Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
My oldest and largest whites tree frog recently grew a large lump on the side of its abdomen.

The lump is firm (but not hard) and it seems to be sensitive to the touch. I am not really sure on what I should do here.

The frog in question has also been resting in the water bowl for long periods of time.

Could someone recommend a vet in the Los Angeles area that has knowledge of amphibians.

The tank has three other wtf's.

Food: Superworms and crickets. Occasional calcium supplement.
Water: changed nightly or every other night. Filtered with a PUR water filter pitcher and allowed to set out. Exo terra water conditioner.

Here are some photos.
The lump measures about 1 inch wide. (left side)

Here is another photo before the bump. Also a nice comparrison in size of one of my average sized frogs.

I am guessing it is some sort of fatty tumor, I would certainly get it looked it. It can also be some sort of infection, but the skin will usually split open within a few days if that were the case.

If you can't find a good vet, see if you have a local herp/reptile society, most major cities have one these days, and you can contact them for advice on reaching a vet. If that doesn't work out, check around for larger breeders and drop em an email asking for a local vet recommendation or maybe even go visit the zoo and ask the keepers in the herp section (I would not call.. I am sure they get lots of calls with those type questions and have some sort of nice way to say, sorry we won't help you).

BTW, whites are heavy frogs anyways.. but you would have a little better health record if you put that one on a diet for a while.. it is way to heavy.. (just my opinion though).
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Thanks for the reply.

The frog has swolen up a little when I had taken that photo. The bump was most noticable the first day it was discovered. Now it is hard to tell the bump is there. I should weigh it to see if it has gained any weight.

I have not been able to check the frog today(it's at my girlfriends house) so I do not know how swolen it is. It has been quarantined in our back up tank.

We did implement a diet plan for the big frog but the other wtf's in the tank are finiky eaters. So while they are taking their sweet time eating, the big one would be cleaning house.

I will need to take more aggressive action.

We will take it to the vet in a few hours once my gf gets off of work.

I will update when we get a prognosis.

Thanks

I have a ton of photos of them. The big "Tiny" is approx 8 oz.

I am back from the vet. www.labh.com

They gave him a radiograph and the bump was clear. Not solid like a tumor or a syst would be I guess. I should have asked them for it. I would scan it and post it.

They perscribed Baytril injections for him and my 3 other frogs.

I hope he pulls through. The others should be ok.

Any recommendations on giving injections. I have to give each frog an injection once a day for 5 days. The big one squeals when injecting. I am not looking forward to this.

Did the vet aspirate the bump? Whites tend to suffer from a variety of parasites like sparganum which burrow into the skin and form bumps like these. The only way to tell for sure is for the vet to lance it and see what comes out. I'm surprised that they did not do this.
As for the injections, it really is no problem. Just make sure you inject in the front legs only, as herps have a renal-portal system where everything injected into the back legs will be filtered through the kidneys before it has any chance to do the animal any good. Inject into the fleshy part of the arm, and alternate arms so the injection sites do not build up scar tissue.
You may need one person to hold the frog and the other to do the injection. That would make it much easier on you and the frog. Just grab his arm and push the needle in about 1/3 of the way into the diameter of his arm. Don't push the needle hard or you will come out the other side of the arm!
The frog will not like these shots no matter what you do, but don't worry, he will get over it.
I agree with the other person who said that this guy is too fat.
He really is, so you need to cut down on his feeding. In whites the area over the eyes starts to grow so large that eventually the frog will not be able to see. That can only happen when you overfeed them, and your fellow is clearly getting that ridge over his eyes, and it is quite large already. So get him well first, then put him on a diet.
Hope this helps.

Hi thanks for the the reply.

The vet did not do anything to the bump except for look at it with the the x-ray they took.

They mentioned that it could be from the frog hitting itself on something or squeezing through a tight spot and damaging the tissue under neith the skin.

And they mentioned that if the bump did not go away they would take a sample from it to see what is going on in there.

The injections have been a royal pain. And I do not think I can inject them in their arms with them flailing and resisting. I am the only person in the household that is not sqeamish while handling them.

Not to mention their skin has proven to be very puncture resistant.

What I have been doing is let them soak in the water for a few minutes while I prepare the injection. 3 units small and 5 for the big one.

Then I would place the injection in the shoulder/pectoral area. Their skin seems to be very supple there. They also seem to resist minimally. So I will be less likely to freakout when the needle is in them.

So far I have put three of the five injections in that area.

The three smaller frogs are still doing great. And I guess the big one is stable(no big changes, still quarintined from the others).

I was able to figure out how to inject in the arm quite easily today and it went very well. I'm happy.

Even on the smallest and most squirmish ones went well.

I also felt the bump on the largest one. It felt softer and the frog reacted less when I touched it so I guess it is getting less sensitive.