Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Mine while still young has this problem of peeing on my hand when i'm moving him. Is this a normal thing .. or do they grow out of it as they grow acusumed to you. thanks for your time. i'm a new pac owner so i'm just curious.
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2 firebelly toads (Ernie and Oscar)
1 american green tree frog (Booger)
1 four line/golden tree frog (Nugget)
1 Pacman frog (Atari)

YOU SHOULD NOT BE MOVING HIM. These frogs not for you to hold...AT ALL. NO EXCUSES. You will kill the frog from handling it. Stress is a big thing. The frog is not urinating. It is dispelling all that water it retained in its body to help try to scare you off. That means it is SCARED. That means you should not hold it. You also have OILS on your hands. Oils can harm frogs. Therefore, you should not pick it up.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

If you steal in hunger, I will kick you when you try. These stand for me. Name your god and bleed the freak. I'd like to see. How you all would bleed for me.-Alice In Chains

Hmm I see. but no need to yell my good man.
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2 firebelly toads (Ernie and Oscar)
1 american green tree frog (Booger)
1 four line/golden tree frog (Nugget)
1 Pacman frog (Atari)

I don't handle him unless nessesary. But will he ever get over his fear of me.
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2 firebelly toads (Ernie and Oscar)
1 american green tree frog (Booger)
1 four line/golden tree frog (Nugget)
1 Pacman frog (Atari)

When a frog is picked up in nature, that usually means it is headed for another organism's stomach. The frog will eventually learn with time that you are feeding it. Thus when it sees you, it will recognize you as the one that brings food, and will usually calm down. As for the oils, I must disagree. Amphibians can pull pretty much anything in through their skin. Even if the oils don't harm them, anything else you have on your hands can harm them.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

If you steal in hunger, I will kick you when you try. These stand for me. Name your god and bleed the freak. I'd like to see. How you all would bleed for me.-Alice In Chains

Okay lets look at this logically. Anurans do have permeable skin, the most permeable section is the drinking patch on the underside of the anuran.
However human skin oils are pretty nontoxic (other than some DNAases and other enzymes to prevent infection). Do you have any literature citations documenting damage to animals from exposure to human skin oils? I must admist some curiosity about this now that you are bringing it up. (webpages with personal belief statements without any documentation will not suffice).
With fish, the concern is not the oils in the skin but the removal of the mucous coat (which is why you should always wet your hands before handling fish when fishing) by abrasion with dry skin. This can be avoided by careful handling and wetting of the hands before handling the frog.

I do not advocate the daily handling of an amphibian unless absolutely necessary (such as for medical treatments) but there are times or periods of times when it cannot be avoided and a couple of simple rules should be applied to limit any potential risk.

Ed

Actually I have none. I was told by a vet and took it for fact, though I suppose I should delve into it more. Either way, most people do not just have oils on their hands from daily chores. And if they wash their hands before handling, then most likely they will have soap, which is definitely not a plus. And besides, the frog shouldn't have a chance to pee on the keeper often as, like you said, there is a very exclusive list of reasons why a frog should be handled. So with or without oils from the hands, handling is definitely detrimental. As for fish, I was well aware. When fish lose their mucous layer, all is not well. We have seen what happens with the saltwater aquarium we tend.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

If you steal in hunger, I will kick you when you try. These stand for me. Name your god and bleed the freak. I'd like to see. How you all would bleed for me.-Alice In Chains

Hi,
The oils on your skin should not harm the frog. If you are excessively rough with the frog then the handling can abrade the skin and this is more likely to be a problem. To prevent this your should moisten your hands before handling any amphibian.

Handling should be kept to a minimum but is almost always necessary at some point. The initial management guidelines set forth for some species like Bufo baxteri (Wyoming Toad) had them maintained on unbleached paper towels and changed every couple of days (requiring handling). The toads did just fine.

To get it to stop urinating when you pick it up, it sometimes works if you pick it up gently and fully support the body. If the frog feels that it is unsupported this could be what makes the frog urinate. But it is possible the frog will always urinate when picked up. Just hold it over the tank for a couple of minutes longer until it is done urinating.

Ed

thanks for the info.
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2 firebelly toads (Ernie and Oscar)
1 american green tree frog (Booger)
1 four line/golden tree frog (Nugget)
1 Pacman frog (Atari)