Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, she's been quarantined. I have her in a small 7.5 gallon tank with a wet paper towel substrate, her very favorite rock (yes, my frog has a favorite rock), a plant, and a shallow water dish. When I put her into the small "apartment", she climbed right into the water bowl, and is still sitting there now. She made a jump or two, and they seemed relatively strong, but she still won't move. I fed her a couple of D-3 dusted mealworms from my tongs, and she went right at them when I waved them in front of her face (I think her vision is starting to go, too. she oftentimes jumps at nothing). Every movement she makes seems to be strong, they have a decent amount of "oomph" to them, which is a good thing I suppose, but she still won't move (though ya'll are right, she's probably a "he" - - but whatever, Edwina is Edwina).

The others have noticed that she's missing, it's sort of sad. They're pressed against the front of the glass looking out toward her quarantine tank which is only a couple of feet away. It's really, really depressing.

I just wish I knew what was going on with her.
I'm wondering if she had a seizure, and maybe this is her body's way of coping with the trauma. I know that after other animals have seizures, particularly cats and dogs, they can sleep for 24 hours without any kind of disturbance whatsoever. There's some medical term for it, but I don't remember it - - - I'm not a neuroscience person, I'm going into orthopedic surgery.

I guess the best I can do is to continue what I'm doing.
I've heard that waxworms are more nutritious than mealworms, is this true?

Thanks for all of your concern, all of you. I appreciate it, a lot. It's good to know that there are still people in the world that will help out a stranger.

Oh, and on a lighter note, here's the whole family [it's posted at the bottom]
it's pretty cool how they're all different shades, I like that a lot.
Especially my little Edwina

Waxworms are a little fattier and can help your frog gain some weight. But I'd try to offer a variety of foods so you can cover all of the nutritional requirements. Mealworms, waxworms, crickets, earthworms, etc. If you can get them.

My frog will sometimes jump at seemingly nothing, but I've noticed he'll track me as I enter the room and leap if I come near the tank. He realizes I bring food, and it appears that he thinks I am food, so he gets worked up and jumps toward me when I draw near.

I got her to eat last night - - - and she seemingly took them with little to no problems at all. And now I've noticed, in her little quarantine tank, she hasn't passed them yet, that is to say, she appears to be constipated [intestinal impaction? maybe?] - - - it's not like I can do a barium series on her or anything, so I guess the only way to know is guessing (and as I said earlier, the only veterinarian around here laughed at me - - - there isn't anyone that deals with exotics, that is, anything beyond feline and canine, within a 60 mile radius, and the trip alone may kill her - - - I'm from New York, but I go to school in Durham, North Carolina, so, yeah...bad news on all fronts) From what I know of amphibians (and I don't claim to be an expert...I'm pre-med/primatology, not exotics), they have relatively fast metabolic rates, at least tree frogs do, and would probably pass their food relatively quickly.

again, I apologize for writing such long, exhausting posts, but I'm grasping at straws here. and again, I thank all of ya'll for your help.

Impaction would make sense. Would be the reason she is sitting in her water bowl all the time. A type of self medication. Try placing her in warm water twice a day for a soak and see if that helps any.

Do you have any moss in your tank? Or perhaps because of her/his size difference the crickets that are fine for the others aren't for her. I do agree with one comment made though, mealworms are not the best at all to feed when your pet is feeling sick. Stick with small crickets and waxworms or silkworms, earthworms or butterworms (they are great for frogs, less fat than crickets). Only feed mealworms again once your frog is doing better.
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1
Mantella viridis : 1:2

Just to make sure, you are using a Calcium and D3 dust on the crickets? Seems alot of people have been having issues that weren't dusting.

Also it may be that she wasn't getting enough or the right size crickets. Hopefully with the special care that she's getting she will be fine soon.

I've been using the ExoTerra "Tree Frog Dust" - - - the ingredients have calcium and D-3 listen on them, so I assume that's good - - should I stop feeding her until she passes whatever's blocking her up? I gave her waxworms last night, dusted, and she took them pretty eagerly. I gave her a warm water soak this afternoon, and then had to go tend to sorority rush for 9 hours (shoot me), but when I came back, she was asleep on the rock next to the water bowl (close to the heat source) - this is the first time she's come out of her water bowl in 2 days. And, she's sleeping in her curled-up-white's-tree-frog position, not in the weird sprawly position she'd been in previously. I'm hoping this is a positive sign. She hasn't passed whatever's stuck up there yet, but I'm hoping that she will soon. She seems to be getting better, and I'm not about to give up on her yet. How long might it take until she's able to defecate? any ideas?

...and moreover, what if she, well, doesn't? I suppose the only option is surgery, but, yeah, I don't know. thanks again ya'll.

Just a thought, but the earthworm idea might be an actual help in getting the blockage to pass. I realize it's the wrong time of year for them but maybe find a bait store and but some red worms. MUCH smaller than night crawlers. My thinking on this is that the mucilage(sp) from the worms will act to coat whatever the blockage might be and make it easier to pass.

I don't know how safe mineral oil is for frogs, It's used with reptiles in cases of impaction, but if you could get a drop of that in her it will act the same way. To coat and/or loosen the blockage making it easier to pass it.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

I have no idea how long it would take, but I would be worried if your frog hasn't passed what its eating soon enough. As you have mentioned, frogs have relatively short digestive tracts. I think you should maybe go a couple days without feeding her, if there is blockage, feeding more is not really going to help any. Youre doing what you can. My next suggestion would be to get ahold of one of the online vets. Although I can never remember the name or address, it could be of some help to you.
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1
Mantella viridis : 1:2

I know that when dogs and cats have issues passing things from their intestinal tract, it's recommended by veterinarians to mix in a tablespoon of vegetable oil in their food. could 1-2cc of vegetable oil possible help make whatever is stuck in her tract easier to pass? (I think it may have been a giant cricket, one managed to get mixed in with the smaller ones she usually eats - - - oh, and could these intestinal problems have anything to do with her lethargy and her weird little episode from the other day?)

all she does is sleep. she's been bathing a lot lately again, I'm just at a loss. I'll try anything at this point. thanks ya'll for being so incredibly patient with me, I'll be mailing out virtual fruitbaskets of thankfulness at the end of the month to all of you.

THAT would be safer than the mineral oil, and for an animal this size I would think you'd only need a drop or two. Just don't send fruit cakes .

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

I just found this site and it has a list of vets you can talk to. There are also feeding sections, including a part on force feeding sick ones and about being careful not to overfeed, etc. Thought you might find something helpful there. I got the link from a Herpatological Society page.
Frognet FFQ

okay...now I can't get her to open her mouth. is there any other way I can get the veggie oil into her digestive tract? When I take her out, she walks around my hand and what not like she always did, she's acting fine, but as soon as I put her down, she goes comatose again and just lets her eyes get sucked back into her skull and "sleeps", for all intents and purposes. this is making me crazy! I think she's just trying to piss me off at this point. She hasn't had any more episodes, thank God, but she still hasn't defecated. Ugggggggggggggggh.

I read in a couple of different places that you can force the mouth open with a credit card and then put food or medicine in.

I hope it's not too late. The link to the site in my last post had info on how to do it and how to hold her, but I figured you already knew that part. Just don't squeeze her tummy.