Help, badly broken leg on frog! (with pictures)

[Torqued Teeth]

Update on frog, now named Kumatora. There's been no bleeding from her leg for the past few days, and she's been increasingly active, so I added some bedding (wet coconut stuff) and a larger water tray to maintain humidity and allow easier access to the water.


I may add some plants (real or fake) for cover and something to stick to the glass walls so she knows she can't go through, but for now she's exploring. Kuma checked out the flowerpot, then the water, and now she's walking the border of the tank. I'm a bit worried she'll twist up her leg again, but she seems so much less stressed now than when she was cowering in her little cave all day. I'll pick up some mealworms on my way back from work and see if she likes those more than the crickets. (although there were a couple missing when I went to redo the tank. Hopefully they were eaten since I don't think they can get out).



The swelling and discoloration on the leg have gone down (although it does swell up again when it gets twisted), and I'm hoping that extra skin there is just normal shedding. She's not out of the woods yet, but she seems to be improving. I've just got to hope that there's enough structure left inside the leg for it to recover. She can fold the leg up to her body, but I don't think I've seen her extend it yet. It mostly just drags.

[Torqued Teeth]

Kuma's not been looking too good since I got back from work. She's just lethargic and sulking in the corner. The swelling is up a bit. I'm worried

[Torqued Teeth]

Small update: Kuma's still alive and doing okay. She's somewhat active, but she spends most of her time resting in various parts of her water area (she doesn't have much space for swimming, but she'll move to a new hiding place a few times a day). Her leg's been slowly getting worse, but being in water helps reduce the swelling by a lot. Thankfully her appetite's back and she ate a worm yesterday.

Not really sure what to do now but wait. Even if her leg does heal, there's nothing left in her knee to stop the leg from getting twisted and dying at a later date. And I don't have it in me to amputate - especially when my vet warned me it would most certainly kill her. I'm doing my best to keep her comfortable and give her space, but I'm worried I'm just making her suffer for no reason if she won't be able to thrive after this.

[KP]

Small update: Kuma's still alive and doing okay. She's somewhat active, but she spends most of her time resting in various parts of her water area (she doesn't have much space for swimming, but she'll move to a new hiding place a few times a day). Her leg's been slowly getting worse, but being in water helps reduce the swelling by a lot. Thankfully her appetite's back and she ate a worm yesterday.

Not really sure what to do now but wait. Even if her leg does heal, there's nothing left in her knee to stop the leg from getting twisted and dying at a later date. And I don't have it in me to amputate - especially when my vet warned me it would most certainly kill her. I'm doing my best to keep her comfortable and give her space, but I'm worried I'm just making her suffer for no reason if she won't be able to thrive after this.

I'm relieved that you pressed a Veteranarian to give this one an examination and that you received good medical advice on her treatment. I have 4 Gray Tree Frogs malformed and otherwise afflicted from first leaving the water as tiny morphs and it's good to take those ones in if you have the level of commitment it takes to be their long-term care-giver. This one's fortunate that you noticed her after her mishap.

You made the best decision in seeking out a professional to help you begin your years with this frog.

One thing that's absolutely critical is that you change her water daily without fail as infection is the greatest danger. If you can, make her tank 90% water with an island or bank of the other 10% and get a filter to keep the water free of bacteria and other pathogens. As a Bullfrog, she'll enjoy as much water as you can provide for her as long as she can get out onto land and dry out for awhile. With as much water as she should have it becomes completely impractical to change it daily which is why I reccomend something like an Aqueon Quiet Flow self-contained submersible filter and fairly deep water for 90% of her tank. At this point if it hasn't killed her, it suggests that she can retain at least limited use of the leg. Amphibians are remarkably resilient and able to heal.

Once she's truly out of danger, you should get the largest tank you can afford to give her as much of a pond setting simulation as possible.

Hoping for the best for her and also to read some positive updates soon.

[Torqued Teeth]

Thanks so much to the advice!

It was scary for a while, but she improved a lot yesterday. Kuma's been more active and less corpse-like. I'm going to hold off on upgrading her tank for a couple more days since her health has been so back and forth, and I really don't want to stress her out with another big change to her environment. (not to mention, this is an old aquarium and I'm not sure it will hold water. It will take a while to test and make sure it won't leak) She's doing really well in shallow water, and she's getting less shy when I enter the room.

Also, she caught a big cricket this morning after it wandered too close to the water. It was fun watching her stalk it because there were two she was interested in, and every so often she would spin around to watch the other one.

[KP]

Hey, thanks, that's great news. Sounds like she's been saved by you.
About the tank size, if you have a petco nearby they have 50% off prices on up to 75 gallon tanks about 2-3 times a year which makes the 75 gallon not cheap but reduces it to just under $100 dollars. For a leaping swimming frog of her kind that would be a nice size tank for a house frog. Her newly limited mobility would still be able to take full advantage of it at, as I suggested, about a 90/10 water to dry land ratio. It's a spendy investment with a filter as well, but if you can afford it it would be very good for her. Her kind love to spend a lot of time in the water.
I'm not surprized she's getting better, you've done right by her from the start.
There's an interesting thread here of a person who has amputated a frog's broken leg and it healed up nice and seems to have been doing well for over a year now.
Would appreciate pics and updates of Kuma's progress and happy life as she progresses, if you can.