What happened?? Is my frog sick???

[gtr319]

Hi Guys,

When I went to change the water for Marshmallow (Whites Tree Frog) last night, I found out that the water dish is EXTREMELY dirty and filled with things that I haven't seen before (not to mention it smell foul). I know I should of taken a picture, but I discarded it asap after I learned the foul smell. Anyone have this happened before?? Is my frog sick???

I did a little research, and the picture looks like Saprolegnia. Anyone have this happened to their Whites before??

[John]

Frogs like to defecate in the water bowl. Feces are good fertilizer for fungi, bacteria and plants.

[gtr319]

@ John: But I have seen her poop before, and its nothing close to what I have seen last night. If Marshi pissed in the bowl, why would there be stuff in there besides water and loose moss?

[charlamanda]

Has this happened again?
How is your frog doing?
I looked up Saprolegnia and if it truely is this you saw in your frogs water it seems possible your frog may have it too. The articles I read said it is a stringy, cotton like mould found in fresh and salt water. It thrives on the waste material from fish and amphibians (like John Clare mentioned) and can grown on fish and amphibians that have or had a wound or infection on their skin, which gives the mould a place to enter and set up shop. If your frog does have Saprolegnia it would need to be treated, since the article says it will ultimately cause death, but says it is easily treated. If there are patches of white fluff on your frog bring it to the vet or look up &/or inquire what the treatments are, that's if you feel confident you can treat the frog yourself, I'd go to the vet personally just to be 100% sure. You would also need to take your frog/frogs out of the terrarium and clean it thoughly, while you are treating your frog/frogs, and isolate any sick frogs from the other frogs, if you have more. If you have more than one frog in that particular tank, you may need to treat all of them prophylacticly just to make sure. Better to treat them all than to have the mould
reemerge and have to go through the whole process again.
I may have another alternative though.
I have Gray Tree frogs and took them in shortly after they morph and left the pool. I've been watching them grow for the past 5 months now and have wittnessed them shedding their skins. They puff up like balloons, open their mouths wide over and over again, twist and stretch and use their legs and feet to pull the skin off their bodies. Some hang in the "pool" when they are trying to get their skin off, it must soften or help them somehow, so the stringy substance in your pool maybe the skins they shed.
Either way I'd keep a close eye on the frogs that were exposed to the water and possibly Saprolegnia.
Hope this helps and let us know how your frog/frogs are doing.
BTW.. my frogs water can get a bit stinky too. They tend to go for a soak after a meal, then poop and tinkle making the water pretty foul. I also noted that sometimes it looks like an oil slick on the water surface too, but then again I have eight of them in that tank so they get the water dirty fairly quickly.

[gtr319]

@ charlamanda: my frog is ok, and I don't see no wound as I do my weekly check up on her (yes, I keep my handling as minimal as possible), I hope its just the skin... let me see if there is anything wrong with her when I go check her out tonite

[charlamanda]

@ charlamanda: my frog is ok, and I don't see no wound as I do my weekly check up on her (yes, I keep my handling as minimal as possible), I hope its just the skin... let me see if there is anything wrong with her when I go check her out tonite

I am glad to hear she's doing well. I worry too and with minimal experience it can be very frightening not knowing whats wrong and what to do, I"ve been there many times too!LOL

[gtr319]

I am glad to hear she's doing well. I worry too and with minimal experience it can be very frightening not knowing whats wrong and what to do, I"ve been there many times too!LOL

Yep, no open wounds or any yucky things on her~~ But it makes me wonder really hard what those little things are... can she be having her periods like animals do??

[Myles]

my whites would always **** in its water bowl and sometimes it would smell really bad i dont think theres anything to worry about poop isnt supposed to smell like roses lol im sure your frogs fine and is in good hands!