Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted a message earlier about my sick pacman but my thread was deleted for certain reasons. You guys told me to get him to a vet as soon as possible so I did. He's been pretty sick since sunday morning when I started finding him upside down in his cage. He has a lot of trouble moving and has lost a lot of weight. I don't think he's eating. He still moves around a tiny bit, but doesn't bury at all. He just kinda lays there with his legs and arms out. He doesn't have any sores on him. The vet weighed him at 44g and said he figured it was probably some kinda of parasite or something. He gave him a sulfa injection and then gave me a bunch of needles and said that I have to administer them to him once a day. He also said that I should probably try and force feed him if he still hasn't eaten by friday. I woke up this morning and he was kinda halfway in his pool. It looked like he was trying to get out but wasn't strong enough so I helped him out. He was still moving ok. So now came the time I had to give him his shot (not fun!). Well when the doctor did it, he just barely pierced the skin on his back and the pushed in the medicine. Well when I did it, he jolted pretty good and the needle which was about 1/3in went in. He got his medicine, but wasn't too happy about that. He bled a little. I called the vet back and he said that probably wasn't a big deal. I dont know if this vet works with a lot of frogs but it seemed like a big deal to me. Well, he hasn't moved since I did it. I put a little neosporin on the prick so it would heal ok. My questions are this.

1. Has anyone had to give shot to there frog, I'd like to know your experiences with it.

2. I feel that shoving a cricket in his mouth at this point in time would make him choke. So I bought this stuff called Flukers Repti-Aid which is a mixable solution with a Syringe and a mouth opener so I can squirt it in his mouth. Has anyone had any experience with force feeding a sick frog or using this product?

3. He is closing his eyes, is this normal? The doc told me that he's probably gonna be pretty sore. I have never seen him close his eyes before. It scares me. Should I leave him alone? Sometimes I feel like I need to check and see if he's still alive?

Thanks
Bgro

When I've had to force feed frogs I tend to use a product known as feline clinicare which is available from my vet (I'm not sure about other countries). It is easy for the frogs to assimilate as well as to feed as it is a liquid.

Ed

My pac-man frog has done all you have described but also left his tongue hanging out. I boosted the humidity to about 85% and made sure the temp was at 85%. I had to force feed him. I actually used wet dog food mixed with water and calcium that you dust crickets with. I used a seringe. It took about two weeks but now he is healthy and eating on his own again. I also changed the substrate. I use a green carpet, and I put leaves for him to hide under.

He's still not himself, he doesn't bury and I think he's getting pissed at all the shots I give him. Any help out how to get his mouth open? I can't do it. I've tried with a q-tip but he wont budge.

Try using something like a credit card.

Ed

But also remember, do not pry too hard as you could injure the frog and force feeding should be used as a last result. Very stressful to an animal and could possibly kill it if the animal has already been through a lot of trauma or is sick. If you do force feed, do not do it more than necessary.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
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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

As the force feeding was prescribed by a vet, I think this is fairly necessary.
Ill animals can have a metabolic rate much higher (greater than 8 times higher) than the caloric needs of a healthy animal of the same size and as a consequence may require more frequent feedings than if the animal was well and underfeeding can result in death fairly quickly (depending on the current fat and muscle reserves) as the metabolic rate is increased as opposed to a animal that is not sick.

If you still cannot get the mouth open with an item like a credit card I would suggest contacting the vet again and explaining the problem.

Ed