Urgent: Sick african clawed frog

[Jadore axolotl]

Hi guys,

I have a sick male African clawed frog and I cannot figure out what is wrong with him. I lost my female to this same sickness about a month ago about 2 weeks after she laid her first eggs, I have had the frogs for about 2 years..

Firstly he seems to be unable to swim to the surface (I think use of his back legs is the problem here), if he flips onto his back he cannot get back over, he will not eat, his body seems to spasm at times, he seems to have started to shed (with the female after a couple of days it was like constant excessive shedding), there is no signs of bloat or any other disease which I can find info on.

At the moment I have him in shallow water so that he can reach the surface and breath, in the shallow water he sometimes blows bubbles at the surface.

The illness looks like the following video I think:

Please somebody help, I don't want to lose another frog

[nai live]

Please HELP my African Clawed Frog!!!!! a similar thread on another forum. I had exactly the same condition with one of my african clawed frog, I couldn't find out what was wrong with it. There are similar stories online but no actual diagnosis or treatment just conjecture. African Clawed Frog unable to use rear legs. [Archive] - Aquaria Central
From what I remember the possible reasons where physical injury to the spine, I discounted this in my case, for like you I found another frog dead in the tank a month before with no signs of injury or disease. Paralysis caused by a build up of chitin in the gut which put pressure on the spinal cord causing loss of movement to the back legs. Genetic, all the posts on this condition appear to be about albinos, they are the most common morph available but it could potentially be down to inbreeding. The final reasons were poor husbandry i.e. bad conditions and poor diet . Sorry I cant help more than that.

[Jenste]

It would be more helpful if you could post photos of your own frog.

A lot of symptoms can look similar but the over all presentation can differ from frog to frog and it would be helpful to see your frog exactly rather than another frog that may or may not have the same disease.

[Jadore axolotl]

Here is a video of my frog as requested:

[nai live]

Paralyzed rear legs
this may be of some interest if not much help, mine is the final post.

[Jadore axolotl]

Thanks for the links Ian, all a good read but unfortunately I'm still at a loss as to what to do. The frog actually seems a little more active today than before although he still cannot move his legs.

Hopefully someone out there knows what is wrong with my frog and can offer some advice or help before it is too late.

[spoons]

This could very well be chytrid fungus i'm afraid to tell you i lost a few budgetts frogs like this, at the end they went crazy with spasms flipping over and vomiting, i only found out later what it was...

[Jadore axolotl]

Thanks for the input spoons.

I have found this thread here: ACF chytrid risk?

I am starting the treatment there with Lamisil and I shall update how it goes.

Any more help appreciated :)

[Jadore axolotl]

Today I noticed there is a clear bubble coming out of the frogs anus, about the size of a pea, it seems to be full of clear liquid.

Nobody has any definitive diagnosis?

[Bruce Maclean]

Originally Posted by Jadore axolotl

Today I noticed there is a clear bubble coming out of the frogs anus, about the size of a pea, it seems to be full of clear liquid.

Nobody has any definitive diagnosis?

Hi,

Well, if you want the best chance of a definitive diagnosis, go to an experienced vet who can actually examine the frog, go through the husbandry in detail and carry out any appropriate (and practical) tests. Never a guarantee of a diagnosis (particularly if finances restrict investigation options) but it is the best chance of one, and the best chance of getting appropriate treatment. There are all sorts of possibilities for these symptoms, including chytrid as noted.

The bubble could well be a prolapsed bladder, which again needs veterinary attention if possible.

I accept that some people don't have access to a vet - not sure what your position is - but the above needs to be said (again). If no specialised vet is available a non-specialist may be able to work with a more experienced colleague through correspondence to try to help your frog.

Hope you can get him sorted out.

Bruce.

[Jadore axolotl]

After much research and a weighup of pros and cons I decided today that it was right to euthanise the frog and put it out of its pain. He did not seem to deteriorate as quickly as my female but still had no use of its back legs and would not eat. The prolapse burst yesterday I guess and had lots of stringy bits hanging out of him, at this stage I checked how to humanly euthanise a frog here Caudata Culture Articles - Euthanasia and done what I had to.

Hopefully after a good cleanout of the tank my remaining frog will be ok.

[Jenste]

I am so sorry.

Hopefully your remaining frog is fine. Fingers crossed for you

[nai live]

A bit late to post this seeing as the frog is dead but i got this response by email from newtboy, a vet on this forum, he said i could post it here
" Don't have any direct experience with these but a number of things can cause paralysis including fungal infections (chytrid easy to swab for providing not already treated), bacterial infections and vitamin deficiencies.

Might be worth considering vitamin b and calcium supplementation as well as considering a broad spectrum antibiotic. Wright and Whitaker mention treating dartfrogs with multiple treatments including vitamins, antibiotics and steroids and reporting slow recovery taking over a month."

I did question vit d deficiency in african clawed frogs, it does not seem to be a reported problem but i may have missed it in the literature as i am an amature, Marks response was
" I haven't found any specific literature in relation to ACFs either however vitamin b supplementation is cheap and unlikely to cause harm and certainly worth a shot. Feel free to add the email - as I said, I have no personal experience with these - the information was from Wright and Whitaker and mainly based on Dendrobatids."

Thanks Mark, has anyone experience of giving vitamin supplements to ACF? Might be worth a try as a preventative measure and a good feeding regime.

[Jadore axolotl]

Thanks for that Ian, might be worth doing the supplements with the remaining frog as a preventative measure perhaps!

[nai live]

Were your other frogs ok in the end?