I need help with my frog

[daredevil]

I have a Whites Dumpy Tree Frog and need help if anyone knows anything about them. I got him about 7 years ago, and he was already an adult when I got him. He's always been acting fine. I would take him out and he would look ok, and move around, but during this past week hes been acting really weird.
I noticed it when he wasnt eating his crickets and they would just die in the tank. Usually he takes the crickets when he first sees them, but not this time. I havent seen him eat any crickets even tho they pass right in front of him. I took him out to see what was wrong and saw that he was very stiff. Usually he wraps around my hand or finger, but this time he was just very stiff and his legs and arms would be spread out and he wouldnt move them. I took him to my sink and gave him a "bath" and rinsed him with warm water. I found out today that that was a bad idea since the water has things in it that my frog would absorb through his skin. So after I washed him down, he started to let out this sticky filmy stuff from his skin and still wouldnt move. I even laid him flat on my hand and he didnt move. Hes still alive, breathing and eyes will open occasionally, but im worried. I put him back in his tank and he was still stiff and didnt move. Then his stomach started to bulge out and move. Also, I started seeing these little white bugs in his tank too. I was gonna clean out the bedding today to take care of them, but im not sure if there is a connection. Is my frog just getting old, or is there something very wrong with him. Thank you-Anthony

 

[sharkboy13]

where in the US do u live and the temp, water, stuff like that. also r u calci dusting the crickets?

 

[30-xtra high]

alright.. here we go, (i used to keep numerous different tree frogs)
#1 stiffness is because his age, and not warm enough
#2 if you washed him in tap water.. its terrible for him, as you probably know, they breathe through their skin, meaning he took in all the crap in the pipes, including metals.
#3 the white bugs are 1 of 4 things, 1, maggots from flies and not cleaning the tank enough, 2, baby crickets, because the crickets aren't geting eaten, 3, ticks, 4, mite, also known as reptile fleas.
if you got him as an adult, and you've had him for 7 years you've done a great job, s/he's getting old, and is more seceptable (sp?) to disease, or other things such as mites or ticks, for yours and his/her sake hope its babycrickets..

 

[daredevil]

thank you for the reply. I live in southeast Texas and the temp in the tank is around 74-75F and it always has since I had him. The humidity is 80%. I was using calcium powder, but I stopped since it got all over the dirt in his tank. Could that be it? And the water I'm using is tap water. Im guessing know I should have used RO water. Im going to go change the bedding right now. Thank you very much-Anthony

 

[daredevil]

I dont think its baby crickets. Ive seen them before and it looks nothing like them. I dont think its maggots, but they do seem to gather around his poo and on the dead crickets since he doesnt eat them. What would the ticks and mites do to him? Thank you again

 

[daredevil]

im just gonna say an update. I was cleaning out the tank and there were alot of crickets in it, dead, and alive, under the dirt and under this rock thing that is in there. While I was doing this, I put my frog in a bowl with warm aquafina water and he was doing alot better, and moving around, but then he got stiff again and his hands balled up. His stomach was moving and bulging out in weird ways too. And the sticky film is still coming off of him. Just an update,thanks

 

[30-xtra high]

Originally Posted by daredevil
I dont think its baby crickets. Ive seen them before and it looks nothing like them. I dont think its maggots, but they do seem to gather around his poo and on the dead crickets since he doesnt eat them. What would the ticks and mites do to him? Thank you again
when they get big enough they will eventually stick on to him, and then live off of him unless you rip them off, and that'll hurt him, if they ever attach, you'll have to burn them off.. simple process, just grab a match and burn the mite/tick and it'll fall of and die. they can get bigger than golf balls.. may i recomend you get rid of your dirt, and replace it with "cage carpet", its like a green piece of carpet that pet stores sell that you place on your tank bottom, it doesn't smell bad, keeps everything neat, and looks good to., its also harder for bugs and disease to spread or thrive at least
and start dusting the crickets again, the dust makes their bones stronger, making him all around stronger and healthier., just eating crickets plain would be like you just eating crackers.. not really healthy.
his stomache moves because he is hungry, try to put a feeder goldfish in a bowl of cleansed water, and see if he'll eat that, my frogs used to eat them, but he'll still have to eat dusted crickets every once and awile.
hope this helped.

 

[daredevil]

yes it did thank you. I learned now that its not mites or ticks. What I have would "hop" around. And they wouldnt attach to him ever. They would crawl on him, but not attach. I think its just simply maggots, pretty gross, but im glad its nothing to harmful. But I just changed out the dirt, so a little too late for that green carpet thing, and Ive seen that, but I have live plants in the tank too. He has his moments now where he is all better, then stiff and fingers in a ball, its almost looks like he has arthiritis. Ill try to feed a cricket with calcium powder on it, because thats all I have and the pet store is closed. Thank you again very much

 

[daredevil]

Its not about the insects that were in the tank, but the animal itself. I tried to feed him a cricket I covered with calcium powder, but he wouldnt eat it. I even pulled all the legs off of the cricket so it would just kind of wiggle in front of him and its been 5 minutes and he hasnt done anything but look at it and close him eyes and get stiff again

 

[30-xtra high]

you just put in new dirt recently??.. if you did then that is definatly it.. my guess is you are using store bought dirt for your plants.. and i'm also gunna guess you bought dirt with fertalizers (without knowing it of course), and that is what is bothering him. the crickets probably got all covered in the fertalizer (which looks like little yellowish bubbles), and he ate one, making him sick, and not wanting another cricket because before it poisoned him., might be best to go buy a different substrate because real dirt is never good.., and when your lfs opens go buy like.. 2-3 goldfish and put them in his water bowl.

 

[daredevil]

No no its not store bought dirt. Its from my petstore and its called bed-a-beast I think. Its this block of dried dirt and you let it soak in water for 30 minutes and it spreads out, breaks up, and is clean good dirt. It holds humidity very well. I dont use any fertilizers or anything that could harm my frog. I finished the tank, but hes still very stiff, not moving, or eating the crickets

 

[reefkprz]

they live about sixteen years so if it was an adult when you got it its hard to know how old it really is, sounds like he's dying of old age. unfortunatly you should have been dusting his crickets occasionally with multi vitamins and calcium, like herpevite and rep-cal, on a regular basis. Crickets unless gut loaded arent very nutritious. you should not use ro/di water for them tap water with reptisafe water conditioner is good. its what I use on all my reptiles and amphibians. reptisafe also adds electrolytes to the water for better animal health. hope this info helps. good luck with your frog.

 

[daredevil]

Thanks alot. Its sad becuase hes real weak and wont move. I think he ate two crickets I had in the cage (I dusted them) because I had three in there and cant find the other two. If I would have know the Rep-Cal i had would I helped, I might not have this problem. But thanks alot guys, I guess he just has to go eventually

 

[30-xtra high]

yea, really, you did a good job takin care of him.. 7 years of having him after he was already an adult is fine, just old age catches up to everything.. can we get some pics?

 

[daredevil]

yeah ill pull out the camera