I'm scared to force feed my pac man frog

[GrifTheGreat]

I'm wondering if it's normal for my frog to smell? Or, does he maybe Have an infection? I smell something that I would describe as fishy smelling. His water is changed at least daily. His substrate is clean. I smell it When I have him out for feedings. I normally rinse him after he's done eating and then place him back in his fresh water.... thanks!

Does he urinate when you get him out? You could be smelling amonia if he does. Signs of an infection on the dermal tissue or skin would be apparent and show. Really reddish areas on the skin also sores and dry flakes of skin. Red leg is a bacterial infection in which the thighs will appear severly red from the bacteria bursting blood vessles. Other syptoms to red leg are loss of appetite/bloating/listlessness/and lythargy. It could also be from the booster. You have to give the correct dosage to weight. Most of them tell you how much to give your frog based on its weight. Too much can be harmful as these supplements contain lots of vitamins which could build up in your frogs system and harm of kill him. It is possible that this is where the smell is coming from.

[LIZZIE82]

Does he urinate when you get him out? You could be smelling amonia if he does. Signs of an infection on the dermal tissue or skin would be apparent and show. Really reddish areas on the skin also sores and dry flakes of skin. Red leg is a bacterial infection in which the thighs will appear severly red from the bacteria bursting blood vessles. Other syptoms to red leg are loss of appetite/bloating/listlessness/and lythargy. It could also be from the booster. You have to give the correct dosage to weight. Most of them tell you how much to give your frog based on its weight. Too much can be harmful as these supplements contain lots of vitamins which could build up in your frogs system and harm of kill him. It is possible that this is where the smell is coming from.

I don't know if he urinates when I take him out.... What I normally do is soak up the water in his dish (he still hangs out in his dish) with paper towels, put him on a bench to feed him in that dish and after he's done eating, I put him in a new (sanitized dish.) I do rinse him with water before I trans him though. There aren't any visible signs of infection. In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have one. I really think it's the booster that is making the smell. I'm giving him the proper dosage. He doesn't have red leg.

He is doing REALLY well! He ate three crickets last night and tonight. He had his booster, too. Still won't eat on his own. He looks really good compared to how he looked when I started to to feed the booster. His color is much better and his belly is really getting big (no, he's not impacted.) His attitude is getting worse, lol, and his cooperation is next to nothing I'll take it, though! I just want him to be healthy.

[LIZZIE82]

Well, he is out of his water dish. He got out of it earlier and he was kind of pressed against the glass on the wrong side...I put him back in the dish and I just went to check on him.....he's out again, sitting on his substrate. He pooped again, I cleaned his water dish, gave him fresh water and made sure his dish was flush against the substrate so it's easy to get in and out of. I'M NERVOUS!! We've got a cold front coming through and the heater is coming on and I'm struggling with humidity in all my vivs. I'm misting all tanks and I have TWO humidifiers going and the humidity drops so quick! I hope he gets back in the water. I guess I will have my neighbor come up and mist him if he doesn't burrow by morning. Wish us luck....I knew he was feeling better but I wish he'd stay where I know he's safe!

[Sublime]

Probably not a great idea to wash him down (stress and any frog being washed down would be irritated), unless what you're talking about is just putting him in a bowl? The smell seems to me like some sort of bacterial disease (infectious) would be my guess. I'm sorry if I missed one of your comments about you changing his tank regularly, but how often do you change it? Just try to keep everything clean and sanitary in his tank for now. Smell the booster content and then smell him - that's easy to determine.

Good that you notice signs of him being better. Howcome you take him out of his water dish? How often do you check up on him? Do you place any type of screen covering to keep moisture from evaporating quickly? Heaters will reduce some relative humidity, but not by much.

[GrifTheGreat]

Probably not a great idea to wash him down (stress and any frog being washed down would be irritated), unless what you're talking about is just putting him in a bowl? The smell seems to me like some sort of bacterial disease (infectious) would be my guess. I'm sorry if I missed one of your comments about you changing his tank regularly, but how often do you change it? Just try to keep everything clean and sanitary in his tank for now. Smell the booster content and then smell him - that's easy to determine.

Good that you notice signs of him being better. Howcome you take him out of his water dish? How often do you check up on him? Do you place any type of screen covering to keep moisture from evaporating quickly? Heaters will reduce some relative humidity, but not by much.

Mark is right about washing the frog down. That would stress him. You shouldn't take him in and out of his water dish all the time. You already have to handle him while force feeding. If he gets out of the water then he doesn't want to be in there anymore and that is fine. Keep the substrate moist and he will not dehydrate. Definetly cover part of the top of the enclosure with a damp cloth to help maintain humidity levels within the enclosure. Try not to handle him more than is necissary otherwise you risk stressing him more and he will take longer to recover. Do as Mark said and smell the booster. If the smells are similar then it is more than likely the booster. I've noticed that Grif smells like the Hornworm food when she eats Hornworms so it is very possible that the frog is secreting some of the booster when producing mucus(the frogs slime layer).

Also as Mark said cleanliness is a huge factor in your frogs recovery. I would change the substrate every 2 weeks and disinfect the enclosure until he fully recovers.

[LIZZIE82]

I don't dunk him to rinse him off....I rinse him off with a little water b/c the booster normally gets spit out and I don't want it in the fresh water... it's just a squirt of water on the needed parts. I can't hold him and force feed him. I use a gift card with one hand, tongs in the other for crickets. I also don't like to handle my frogs. I check on him throughout the night, before I leave fir work and first thing when I get home. My neighbor will come up and check on him and text me with a report. He's doing really well now. He's out of his water dish again tonight and starting to burrow in the substrate. He ate well today, too. He's getting fatter! I really love my little guy... I want him to be healthy but I kind of hope he stays small (okay, smaller.)

[GrifTheGreat]

I don't dunk him to rinse him off....I rinse him off with a little water b/c the booster normally gets spit out and I don't want it in the fresh water... it's just a squirt of water on the needed parts. I can't hold him and force feed him. I use a gift card with one hand, tongs in the other for crickets. I also don't like to handle my frogs. I check on him throughout the night, before I leave fir work and first thing when I get home. My neighbor will come up and check on him and text me with a report. He's doing really well now. He's out of his water dish again tonight and starting to burrow in the substrate. He ate well today, too. He's getting fatter! I really love my little guy... I want him to be healthy but I kind of hope he stays small (okay, smaller.)

Keep up the good work and he'll be fine.