Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got 2 whites tree frogs about 3 weeks ago and just today I noticed that one has horrible skin lesions on its inner thighs. It looks like his skin is falling off and bleeding. It is defnitely recent, because I try to look at them every day (without handling them all the time, though).
I have isolated the sick one in a separate tank, but they are both normally kept in a 15 gallon tall tank. The substrate is sphagnum peat moss. I have a full spec UVA/UVB and 50W basking bulb. The temps are about 87 during the day and 70 and night. The humidity is kept between 50-70%. They have a bowl of water large enough that they both fit into it to soak. I treat all the water with Reptisafe to remove chlorine. They are fed large crickets twice a week, dusted with repcal/herptivite.
I am bringing him to a reptile vet tomorrow, but is there anyone who might have seen anything like this before and have an idea what it is? Please help, I feel terrible.
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1 bearded dragon, Langdon
1 Madagascar Day Gecko, Gulliver
2 White's Tree Frogs, Lilliput and Laputa
1 Russian dwarf hamster, Calvin
1 tabby cat, Nina
1 Lab mix, Shunka Sapa

Im sorry to say that it sounds like a bad case of red leg. THOROUGHLY clean out both of the frogs' enclosures with a 5% bleach/water solution and rinse until the smell of bleach is gone. In, fact, if you have any other frogs near their enclosures I would clean them out the same way. Unfortunately, red leg is very serious disease, and you want to be sure that the other frogs dont get it. I would keep them both in a clean sterile enviornments. Paper towel substrate, water dish, and something to climb on. This way you can monitor their behaviour and easily clean the enclosure. Put the sick frog's tank in another room if possible. That really sucks, I wish you the best.

oh, and i think you should lower your temperatures to around 72-77 degrees. 87 is too hot. I keep mine at room temp. The basking lamp is probably unnecessary, as they are nocturnal and dont naturally bask unless the ambient temperature in the tank is too cold. Try using only the flourecent and see if you can get into that temperture range. Wash out all the water bowls and any other plastic-like thing you may have with that solution I gave you in the above post, too. Wash any plants, too, not with the bleach of course. You really need to make sure that this if it is red leg, it doesnt infect any other amphibians you may have. I hope it's not though. Please let us know what the vet says. Good Luck

Thanks for all your advice, but I'm sorry to say, he died on the way to the vet this morning. I've never seen anything that horrible in my entire life. Unfortunately, I have to work until 11pm tonight, but I will be sterilizing the tanks as soon as I get home and I just hope that's not too late for the other one.
I left him at the vet so when they get a chance they're going to look at him and confirm what was going on, so I will let you know for sure then. I feel completely awful. Is there something, other than the heat, that could have caused this?
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1 bearded dragon, Langdon
1 Madagascar Day Gecko, Gulliver
2 White's Tree Frogs, Lilliput and Laputa
1 Russian dwarf hamster, Calvin
1 tabby cat, Nina
1 Lab mix, Shunka Sapa

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I had one die last summer after repeated trips to the vet, so I know how upsetting and frustrating it can be. I seriously dont think that the basking bulb was the cause of his problem, if in fact it was red leg. Red Leg is an infection that usually stems from a build up of bacteria in the enclosure. This is why it is so important to always keep up on the cleaning of the enclosure, not to say that you havent. You said that you havent had the frog all that long, so it is possible that he already had the disease when you got him. Either way, the bulb couldnt be the cause of redleg. The high temps may have stressed him a little, though, and hindered his immune system. That being said, red leg is almost always fatal even in ideal setups, so dont beat yourself up. Well, keep your head up and take care of the other frog. Good Luck

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I called my husband and explained in detail how to disinfect the tank, since he's going to be home earlier than I am and I want it done ASAP. I think I'll keep the other frog on damp paper towels instead of regular substrate for a few days too make sure he's ok and I'm going to totally replace the substrate once I'm sure he's fine. The moss I had was very fluffy and a friend of mine has something that he bought also called "sphagnum peat moss" that is more like a soil, so maybe that would be better. Any recommendations for cleaning the plant?
I've only had them 3 weeks, so maybe they were already infected and maybe moving to a new tank and everything was too much stress. I'll update in a few days and let you know how my other little guy is doing. Thanks again! It's unbelievable to me that this disease is so common, it's really terrible.
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1 bearded dragon, Langdon
1 Madagascar Day Gecko, Gulliver
2 White's Tree Frogs, Lilliput and Laputa
1 Russian dwarf hamster, Calvin
1 tabby cat, Nina
1 Lab mix, Shunka Sapa

Hey,
No problem giving advice. I know how dicouraging this can all be. When I lost my white's last summer, it was totally my fault because I made the cardinal sin of herp keeping and introduced a wild caught barking frog into my 2 white's tank. Then I had to drive them all from Philadelphia to the Florida Keys. I think the barking frog was infected and then the move was too stressful, so those things combined led to his death. Luckily, the othe white's is still good. Anyway, to clean the plant, I would take it out of the dirt, roots and all, and shake off as much of the dirt as possible. Then clean the leaves with dechorinated water and a very little bit of soap. Be sure to rinse the leaves very thoroughly to remove all the soap. I would get new organic soil, too. This may be overkill, but I always think it's better to play it safe. Also, the substrate I use is the bed-a-beast that you find in bricks. Almost all of the pet chains have it. The sphagnum moss is ok, too. Just be sure it is all organic and is not treated with anything. I think the paper towel is the safest bet for now, though. Let me know how it turns out.

you live in PA?what part?im moving there this summer.any good petstores up there?

I live in Southern New Jersey, right outside of Philly. There's alot of the big name chains around here, Petco, Petsmart, etc. Nothing really to write home about. They do hold a few big reptile shows in King of Prussia, PA, though. Where are you moving? I can better help you if i knew where you'll be.

I actually live in Philly currently. There are a lot of PetSmarts, Petcos, it depends what area you're in. In Philly, there's also Monster Pets and Zoos, both of which cater a bit more to exotic owners.
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1 bearded dragon, Langdon
1 Madagascar Day Gecko, Gulliver
1 White's Tree Frog, Laputa
1 Russian dwarf hamster, Calvin
1 tabby cat, Nina
1 Lab mix, Shunka Sapa

im oving to lancaster i think

sorry, can't help you there, I'm from NJ originally. DOn't know much about PA, past Philly.
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1 bearded dragon, Langdon
1 Madagascar Day Gecko, Gulliver
1 White's Tree Frog, Laputa
1 Russian dwarf hamster, Calvin
1 tabby cat, Nina
1 Lab mix, Shunka Sapa