Expert: michael - 5/30/2008

Question
hello
I have 2 dumpy tree frogs for about 3 weeks now. Today when I came home from work one was upside down in the water dish. I turned her over and she opened her eyes and hopped over to the other side of the tank. Now she looks very bloated and can not move her back legs, there is no color change or swelling of the legs (no red) Her tummy looks very swollen and we do not have pebbles in the tank. her eyes are open and she is alert, just can't move her back legs and I do not see a way she could of got hurt. She eats crickets and ate 3 tonight. Any ideas, I called every vet in the phonebook today and none would treat/see a frog

Answer
Vets try to stay away from exotic animals because most of them are not trained properly in the field of amphibians and reptiles. You should look for an exotic vet. If you can give me your location, then I might be able to find one for you.

I am not really sure what is going wrong. The only thing that I can think of would be impaction. Where the fecal matter and food is not all the way digested and a piece gets stuck in the rectum. Then, when they continue to eat and drink, they cannot pass any digested food, thus swelling.

Hope your frog gets better,
Michael Murray