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Exinferis
Pondweed
1 Posts |
 Posted - 22/06/2009 : 13:06:19
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Hello,
I'm new to the forum and am hoping someone might be able to give me some advice.
Last year one of my toads suddenly lost a lot of weight. After a period of quarantine and some feeding up she put a little back on but has never gotten back to how she was before the weightloss. Things semed OK for about a year, until last week when I noticed that, whist trying to feed, she kept missing her prey! I noticed that both her eyes have gone white, so it looks like she's gone blind. Consiquently it would seem that she's not been eating anything I've put in over the last couple of weeks and she's now become dangerously thin.
I know that rule #1 is get her to a vet and, if there were one, she'd have been there and back by now! But I live in the armpit of the country (that's West Norfolk for those of you fortunate enough to live anywhere else!) and most people here still think a pure-bread cat is exotic! So there's nowhere I can take her for treatment. There is an exotic rescue centre Norwich way but, to be honest, I doubt if she'll survive the trip. Plus I have a gearbox problem at the moment at it's doubtful we'd even make it that far before it koncked out.
Anyway, she's been back in quarantine since last Wednesday (small tank with damp kitchen towel as advised by someone on another forum) and does seem to have put on a smidge of weight. I noticed that two crix were missing from the tank yesterday, so that's a good sign.
Most concerning was what looked like a fungus on her nose. Turned out it wasn't a fungus but I've no idea what it was. Came down yesterday morning to find some blood in the tank along with the whatever-it-was stuck to the side of the tank. Looked like she'd sneezed it off. Cleaned everything out with bottled (spring) water and put fresh, damp kitchen towel in. Today came down to find a little more blood on the towel, but otherwise she looks OK. Have spent some time ringing vets but no-one can help; it's so frustrating!
It's not an environmental problem as far as I can tell as her mate is as big and boystrous as he's ever been. He's eating well and his eyes are clear. I've had them both since around 2003, but I have no idea where they came from or how old they were before I bought them. I suspect they may have been wild and brought in to the UK as the garden centre I bought them from had a lot of exotics that they knew next to nothing about. They were sold to me as Fire Bellied Toads and I didn't know until I got them home and did some searching that they were, in fact, Yelllow Bellied.
Does anyone on here have any idea what I might be able to do home remedy wise? I feel terrible that I can't get her any medical treatment; I'd pay anything to make sure she wasn't suffering, but there's just nowhere I can take her.
Please, if anyone has any advice I'm all ears! Well, eyes since I'm reading and not listening!
Cheers,
Ex. |
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Kazerella
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
969 Posts |
Posted - 23/06/2009 : 20:44:45
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I'm not sure what the white stuff might be, but the blood can't be good. I've a feeling the symptoms might be caused by internal parasites, but I'm no expert so I would really try to get her to that rescue centre. They should have someone who can have a really good look at her.
Have you got pictures of what this white stuff looks like? It might help someone offer a diagnosis.
Also, you could try feeding her on waxworms for a while to get her weight back up, because they are quite fattening and easy to digest.
Hope she's alright |
 
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Amyboo
Frog Spawn
United Kingdom
67 Posts |
Posted - 24/06/2009 : 10:29:57
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With regards to the wax worms, we tried this on one of our FBT's, in the end he wouldnt touch anything else and stopped eating completely after developing MBD (waxworms dont have any calcium due to not having a bone structure),we took him to the vets before Christmas who told us to do this so we had to force feed him with a syringe small amounts of carnivore care, CCF and zolcal-d. The poor thing died a few weeks ago and was in a very sorry state towards the end, I wouldnt advise syringe feeding unless it was really desperate as we were doing it for around six months on our toad and it gradually started wearing away his mouth.
Maybe try small silkworms? iv given them to our other FBTs before and they dont move much so are good for catching.
I get mine from here http://www.butterworms.co.uk/
we also had our frog in quarantine as somehow he managed to cut above his eye, this took about three days to heal up but was fine in the end, could she have caught it on anything?
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lewy
The Amphibian Administrator
United Kingdom
1356 Posts |
Posted - 24/06/2009 : 14:02:36
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If you have been feeding hard to digest items like large crickets, locust or meal worms they can cause constipation or even a prolapse, Butter worms and silkworms are ideal like amy says, waxworms are good to fatten them up only if you dust with calcium every other feed. There is nothing better than earthworms (again dusted) chopped up if your toads are small, although some toads won't take them (mine don't bother with them)
If your toad has had a prolapse and it's been pulled back in this could explain the blood. You're doing the right thing by quarantining, as you want to keep him as clean as possible. change the water more regularly if you can (as often as possible)
You don't want bacteria to take hold.
Have a look to see if you can see anything unusual around the cloaca (bum) If you notice a prolapse (insides hanging out)
or redness, this could likely be your problem.
It could be a number of things, as said... try and get him to a vet if possible and they can check for parasites or any other problems including the white eyes!
Oh and Welcome to the Forum!
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Lewy
THE AMPHIBIAN.co.uk Team
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Yellow Bellied Toad in Need of Help
