Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Three of my toadlets (firebelly toad) are having problems with their front legs. (these guys are newly morphed) It almost seems as though the front legs are paralyzed. The legs are there, but the toadlets can't use them. They get around, but very awkwardly. I have separated them from the other toadlets. Has anyone ever run across this problem before? What causes it? Their diet as tadpoles was as varied as I could provide with sinking algae wafers, tropical fish flakes, and freeze dried daphnia. I changed their water every other day and had/have 2 filters running. One of the filters has ammonia removing zeolite in it as well as carcoal. Temps are at approx. 76-78 degrees.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Seal Point Siamese (Mieko)
5 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, Tiki II, & Romeo)
2 Fowler's Toads
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
1 Blue male Betta (Alpha- named by my students!)
1 Pleico (Hoover)
1 Tiger Barb (Tigger)
10 guppies, 3 ghost shrimp
Check out my website with most of my pets!

With out seeing them they could have SLS>

Ed

Thanks for the reply. I kind of figured that SLS was the problem. Most of 9 toadlets that have this problem keep thier font legs tucked under their body. A few of them have some control of at least one of thier front legs. I have 16 normal, and seemingly healthy toadlets who are all eating well on fruitfiles for now until I get the grindal worms and microworms that I ordered. This was my firebelly toads' first clutch of eggs. I assume that the amount of healthy toadlets that I got from this clutch is decent. What is your opinion?

My question now is what do I do with the deformed toadlets? I feel horrible for them...they do not get around very well, but they do seem to be eating. I'm sure the only humane thing left to do is to euthanize or humanely destroy them. Is this the case? How do I do this without causing them pain? I may have to have my husband do it...I don't think I can do it myself...

Is this something that happens frequently to toadlets? From what I've read it seems to be a common problem.

Thanks again for your help.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Seal Point Siamese (Mieko)
5 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, Tiki II, & Romeo)
2 Fowler's Toads
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
1 Blue male Betta (Alpha- named by my students!)
1 Pleico (Hoover)
1 Tiger Barb (Tigger)

It is typically commonly seen in metamorphs in which either the parents or the tadpoles have been fed an improper diet (the vast majority of SLS is nutritionally based) but there are many potential causes for it.

Ideally you shouldn't see it at all in a healthy clutch.

If you need to euthanize them then you can review the following article. Its a little out of date and should be updated but its still useful.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/euthanasia.shtml

Ed

That's really frustrating. I try so hard to provide my animals with healthy diets...I research like crazy. I keep finding more eggs from the adults, but have been allowing my betta to eat them. I don't want to raise anymore until I start adding more supplements to the adults' diets. I purchased Nekton Rep Color, but am still waiting for it to be delivered.

The toadlets with SLS are eating as far as I can tell. I have put fruitflies in their container and they all disappear. I know they can't escape the container, so I guess I'll just wait it out with these toadlets. They don't seem to be in pain...the only problem they have is mobility issues.

What is your opinion on euthanizing these toadlets? I really don't know what to do for sure...
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Seal Point Siamese (Mieko)
5 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, Tiki II, & Romeo)
2 Fowler's Toads
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
1 Blue male Betta (Alpha- named by my students!)
1 Pleico (Hoover)
1 Tiger Barb (Tigger)