It appears my red eyed tree frog has a bowel or stomache impaction. Does anyone know of anything I can do for it? There is no herp vet in my area. What should have been done to prevent this? Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
hey greenguy sorry to say that there is nothing you can do for impactions. the only possibility is surgery and vets never do it on little frogs. it is way too expensive, would be experimental with most amphibians anyway, and would be nearly impossible due to their tiny size. like i said in your last post, there is only one option for us now BUT i will not do it unless i am 100% sure it is an impaction. to make sure it is an impaction . . . does the belly look/feel bloated? is the animal having trouble walking/standing/moving/hopping? has the animal eaten in the last 48-72 hours? is the animal twitching/seizing any? does the animal appear listless/motionless/weak/disoriented? when you flip him over does he right himself immediately? let me know the answers to all these questions and we'll see what we can do.
No, the frog seems healthy except his stomache appears swollen. His color is good. Balance is not a problem. He hops around plenty (I had a hard time catching him). He has stopped yawning as often. Absolutely no twitching or seizing. I felt the belly and it is soft and doesn't seem to be firm and bloated. He had no problem flipping back upright when I put him on his back. He hasn't eaten for three days, although I saw him lunge at and miss a cricket yesterday. In any case, what can I do differently to prevent my animals from getting impactions in the future? Is moss bad?
from my last post in your other thread: just because the other signs aren't there doesn't mean that he doesn't have an impaction. most of those signs only show up late in the progression of the problem. if it is not an impaction, then it probably due to the water. how often do you change the water in the tank? what do you treat it with? how often do you wipe down the glass with warm water? the only other option i can think of besides impaction and poor water condition is parasites/infection and this can only be treated with prescribed medication.
It could be the water. I change it every other day. I always let the water sit for at least a day to dechorinate. Is that not good enough? I have some dechlorinating drops, but was told the first method was even beter. Maybe I should use bottled water? I always scrub the water dish out when I change the water. What can I do to prevent parasites? Thanks again for your knowlegeable help. I really appreciate it.
letting the water sit is *not* good enough. that does not take out the minerals and such from the water PLUS it takes months and months for all the chloramines to evaporate. the only thing you can get rid of from tap water by letting it sit out is chlorine. i would highly (i mean highly *highly*) recommend amquel (or amquel plus). here's a pic: Kordon AmQuel. it is the only water conditioner that does *not* aid/form slime coat. slime coat is great for fish, but can cause shedding problems in amphibians. sometimes amquel comes with novaqua - do NOT use the novaqua (it aids/forms the slime coat). i wouldn't use bottled water. it can actually have added chemicals and stuff that aren't good for herps, PLUS it's so much more expensive than amquel. to prevent parasites keep the water as clean as possible, wipe the glass down with warm water (this can be plain tap water) every few days, replace the substrate at least every 6 months or so, scoop any poop you see in the tank as soon as you see it, take out dead drickets as soon as you find them, keep the humidity around 70% - 80% BUT the sides of the tank dry, etc etc etc.
We'll do. Thank you. The frog is looking better now. The stomache swelling seems to have gone down and he is still active and his balance is good. He pooped in the water, so I cleaned it out well. But it seems like it's really good news that everything seems to be passing through again. Does this mean he doesn't have an impaction? I put put some small crickets in for him today. We'll see what happens.
like i said in your other thread, unless the symptoms get progressively worse i would no longer have reason to think it was an impaction.
