Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hope you can help me. My daughter has 2 White's Tree Frogs. One of them developed a large boil on it's nose. The pet store owner suggested that I mist them with Furin. That did not help. Now that frog is very dark brown, listless, dry skin, and does not eat much. I use a coarse bedding, mist them with distilled water about 6X a day, change the water every day, and feed 10 crickets coated with calcium every other day. The pet store guy said they were juveniles when I got them in April. He originally told me to change the bedding every 2 weeks then told me to do it every week since this frog got sick. The other frog is still green but not real active. The boil has seemed to be getting better. I'm very frustrated and can't even find any medical literature at the library or a vet that knows about these guys. Any ideas on how I can fix this? This frog has been sick since May. If you don't know, could you point me in any helpful directions? I have a 5 year old daughter who loves these frogs very much!

Cassaundra Nichols

Come to the link an talk to Becki, she knows tons about White's and so do most everybody on there.

Derek
Talk To The Frog

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P. sauvagei
derekb15.tripod.com/tropicaltreasures

I feel your pain. It's very difficult to find good literature concerning reptile/amphibian health and you're more likely to find good advice from other enthusiasts than anywhere else. I see that the store that sold you the frogs has been no help. Unfortunately that's how it is with most pet stores. I wouldn't buy live animals from them in the future.
As for your frogs it's been my experience that boils/raw spots on the nose are often caused by frogs being kept in small enclosures and their banging on the glass in search of food or trying to hop away. I had this happen with my white's once while I was keeping them in a small tank during a move. During that week they developed abrasions on their noses from hitting the glass and when I returned them to their habitat (20 Gallon planted terrarium)the sores healed up fine and everything went back to normal. Mind you there are a number of possible causes. This is only one possibility but the simplest one to fix. White's are large and often clumsy so its vital that they have a large enough enclosure to bop around in otherwise they stress out. The trick with amphibians is the husbandry- maintaining the proper environment. Figure 20-30 gallons as a snug apartment for 2 whites. Bigger is always better. Make sure they have plenty of hiding places and aren't too cold or too hot. (I keep mine around 75 degrees during the day and 70 at night) As far as the misting goes I personally dont like distilled water as it can be too pure. What I do is fill a bucket with tap water and leave it out for at least 24 hours before I mist. by then most of the impurities have dispersed. As far as the Furin goes the pet store guy probably reccommended it just to make a sale. Most pet store guys know little if anything about proper care of reptiles and amphibians. Also you dont have to dust the crickets at every feeding. Every other feeding is ok. Its important that they get vitamin D3 but dusting at every feeding isn't required.
As far as the brown color, it's normal for these guys to change colors at will from green to brown. The dry skin worries me though as does the poor eating habits and listlessness. These guys are also nocturnal so I'd observes them at night in complete darkness to see if there is any change in behaviour. A healthy frog at night is out and about, alert, pupils dilated and calls sometimes. If this isn't the case you definitely have sick frogs. There are specialty vets you can go to but prevention is usually the best medicine. Should the symptoms persist definitely seek veterinary council as there are a number of other possibilities.
You seem to be very concerned and that's admirable. There are a lot of people out there who don't realize that frogs are a real handful at times. Good luck and best wishes for a full recovery.

http://www.klsnet.com/sickamph.html