condition! (apparently the package had gotten lost, so on top of the horrible condition they were shipped in, they were stuck many days in the mail) The weather has been cold. 😫😰 it was awful!!!
When i I got them they were VERY stressed. Dark green in color (tho they should be bright green) really dry skin and some strange looking dark spots (with white rings around them) on their head and back. The female has those spots too and has wounds on her nose and face that I assume are from tying to get out of the plastic box they were mailed in. I immediately put them in a large terrarium (it’s a healthy potting soil/chemical free rainforest tank) and left hem alone, since I thought peace & quiet was best. The male frog moves around the tank at night & eaten a few meal worms; acting OK other than the skin spots. The female burrowed into the moss and didn’t move for 3 days or nights.
I’m interested in any info you could give me on what their skin condition might be (infection? Fungus? How concerned should I be?). and how to best care for them! The attached pics might help...
The 1st attached pic I took shortly after they arrived. It’s the male frog in the terrarium, shows the strange spots on his back. Curently his skin/color is better but spots unchanged. No other symptoms I notice.
2nd pic- A few days later I took the femal out to examine her, and let her soak in luke warm spring water, photo shows sores on her face.
3rd pic- female frog looking better after soaking a few hours. I know everyone says don’t handle your frogs, but I gave her some freedom to climb around our bathroom (and me) for a while, and she seemed to relax a lot. Now back in the tank and for the first time was out moving around last night.
4th pic is the tank I have them in. It’s made with special terrarium foam on two sides, and moss growing directly on the foam (moss I collected myself from the forrest) the wood was boiled and soaked before being used. The plants have their roots wrapped in peat moss not potting soil. There’s a water pump for circulation, automated sprayer system, LED lights and a fan vent. It’s an established tank full of little life: minnows, glass shrimp, small clams, snails, crickets,earthworms, small crabs, etc.... so far everyone seems happy in there. I think it would make an acceptable home for frogs, but would love experienced opinions!
thanks in advance for whatever info you can share!
First of all, the tank looks great and you're doing great caring for these frogs so far. Basic stuff is water should be dechlorinated with something like reptisafe or an aquarium dechlorinator like amquel. In thr long run they'll also need vitamin d3+calcium and a multivitamin powder.
Mealworms are a mediocre food. Its a bit low on nutrition and quite high on shell.
More immediately:
I don't know anything about Chinese Fliers, but I'm going to look into the "spots" they've got, since I'm assuming they're not normal in the species. If it is fungal there are medications that may help.
I think you are probably right about the cause of the nose wound. It does look pretty severe. For now, the best thing you can do for both frogs is keep them clean, safe, and well fed. I'll look into the spots tomorrow. Good luck!
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Thank you greatly! We have a pretty great water filter in the house we use for our drinking water & im using that for the aquarium. The black&white spots on the sides appear to be natural, but the other spots on head and back I’m quite sure are sickness. Haven’t been able to find anything online that looks similar tho and appreciate your help!! No chinese vets I’ve found so far deal with frogs. Could it be caused by hypothermia do you think? The nights were quite cold during the days they were in the mail ��
Seconding that you seem to be doing the right things. That's a bad nose wound but as far as I can tell it doesn't look infected. Just keep an eye on it, maybe dab with antibiotic ointment if it starts looking worse.
You might want to look into "chromomycosis". That fungi can cause gray bumps on the skin. I'm not sure how good this information is, but I found this site which describes various types of fungal infections and how they look: http://frogworld.net/health/fungal-infections.html
You might want to see if any antifungal treatments for fish are available in nearby pet stores.
(Also be aware the frogs might try to eat some of the smaller things in the tank. Maybe not the fish, some people are able to keep frogs and fish together with no harm, but maybe the crabs or snails. Frogs have been known to try to eat rocks before!)
Just thought I’d send a little update that things are going well ☺️ The nose wound is healing nicely, they’re eating crickets & acting pretty normal I think. Those strange spots are still there, unchanged since they arrived. I haven’t been able to find specific information about spots like this, but the skin around them doesn’t seem to be inflamed or broken, so for now I’m going to assume they’re some kind of scar tissue or skin anomaly in this species.
If if anyone knows anything more specific about Chinese gliding frogs/ flying frogs, I’d love your advice!
I was also wondering about the idea temeature to keep them? Any ideas? Right now the viv is about 75-78*, but during the day their color turns to dark green. Is that normal, or could it be temp is too cold? Any suggestions?
(Ps I also took the small crabs out of the tank. The frogs didn’t seem to care about them, but I thought better to be on th safe side. All the other little critters are either under the the water or OK for the frogs to eat)
Oh good. I thought the dots on top might be fungal, but scar tissue is possible as well.
I'm not sure about the temp, honestly. I need to go do some research.
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