Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine has a Roccoco(sp?) toad. He has had it for about 2 months now. It eats voraciously, feeding on crickets and the occasional mouse. He has noticed recently that it has a swelling just forward of its eye that first appeared to be oozing a white pus like subtance in small quantities, now is sort of scabbed over but still seems to be swelling further. The theory is that he injured himself on the glass of his cage. He doesn't leap headlong into the glass when startled, as some toads and frogs do, but, when eating, he tends to herd crickets into a corner and pin them there to catch them. While eating in the corner, he bumps his head on the glass repeatedly. First, any idea on what we can do to treat the injury? Secondly, any idea on how to avoid this type of injury in the future? Besides padded walls, of course. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I am more of a snake guy and at a loss of what to tell him about treating his toad.

Thanks,
Derek B

My first bit of advice would be to seek a veterinarian for treatment. If that is not possible, I would treat the wound with neosporin (just plain old neosporin with NO benzocaine, or any other "pain reliever" in it)
And how about trying to feed the toad with tongs, so he won't have to trap his food, and re-injure himself.?
Best of luck, and I'm sure there will be lots of other helpful advice offered here. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the help! Neosporin seems to be the advice of the day. Was thinking that, but not being a amphibian guy, didn't know if that would work, or if it could be toxic to them. I will suggest the tongs, but feeding time seems to be his favorite thing about the toad and he might not be too open to changing that. I will look for other ways to stop the injuries for him.

Derek B

I too, have a Rococo. When I first purchased her she was nervous and rubbed her nose along side of her enclosure until it bled. I dabbed it with Neosporin ointment which in about a week cleared up. What has helped immensely is that I gave her plenty of room to hide when she wants. Since doing this I no longer have the problem. I've only had her a couple of months, so I'm still learning about her personality.

Since you say that the injury is starting to swell again, I'm guessing that infection is probably setting it. I'd go for a vet visit myself because of this and because of the injury near the eye. This is just my personal opinion, however. If it were just scabbed up I'd say that it was on the healing mend, but sounds like something else is going on. I hope your friend pulls the toad through because these are very awesome creatures!

Thanks for the advice. I will tell him to try the neosporin. If that doesn't work, I'll suggest that he take it to the vet. He does have a couple of hide areas in the cage, which solved the non eating problem that he had at first. Thanks again for your help.

Derek B

maybe since he likes to corral them into a corner, pad all the corners with some moss and a few live, leafy plants like a safe ivy or a nice clump of pothos. That way, once he gets them into the corner and lunges, the moss and stuff will buffer the blow and he won't smack into the glass.

I actually have all myu corners like this for my Christmas Toads because after the first couple feeding I could hear them thmping into the glass. It has worked VERY well!

Hope this helps!!!
-----
Heather