Just checked in on my frogs before bed and found that my Surinam horned frog has three sores or wounds on his face. I would appreciate some help regarding identification and procedure.
Enclosure info:
1. Size of enclosure - 5 gallon
2. # of inhabitants - Just him
3. Humidity - unaware
4. Temperature - currently 75.1, set temp at 78 (F)
5. Water type - treated tap water
6. Materials used for substrate - NEHERP vivarium substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials - one big rock and a piece of cork
8. Main food source - dusted crickets and thawed frozen shrimp
9. Vitamins and calcium? - 1/week
10. Lighting - jungle dawn LED indirect
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure - heat pad
12. When is the last time he/she ate - crickets 48hrs prior
13. Have you found poop lately -yes
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine) - will do
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; -Darker color than usual. Three wounds on sides of face.
16. How old is the frog - between 1 and 1.5 years
17. How long have you owned him/her - 1 year and 7 days
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred - captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats - 1/week crickets and 1/week frozen shrimp. Frozen pinkies as a very rare treat.
20. How often the frog is handled - almost never. Only during cleaning and even then minimally.
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area - low traffic
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) - microfauna keep the place pretty clean. I spot clean poops daily and mist daily. I mostly try not to bother him. When I do a big clean I like to let him soak in a bucket filled maybe 1/2 in of water while I swap out his substrate while trying to keep all the isopods.
Raise your temp up a bit and it looks like your substrate is too wet. Water that pools will become stagnant and bacteria will begin to make the frog sick and potentially cause wounds such as this. Though usually on the frogs stomach and thighs not the face like this.
You say you also feed him crickets. Do not leave them in with the frog for an extended period of time unsupervised. They will bite and attempt to eat the frog.
Any sharp surfaces on the mentioned furnature? Has the frog been shedding normally?
For now address the above issues and you can put a triple antibiotic ointment like Original Neosporine or Polysporine on the wounds daily.
Any additional information about your clean up crew, spot cleaning, ect could help.
I had already preemptively raised the temperature up a bit. Currently resting at 82F. And the substrate looks exceptionally wet in this picture because I had just been spraying him down gently to get a good clean picture of the sores. Usually it's not so damp. I still appreciate the call out though. Especially on the temp I checked it for the initial post and turned up the set temp the next day.
I have been feeding him frozen fish and shrimp and crickets. He's a less aggressive eater than my fantasy frog, but he usually gobbles everything up given enough space and time. My theory is/was cricket bites though. I fed him 6-7 dusted crickets the night before. All the crickets were gone in the morning but I didn't watch him eat them all before going to bed (I usually don't put the lid back on until he's eaten them all. I'm not sure if I should cut crickets out of his diet all together or restrict them to 1-2 at a time as a vitamin vehicle from now on.
There is a rock with a sharp-ish corner on it in the vivarium. Although I'd be surprised if he bashed his face on it. I'm only aware of him changing positions in his tank maybe 6 times in his life.
He seems to shed pretty normally. Maybe a little less frequently than my dumpy frogs or his fantasy frog neighbor.
I've got about a dozen Armadillidium maculatum and about a dozen of some type of Scaber isopod in there with him. There are also some small white unidentifiable insects of some kind in small numbers. I occasionally see one when cleaning.
I took him to the vet twice since posting and there is some kind of bacterial infection at each sore, including 3 new sores that have appeared in the absence of crickets. I was given a topical antibiotic (Ofloxacin?) to dab on each sore twice daily.
I really appreciate your comment/concern <3
Here's a picture of him looking a little more himself
What are you using as heat source? Also be aware of tap water. I've a friend which was using tap water and a 100w ceramic bulb too low.
He now uses bottled water, changed everything and dimmed down the bulb and the marks did go away after a while.
That guy's frog did have similiar spots as those.
Also be sure that you're not using any uvb that is too strong. They can get burned too...
Also i've had some bad times using ecoearth so if you're using that be sure it is boiled clean when you make it and let it rest untill becomes cool.
I now use plantation soil from exoterra.
If it was mine, i would change everything and put new substrate or dry that one if it is new.
Fill this up GrifTheGreat has a lot of knowledge so he can helps:
1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
16. How old is the frog
17. How long have you owned him/her
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
20. How often the frog is handled
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)
I saw that you've fill that up sorry, about the "micro fauna" what are you refering too? Maybe it is also baking some bad bacteria?
Thus if it is bacterial infection as they said, maybe it is a good ideia to keep him in the paper towels while it gets healed and then be sure that you change the terrarium so the bacterias are killed. Otherwise they'll be back...
Is air circulating or is the terrarium fully closed?
Last edited by froghub; May 25th, 2020 at 04:51 PM.
I once found fruit fly larva make a similar sore on my Cornuta. There was about five of the larva bunched up on the back of the frog and when I removed them there was a spot(similar to the ones in your pic) about 1 centimeter in diameter on the frogs back where the larva where squirming. I cleaned the frog and replaced the substrate. After a 3 days it healed up.
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