Northern Leopard Frog stopped eating!

[Kurt]

Well, I have a greater hatchet-faced treefrog that I bought back in April and it only started eating in August. I thought for sure that it would've starved long before August came around.

[Tom Highum]

Wow now i am not so worried about my Malaysian Leaf frog.

[kymillers]

Well, I have a greater hatchet-faced treefrog that I bought back in April and it only started eating in August. I thought for sure that it would've starved long before August came around.

Wow! I wonder if our little guy will last as long. He's not green anymore; his color is now a dull brown, although he is still green in his "crevices" such as the bends of his legs and under the edge of his belly. He still doesn't really look thin, but he's not as plump as he was. I've been "basting" him 3x a day with spring water from his tank, and keeping his spagnum moss moist. I just booted him into the water, and he's still there. That should help him stay hydrated. Before that I tried to feed him a wiggling cricket by tweezers again; again not interested.

He has his old background covering the back, and black construction paper on both ends, and half the front of the tank covered in vines. The screen top is also half-covered with a towel. I'm about to drive 100 miles roundtrip to the nearest pet store and get him a full hood for his tank. It's the absolute last thing I know to do to try to make him feel safe and secure enough in his now month-old home that he might start eating and singing again.

(He's beginning to make me mad! Can you tell?)

[Tom Highum]

ouch 100 miles. mines like 3 miles round trip. Well i hope that helps

[Kurt]

Is there any skin sloughing? In other words, if you handle him do bits of skin come off in your hand?

[kymillers]

Well, I don't really handle him - I know it's not good for him. I use the end of the baster and gently nudge him on the rear and he'll usually move away. I don't see any evidence of any skin sloughing - I'll go check.

Nope, nothing. He still looks healthy and bright eyed, except for his coloring no longer being bright green all over as he was before. Also, his respiration seems a little bit elevated, but that might be my imagination.

[Kurt]

Ok I think I have ruled out chytridiomycosis. My next thought is we may be dealing with a respiratory infection. In this exam you will need to pick the frog up, put it to your ear, and listen. Do this in a quiet room. What you don't want to hear is crackling when it breaths. Crackling indicates a respiratory infection and the animal needs to be put on antibiotics immediately if you hear it. Which means a trip to the vet.

[kymillers]

Ooookay. He's a bit of a challenge to hang on to, but I'll give it a go later this evening when everything calms down around here. Hopefully that's not the problem!

I really appreciate your help.

[kymillers]

Well,

Instead of picking him up and stressing him more, I put my hand in front of him and listened to his back with my stethoscope. It took a minute to get situated, but after a minute or so I did hear what I assume was normal breath sounds. Definitely no crackling or popping, just a very quietsoft airy sound. He didn't really appreciate the cold stethoscope, but he didn't attempt to run away. Just flattened down as much as possible and tried to be invisible. That's his usual behavior.

Since he isn't wild caught, how would he contract any sort of infection? I guess he could get a respiratory infection from stress, but not chytridiomycosis, right? We're very careful about hygiene.