# Frogs & Toads > Tomato Frogs, Painted Frogs & Microhylids >  Tomato frog possible fungal trouble?

## Tedm95

Hi everyone, 
I got a tomato frog a few months ago and named him Jeffrey. I am a college student at the moment, and little Jeffrey has been staying with my girlfriend for the past few months. Up until recently, things have been going smoothly until my girlfriend noticed a small white mark above his eye. At first we both agreed that it was probably a scratch from flipping himself over in his water dish (he's too fat to hop out of it  :Stick Out Tongue: ) and we left him alone. A few days later, she noticed that half of his face was swollen right underneath his eye, so i did some research and decided to soak him in spring water for 30 minutes, and that seemed to help him for about 2 days before it came back. By that point, we noticed that the spot on his head hadn't changed at all, and a few other white spots started appearing on his feet and hands. in addition, it seems that half of the underside of his mouth is swelling as well. I took him to seek advice from a vet, and he said that my frog might have tuberculosis, but i remain skeptical, considering that there are no black bumps, and the white marks don't look bumpy at all (if anything they look like areas where skin is gone). Jeffrey lives by himself in a 20.5 x 10.5 inch tank with a height of about 6.5 inches. The tank has about 2 inches of coconut husk dirt for burrowing, and also has petco moss, a fake wood shelter, and a large water bowl. My girlfriend says she sprays his tank with water about 2 to 3 times a day, and he gets fed about 8 to 12 crickets a week or so. So far i haven't noticed too much trouble eating, but i have yet to feed him again. I love my tomato frog, he's one of my favorite pets and I'm pretty concerned, but as a college student, I don't have the money to afford expensive vet bills, I'd appreciate it if anyone has some kind of idea of whats going on, a remedy that could help fix this, and could also spread some light on why his face is swelling.



Ive also attached some pictures of places where the white spots have appeared (I'm pointing to them) and you can sort of see the swelling on the side of his head, if anyone has trouble viewing them, then just let me know!!

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## Carlos

Hello and welcome to FF!  I'm sorry we missed your thread and that your frog is not well  :Frown: .  Has there been any changes to frog's condition?  

I'm not a veterinary to say it has or not tuberculosis, hope it's not that.  The swelling and white spots kind of point to a bacterial issue.  You can try using a mild natural bactericide like Melafix available in pet shop fish sections for that.  Please answer the below questions so we can narrow down any other involved issues before we start a treatment.  You will also need to sterilize it's enclosure and keep the frog in a hospital like tank during treatment.  Thank you  :Smile:  ! 
*
Trouble in the Frog Enclosure
*
The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. Describe frog's symptoms and/or recent physical changes; to include it's ventral/belly area.
16. How old is the frog
17. How long have you owned him/her
18. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
19. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
20. How often the frog is handled
21. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
22. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

by Lynn(Flybyferns) and GrifTheGreat.

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## Tedm95

Hi there Carlos, thanks for getting back to me! A vet told me that he might have tuberculosis, but I'm not convinced because nobody in my house has gotten sick and he doesnt have black spots all over his body, only on the bottoms of his feet. Ive been soaking Jeffrey in melafix and primafix solution (10 drops in 125mL of distilled water for 7 minutes) every day for the past week and haven't seen much improvement in the sores, they are about the same size as they were when we noticed them, but the swelling on his face has gone down considerably but there is still a concerning lump in his throat. I noticed that whenever he inhales air to inflate himself, he makes a strange clicking noise that I've never heard before. I also haven't noticed much change in his attitude either, but I'm concerned for him because he doesn't seem to be eating. He looks skinnier and has only pooped twice in the past week, one was big, one was small and both were in his water dish. They both seemed fairly normal but it still didn't explain much about his condition. Recently I've read up on prolapse in frogs, and whenever Jeffrey puffs up, his butt sticks out a bit, and i really hope he doesn't have that as well. Jeffrey has been living inside of a quarantine tank, with only paper towels as substrate and around about 6-8 crickets. I change out the paper towels and water every day while he's soaking, and i take the crickets out as well (if i don't accidentally kill them.) i know for a fact that hes not happy in his temporary living conditions, and i'ms debating weather or not to put his tank back to normal to see how he does. I also plan to use neosporin in his sores to see if that helps as well. Now to answer your questions.

*Trouble in the Frog Enclosure
*

1. 20.5 x 10.5 inch tank with a height of about 6.5 inches.
2. Just Jeffrey the tomato frog
3. usually around 80
4. 70-80
5. spring water
6. coconut fiber substrate
7. coconut fiber setup with a half log made of plastic, real moss, and a large ceramic dish

8.Crickets
9. i havent given him any vitamins or calcium 
10. one 15 watt daylight bulb and a red night bulb 
11. the lights in his enclosure
12. im nto sure when the last time he ate was, but ive been trying to keep track of the cricket count, it has been at least a week
13. yes, in his water dish, one large and one small
14. see below
15. white spots on his head/ legs and butt, white spot on his head is turning greyish- clear
16. 8 months
17. 6 months
18. probably captive bred (damn you petco)
19. usually just crickets
20. as of recent, pretty often (unfortunately)
21. low traffic
22. before quarantine- water was changed almost every day, and the tank was changed every month




(above) heres a picture of his setup before the quarentine



this is usually how he would be



heres a picture of the lump on his throat (dont ask why the pic is upsidown)



heres a few recent pics of the sores on his body



and finally heres a picture of his butt

sorry about the long reply, i'm just trying to be as thorough as possible, and any advice is appreciated! :Big Grin:

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## Tedm95

just a quick update, against my original plan, i decided to put jeffrey back inside his original habitat. I hope that re-introducing him to this will bring back his appetite. Still open to suggestions as to what to do.

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## Carlos

There is a couple thing I note on your answers that over time could start serious health issues.  First is the use of spring water.  Depending on the city codes, spring water could be treated with chemicals or over filtered until it's almost like R/O water.  You can read more about this issue in here:  http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...hing-else.html.  My recommendation is to use dechlorinated tap (Seachem Prime is great).

Second is the lack of supplements in the frog's diet.  Recommend get either Repashy or RepCal CA/D3 and multi-vitamins and start using according to this schedules:  http://www.frogforum.net/food-feeder...schedules.html.

If using Melafix/Pimafix combination I would mix it according to bottle label with dechlorinated tap water.  Also, would give the frog one morning and one evening 20 min. bath and use that solution to fill it's water dish.  Right now, I'm not even sure the frog has a bacterial problem.  Without the proper lab testing it's not possible to prove frog has tuberculosis; has the veterinary ordered any testing?

Myself would prioritize correcting the water (to include preparing new substrate mixed with it) and start using supplements as soon as frog eats.  You can try administering an unflavored Pedialyte (or similar baby electrolyte) prior to feeding time to see if frog perks up and eat.  To do so mix 90% 80F water with 10% Pedialyte and give chin depth bath for 20 minutes.  Can cover bath container with a towel to help keep heat in.  After bath return frog to enclosure and try feeding then.  Crickets should be gut loaded with carrots, lettuce, and crushed oats/cherios.  Better food is to get some not dyed nightcrawlers at Walmart or local bait shop and feed those.  A 3in. frog should take them whole.  If smaller, cut the worms from the pointy end same length as frog body.  Hope this helps and good luck  :Smile:  !

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## Tedm95

So this last week I've been back at school and i left my sister to care for Jeffrey. the melafix and primafix soakings have stopped and he's been living inside his regular tank environment. my sister managed to feed him a few waxworms (don't ask me how) and his sores haven't gotten any better or worse. He's been shedding skin quite a bit, but my new concern is the lump in his throat, which has gotten much bigger, and actually sticks out of his body. anybody know what it is and is there anything i can do for him? I might end up taking him to another vet, but i'm going to research which one is cheapest. (again, i'm a college student, and i'm short on cash. i want to see him get better, but i don't want to go broke over vet bills in the process) I still hope that theres something else i can do to help him.




here are some pics of the bump on his chin as of today
it is semi- hard to the touch, and he gets hopping mad if you poke it (no pun intended)

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## Tedm95

so considering nobody responded to that last post i put up, i figured i should put up an update on jeffreys condition. 
all of his spots are pretty much the same, but some of them turned a yellowish color. the lump on his throat seems to have popped and his now a god- awful sore with strange yellowish- white bumps around it. Ive been putting neosporin on the sore to keep it decontaminated in the hopes that it will heal up. His appetite has not improved as far as i know, and I've resorted to force feeding him waxworms, i plan to start putting calcium on them because it couldn't hurt. Jeffrey has been shedding quite a bit also, it's a little bit concerning because its like a layer of skin has been shedding off daily. Today i moved Jeffrey to his quarantine tank yet again, but put some plants in just to make it a little bit more home- like. I intend to keep switching the tank around every day. I also decided to soak him in melafix and primafix for the heck of it, i don't think he liked it. 

I took him to a vet a few days ago to see if i could have them check him out, but i quickly reeled away when they said it was gonna be $90 just for them to look at him. At this point, i'm pretty distraught on the whole thing, and i'm thinking i might as well go to a vet and let whatever money I've got take the hit, its just becoming too troublesome to try to figure this out on my own.

anyways heres a few pictures of his sore, i've still got some hope that some kind/knowledgeable person will know exactly what i have to do to make him happy again..

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## crazy

This happened to one of my treefrogs awhile back.  If you haven't already use dechlorinated water and pretty much do what Mentat said in his previous post.  All I know is that my treefrog that had symptoms like this a long time ago died from it.  Could be ranavirus, I would also search it up on google if you haven't already and read up on that disease.  Here are some websites on ranavirus Froglife, USGS National Wildlife Health Center - Ranavirus. I would also clean out the aquarium that the frog is in really well without using any chemicals and soap.  Does the frog show any other odd behavior?

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## Tedm95

I don't think it is Ranavirus because i'm pretty sure he would have died by this point. Jeffrey has been sick for about an month now.

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## crazy

> I don't think it is Ranavirus because i'm pretty sure he would have died by this point. Jeffrey has been sick for about an month now.


I think it depends on how bad the frog has the virus, and the reason why I stated it could possibly be ranavirus is because soars is one of the symptoms of it.  Hope your frog is doing better though.

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## Lynn

Want to mention:

If someone should suspect ranavirus or Chytrid fungus .......it can be tested.
This is a very simple process.

Many private collectors do this with all new frogs, regardless of obvious symptoms.

All WC (wild caught) frogs should be tested as research shows that ranavirus can rapidly infect and cause disease in multiple amphibian species when introducing a WC amphibian to a private collection.

*Of course , isolation of any sick frog and QT of all new introductions is , as always , extremely important. 
This is very basic good husbandry. Sadly, this is too often overlooked. These good practices are often ignored, even deliberately disregard as unnecessary.*


Research Associates Laboratory
or 
Disease Treatment and Testing Supplies | Sanitation, Disease Treatment, and Testing | Josh's Frogs

Josh's frogs has links to herp vets on his site as well.

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