Help! Stuck froglet!

[Jace]

Poe, my 1 1/2" froglet, managed to get himself stuck in a cool piece of driftwood I placed in his enclosure. He has been in there for a couple of days now and we realized his feet might be stuck. We placed the driftwood into a bin, wetted it and him down (slippery when wet, right??), covered it so it was completely dark, and hope he will manage to work himself out. However, if that doesn't work, does anyone have any suggestions?

In the attached picture, he does not look wedged in, but now he is further in and all we can see is his face. He squirms but can't seem to get out.

[bshmerlie]

I would think that water would make the wood expand so I would not add water. Is there anyway to use some needle nose plyers to break away a small piece of wood?

[Julia]

Have you tried putting a cricket or worm in front of him just out of reach...see if the motivation helps him free himself?

[Jace]

Yeah, I thought of the expanding wood AFTER I sprayed it. I guess I don't do well under pressure, eh?? Sigh...Poe, being an American Bullfrog, freaks out when anything gets near him. In order to see exactly where he is, I need a flashlight, which makes him panic and try and go backwards, which is how we ended up where we are. If need be, I will destroy the driftwood in a safe manner if it means getting him out. I don't care about the piece, just my frog.

[SethD]

I would be somewhat surprised if he was actually stuck, frogs can compress their bodies a great deal and he doesn't looked compressed anywhere near enough to be stuck. I consider it much more likely he just doesn't want to come out for some reason, possibly because of stress or because things are to dry and he is trying to find a spot to conserve moisture. The fact that he is able to retreat deeper is also something that indicates to me that he may not actually be stuck. If upon careful examination I was firmly convinced he was stuck I would just carefully remove some of the surrounding wood. Before I tried that though I would just put the piece of wood in a covered five gallon bucket half full of water and leave it overnight to see if he would come out on his own. Bullfrogs, even young bullfrogs, are water loving. I wouldn't worry about the wet wood expanding either as it shouldn't expand enough to cause an issue.

[Jace]

I don't know what the deal with him was, but he is now out! I am thinking the conditions might have been too dry, though I sprayed his enclosure heavily last night. Either way, he is out and got a dose of crickets for being free. That particular piece of driftwood is not going back in there until I know his little froggy butt is too big to wedge itself in it. Two days! I am too old for this.....

[Julia]

With the way your little guy is growing im sure you will be able to put the wood back in less then a week! Glad you got him out!

[Jace]

Thanks, Julia. I'm thinking Seth was right and he wasn't fully stuck, but he was in the same place for two whole days. I rather be safe than sorry, so for now, the driftwood is drying out and on hold. I can't wait to put it back in though, because it is a beautiful piece. Poe is not too happy with me but I think the influx of crickets helped! Whew!