Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently bought an albino pacman froglett. I did some research, books, the web and store staff, there has been a lot of contradiction. So it's has aquarium gravel substrate, a little dish for soaking, and spagnum moss for hiding. it came with about a dozen crickets which slowly disappeared, so i know it's eating, but it never came out. I checked on it a few days ago and noticed it looked REALLY fat. I thought, hmm small frog, it just ate a lot of crickets, it'll go away. A day or so after it looked like a ballon. Litterally filled with air around the stomach and anus. I did some research and figure it's probably dropsy.
Some suggested cures have been add salt to the water for it. Bath it in chemicals meant for aquarium fish. and to pierce the affected area as long as it's not in the eyes. I'm particularally wary of using salt and chemicals on an amphibian as they have such sensitive, permeable skin. It would be really great if anyone knows anything about it
thanks

I forgot to add, i know what causes dropsy, i'm looking for a cure

you don't want to use gravel as a substrate, it can be very rough on the skin, switch to something like bed a beast or eco earth. good luck

Gravel is not only rough on the skin it is also harder for the frog to pass if it has ingested some of it when feeding.
I agree with Amphibianfreak, change to for example Bed-A-Beast.
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CokeOfMan

Here is an article on bloat in caudates. The causes of bloat in anurans are the same as in caudates but in this case I doubt it is due to liver/kidney damage.
There is a recipe for amphibian ringers to help the frog manage its fluid balance but if the cause is due to an infection effective antibiotics are necessary.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/bloatEDK.shtml

Ed

After reading the article posted i'm quite sure my little guy has eaten some gravel. It's all bloated around the belly and anus, as well i think i can see a hint of blue inside him, and my gravel is bright blue. The gravel is medium grain, normal gravel, and it's only a little froglett. Might there be a chance of it living? I feel so absolutly horrible that it's in this condition because of me.
As well should i contiune to feed it, or wait to see if he passes it?

thanks for all your help

If you take it to a vet there is an excellant chance of it living. If it has not been able to pass it by now and you can see it through the abdominal wall then it may not be able to pass the gravel.

Ed

It would appear that it's been passes. He looks a little deflated and his skin around his belly is more opaque. He's an albino, so might his skin be a little see through? What i think i can see is a dark blob of internal organs. I don't see any more blue.
thanks!