Treating Problems
with Amphibians
By Don Petty , Herpetoculturist. 1991(c)
One of the biggest frustrations with keeping amphibians as pets is knowing that they may sometimes need medical attention and finding none available. There have been major leaps in Herpetocultural medicial reserch for reptiles and with the release of the new, two volume series by Dr. Frederic Frye; Reptile care: An Atlas of Diseases and Treatments. T.F.H.
TS-165. The seroius herpetoculturist or veternarian can now know at a glance a possible treatment and cure for most reptile problems. Amphibians are not so lucky. There is curently only one book dealing specifically with the diseases of Amphibians. It is a very hard to understand book.
The Principle Diseases of Amphibians; By Dr. H. Reichenbach-Klinke and Dr. Elken. This book is Volume two of a series first published in Germany under the name "The Principle Diseases of the Lower Vertebrates"
Tropical Fish Hobbyist (T.F.H.) first published the translation to english in the mid 60's.
The series I assume sold well as it has gone through about four or five reprints. I feel that the best advice for amphibian problems is for the hobbyist to keep notes on what has worked for problems that have come up.
With the small amount of help when it comes to the treatment of problems with amphibians most serious hobbyists have begun to keep a log of treatments they have had success with when treating amphibian problems. Some smaller books on Amphibians have also been known to include a section on diseases and treatments. The following are some of those possible treatments and methods of curing problems faced when keeping amphibians.
It is important that caution be exersized when treating any amphibian as they are know to have highly obsorptive skin and most anti-biotics may be seriously toxic to them if over used in the water when treating diseases. I have not tested all of the following methods and I think caution should be used when doing any home treatments, if you can locate a veternarian who likes the challange of reptiles and amphibians then they should of course be notified and given the chance to assist you. I will be quoting from several sources and from the notes of other people and herpetoculturists, they will be listed in the "sources used" section following this article. I have used the slang names or proper names that other authors have applied but a medically correct term will also be used if known.
One book I have on frogs makes the following statement on the heading before the diseases and treatment portion of the book, ""If kept under reasonably sanitary conditions, with adequite heat, clean water and fed a proper diet frogs are not prone to disease". This is a strong statement in that it suggests that by keeping the care of amphibians at an optium level they should not have problems. I believe that prevention is the best cure. It should also be noted that selection of healthy amphibians is the first and by far the most important step to being able to properly care for them. DO NOT BUY SKINNY OR SICK LOOKING ANIMALS-NO MATTER HOW SORRY YOU FEEL FOR THEM !
Red Leg syndrome:
in most amphibians this disease can be traced to poor water qualitity and is usually the result of bacteria such as Aeromonas . Symptoms can include sloughing of the skin or the classic sign of enlarged rear legs that look swollen or "Red". The cause of the red leg is from blood capullaries that rupture below the skin. Also at times the eyes can glaze over and appear opacic. This symptom is common for other diseases of amphibians, so don't treat for Red Leg if this is the only symptom. The prognosis for red leg is not good but the following treatment has worked in the past.
Use a caplet of Tetracycline Hydrochloride grind it up and administer it orally mixed with water at a dose of 2.5 to 5 mg per lb of body weight twice daily for up to one week. Remember that antibiotics can be very toxic so be sure to watch the patient very closely. Keep the temperature at 86 f for the week of treatment. It is also very important to isolate any amphibian with signs of red leg as it is very contagious. A through cleaning of the aquarium and possible replacement of the substrate may also be helpful.
Amphibian T.B./Skin Leasions:
This disease or problem starts out as small blisters that become open sores on the head or legs. Cold temperature is thought to be one of the main causes. Infected animals should be isolated and kept in the upper 80's with a paper towel bottom and a clean bowl of water. (adding an air stone and pumping air into the water can help cut down on the toxins in the tank) Food should be crickets, red worms or butter/wax worms dipped in vitamins. Tetracycline has also been shown to help treat this problem but most animals may still die. If the blisters happen on the face most animals become blinded.
Weight loss/ runny deffication:
Amphibians kept under unsanitatary conditions may develup symptoms of gastrointestinal problems. The cause of this problem is unclear, it could be a protozoan infection, but this diagnosis is not certain. If your amphibian devolops watery stools or rapid weight loss you may want to consider treatment with one of three recomended medications; Sulfamethazine (used for bacterial diseases. Be careful as it is very toxic to amphibians)
or Tetracycline hydrochloride.
Metroindazole for parasites.
This condition is one that should be offered to your favorite veternarian.
Toxic Shock syndrome:
T.S.S. may be the cause when a frog exhibits signs of stress, hyperactivity or opacity of the cornea of the eyes. Death is often preceeded by spastic expansion of the limbs. Infected animals will often times hold limbs up in the air or stand with the body high in the air and look very stiff. The only cure that seems to work with relitive success is to move all infected animals to clean water.
Clean the tank very well, wash all specimens in tepid tap water and be sure to filter all tank water.
Desolved toxins and deffication are possibly the major cause of this infection.
Injestion of gravel:
Also known as Pica. Some larger amphibiams can accidentilly injest aquarium gravel when feeding. Small gravel will likely pass through the digestive tract, By offering all pray food items on feeding tongs or larger thumb tweezers this can be avoided.
A veternarian may be able to surgically remove gravel but the treatment might not be worth the risk. I have had a Budgett's frog (Lepidobatrachus leavis) with Pica for several months and the animal eats and acts normal. I can however feel gravel in the stomach of the frog. I am not going to have a veternarian remove it . I make it as easy for the frog as possible, obviously I do not fill the water section deep as the frog can no longer swim. (It sinks like a bag of rocks). Occassionally gravel may pass after being in an amphibian for some time. I have noted no harm to animals having Pica as long as they are handled gently and the obstruction eventually passes. Some animals will surely expire if the gravel cannot be passed and causes a blockage.
Skin Sloughing/Water Edema:
These two conditions may not be a desease but could be a symptom or a condition for a related problem such as Amphibian T.B. , Toxing syndrome or red leg. As far as Water Edema, it seem's to be the result of an osmotic disorder and possibly kidney failure or disease. The over use of bacterial medications can cause these conditions also. The symptoms of Skin sloughing can be related to other problems also. As water becomes fouled stress is placed on the kidneys as they attempt to rid the body of these toxins they cannot keep up and shut down. Additional symptoms may include bloating, corneal opacity, and listlessness or hyperactivity. The conditions can be trested much the same as I have listed for T.B. or red leg.
Calcium deficiency/Metabolic bone disorder:
The cause in amphibian deficiancies are the same as for reptiles, lack of useable calcium. This may be due to a lack of calcium fortification in the diet or it may be due t the fact that the ratio between calcium and phosphorous is not right. A proper ratio is needed for the absorption of vitamin D3 through the intestional lining. I believe that the use of Ultraviolet lighting such as Duro-Tests Vita-Lite or the use of G.E. BL-series of Blacklites (Not BLB) are needed during the production process as studies have shown that ultraviolet plays a role in the calcium apsorption process. ( be careful as some retailers will offer various brands of bulbs that are not full spectrum and they will be useless in the process of D3 absorption, one such bulb is the Triton aquarium bulb used for growing aquarium plants.) The first signs of D3 problems in amphibians will be the inability of the animals to catch and hold prey. By picking up the animal and by pushing gently on the head it will be soft and slightly sink in on deficiant animals. Bones become soft and the lower jaw may swell or slough much the same way as it will on lizards with calcium problems. Offering supplimented crickets will not be of use once the animals have devoloped a disorder as the jaw is too soft to catch prey animals. A solution is to offer crickets that have been dusted with a vitamin by opening the mouth of the animal and gently placing the feeder insect inside. Offering calcium or D3 liquid vitamins by way of a eye dropper may also be affective if offered twice a day for a week. After a week most animals will be able to eat on their own and you can begin to offer vitamn dusted crickets to them and they should be able to catch them.
Prolapse:
This condition is possibly caused by injestion and passage of aquarium gravel, by over eating and the inability to properly digest food by being kept too cold. Prolapse looks like the animal defficated its brains out. The way to reinsert the prolapsed organ is to soak the animals anal area in a glucose solution. I mix sugar and water to a pastey solution in a small bowl or tupperware container and fill the container so that the solution is deep enough for the animals rear area to be under water and let it soak in the solution for about a 1/2 hour to 1 full hour, check it about every 10 to 15 minutes to see if the prolapsed organ has reentered the cavity.
You may also soak a "Q" tip and gently reinsert the exposed material.
(c) Donald L. Petty
F.H.S. 1991.
