Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a whites tree frog that is about six years old. I keep her in a 55 gallon tank that is set up on a thermostat so the temp remains consistant. All of the sudden she now has two sores on her leg that are open. I live in Kalispell Montana so we don't have many exotic vets and the one we have is gone untill the 13th. I am not sure what to do for her. I did move her to a seperate tank so that I can moniter her more closely and soaked her in a light solution of melafix (I am not sure if this will help but I have heard of people using it). Any advise would be greatly appretiated. I will do what ever it takes to help my frog. Latigo....

Well, I'm not completely sure, but it sounds a little like the crickets are munching on your froggy. Do you have a food dish for the crickets in the tank? or something that they would eat naturally? That's the only thing I can think of (not that good at thinking lol)
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1
Mantella viridis : 1:3

I feed my frogs in a bowl. She is eating just fine and hitting the crickets just as hard as she always has, but the sores seem to be getting a little bit larger. I will try and post a picture tonight.

If it is not a cricket bite, my next thought would be that it would have to do something with the husbandry.

Perhaps you have a bacteria or fungis in your tank which is causing the problem. This can occur from many things, it can even come from the crickets. Problem is when something (bacteria) gets into your tank it tends to spread quite rapidly since we keep them humid for the frogs.

I would suggest removing him to a sterile tank, perhaps a clean 10 gal with only paper towels for substrate, a new or sterilized water bowl, and some type of hide, all things not from the current tank. That way you can see if the frog will get better.

Once in the sterile setup I would keep him a bit warmer since he is a bit stressed and also try to give him a bit more dark time, including covering the sides.

I would then start to take apart your tank to see what you can find. Sterilize everything, including the tank, and rebuild.

What kind of setup do you have, what type of drainage and filtration? What temps and humidity do you keep?

The tank that I had Holley in is a 55 gallon bowfront. I made a top for it that holds a light hood that has the heat element, nightime and daytime lighting. I have the heat element on a big apple herp thermastat that has a probe that I put about six inches below the highest basking area. For water I have a waterfall in the corner that gets changed regularly.
I moved Holley to a 10 gallon tank that I keep at 80. There are papertowels on the bottom that I change every day (or more if she has a bowel movement). I have the back and sides blocked off and places to hide. The only exotic vet in town of coarse is gone untill the 13th. So I was able to get Doxycycline from the vet I take my dog to. I am soaking her in the Doxycycline each day and applying a tetracycline eye cream onto her wounds. I hope I am doing the right things, any input would be appreciated. Latigo

I forgot to say that she is still eating.

Well eating is always a good sign. Is there poo? That too is good.

I would continue to keep it in the sterile tank and see if he improves. If he does, I would have to say that my opinion would be some unseen problem in the tank. I would then totally strip the tank and start over. You can't see what cooties are hiding, even in the waterfall, in the substrate, in the plants etc. You never know, it could have come from the crickets, or a plant or whatever.

How are the sores doing?

Cool that you are in Kalispell, my mom has cousins there, I think it's either my grandma's brother or sister's kids. I've never heard anyone mention the place before now. She said it's nice there, she went out there a couple years ago with my daughter on the Amtrak, nice pictures.

This is a pic from the other day of Hollies sores. They have not spread or got any worse.
Link

Wow that looks painful. Are there any protrusions where the sores are? I've just recently heard things on talktothefrog about protrusions happening. I know mine dunk their behinds into the water, is there something that could have scraped him? Otherwise possibly a bacteria in the water? I know that some people have had issues with the frogs getting stuck in the waterfalls as they like to completely dunk (whites), maybe that's it?

If you can I'd try the website I mentioned, the people on there tend to be a more mature crowd with alot of people that breed as well, you would get good info there as opposed to some of the other sites I visit that seem to be alot of young and inexperienced people.

That looks an awful like advanced red leg to me. How quickly did the sores get to that size, or was there a blister? Google up baytil and Koizyme to treat the aquarium you had him in.
From the website below:
Red Leg

Red Leg is caused by the parasite Aeromonas hydrophila, and is commonly found with unsanitary environments, overcrowding, cold temperatures, and other stress factors. It is highly contagious and fatal.
Symptoms: lethargy; bloating; lack of appetite; muscular twitches, convulsions, or paralysis; and particularly a reddening of the skin; especially on the belly and the underside of the legs due to enlarged and broken capillaries. Do not confuse with abrasions suffered during travel or shipping.
Treatment: Infected animals should be quarantined. In the early stages, this may be treated at home with a medicated bath in a Sulfamethiazine solution (15ml for every 10L of water), or a 2% solution of copper sulfate or potassium permanganate. This bath should be given daily for two weeks. In severe or advanced cases, tetracycline should be administered orally at 50mg/kg twice a day. A veterinarian may recommend Baytril at 20 mg/kg administered orally, or metronidazole given at 50-100 mg/kg.

For the actual sore: All open wounds should be washed with a disinfectant solution like Betadine. Topical antibiotic ointment should be applied daily. For anything but the smallest scrape, a hospital tank should be used to prevent substrate and any bacteria in the enclosure from further invading the wound. Be sure to remove the cause of the injury (sharp rocks in the enclosure, screened lid, aggressive cage mate, etc.) if possible.

Good luck and keep us posted. Do you have pictures of your tank?
Gavin
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red leg typically looks more like a rash.. red dots very close together. I had a frog with lesions similar to this.. it ended up being an injury he aquired from a bromelaid and then ECOLI(sp?) set in. he had to have shots every three days and then a cream packed into the wound. I think my frogs injuries were far worse, but you really should have the vet do a test to see what kind of bacteria is in there! Good luck and let me know if you have anymore problems!
~Angela