Rehabing an American Bullfrog

[Dejavudoo]

I was out doing research that required find amphibians with a couple of other people. One person rolled a log over during the search and unfortunately injured a small bullfrog. His organs squished out of his side. I decided to try to rehab him. This happened Monday, November 8th. I found a vet that put the organs back in and stitched him up. He seems to be doing ok now (i.e he's still alive and moves around), but he won't eat. I have him one of those small sized reptile carriers with water, a couple of rocks, and soil. I bought him some small live crickets and red worms (like earthworms but smaller). The crickets I keep in there, but I offer the worms 2-3 times daily (else they'll just burrow in the soil). He has yet to accept any food. Is there anything I can do? If he won't accept the food is there something I could put in the water so he could at least absorb nutrients from the water??? Please help! I'd really hate to see this guy go after 4 days of surviving such a substantial injury.

[John]

Sick amphibians that won't eat are invariably doomed. Assuming the frog can heal from its injuries (which I doubt, actually, despite your vet's stitching), force feeding it may be the only way to get it to eat for the time being. Unfortunately, attempting to do so would be even more stressful and may not be productive in this frog's case. If this is a native frog, I would suggest keeping it somewhere nice and cool with plenty of cover and no possibility of predators or pets in the area that could stress the frog. Cold conditions have been shown to aid amphibian healing from injuries, and the cold weather will slow the metabolism, going somewhere towards mitigating the lack of appetite. Give it 7-10 days in these conditions and then check it to see how it's doing. I would avoid checking it before those 7-10 days elapse, as doing so will likely just stress the frog.

[Dejavudoo]

How cool should I keep him? Its about 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit in my house right now. Is this too warm?

Edit: I also just read that these frogs hibernate in the winter by burying themselves in mud. We found a few other bullfrogs that day and they were all buried in mud under logs. If this frog should be hibernating right now, should I be doing anything different?

[John]

I wouldn't hibernate a severely injured frog like that. Keep it somewhere cool (a little below 10 °C / 50 °F).

[Dejavudoo]

How would I go about getting the temperature so low? Should I place him in a cooler with some ice packs or something???

[Dejavudoo]

Thought I would let everyone know that the little bullfrog has been released.