# Frogs & Toads > Frogs >  Badly badly injured Bullfrog

## yug0

Hello. Me and a few of my friends happened upon a frog with SEVERE injuries. It's awful and it looks like it's in a LOT of pain. I'm so worried that i'm almost in tears. I have cleaned out the gash with warm water and a little neosporin. 
Here are some pictures.




Please help, I'm so sad and worried...

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Are you using de-chlorinated water to clean the wounds? Chlorine is toxic and will poison the frog. I would take the poor frog to a Vet, but for now place it in a enclosure with clean. moist paper towels as substrate and a bowl of clean de-chlorinated water. keep the frog in a room that is warm.

Reapply the Neosporin daily and clean the wound each time before applying more. this will help fight infection. You'll have to change the paper towels daily and the frogs water. This is all the assistance I can offer for now. Hopefully someone else will chime in and assist further.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Make sure all water that you use is de-chlorinated including water used to clean wounds and moisten the paper towels.. You will have to go buy a de-chlorinating agent from a pet store of any aquarium section. ReptiSafe and Prime are both excellent.

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## yug0

I'm using hose water and fresh lake water. I'll keep using the neosporin! Thank you!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> I'm using hose water and fresh lake water. I'll keep using the neosporin! Thank you!


Lake water will not be clean and contains bacteria that could infect the wound further and the hose water has chlorine.

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## yug0

Oh...yikes. I'll be taking him to the DNR today to see if they can help him. Surprisingly, overnight, a bit of the swelling in his leg has gone down. I'm hoping they can help him!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Oh...yikes. I'll be taking him to the DNR today to see if they can help him. Surprisingly, overnight, a bit of the swelling in his leg has gone down. I'm hoping they can help him!


I commend your efforts. Most people wouldn't go through such a task to save a wild Frog.

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## yug0

Thanks...unfortunately, the DNR offices were closed today. I ended up taking him home with me (had found him on the side of the road near my grandparent's place, far out in the country). He's doing better. He's more perky, and his leg is even more less swollen. Until I can take him somewhere, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, because it seems to be working! My grandparents had some mealworms for fishing, so i brought those home and put a few in his aquarium. I'm no expert on frogs(I joined here basically because i needed advice for this big guy), but do you think he'll eat the mealworms?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Thanks...unfortunately, the DNR offices were closed today. I ended up taking him home with me (had found him on the side of the road near my grandparent's place, far out in the country). He's doing better. He's more perky, and his leg is even more less swollen. Until I can take him somewhere, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, because it seems to be working! My grandparents had some mealworms for fishing, so i brought those home and put a few in his aquarium. I'm no expert on frogs(I joined here basically because i needed advice for this big guy), but do you think he'll eat the mealworms?


I'd offer locusts(grass hoppers), Crickets, and earthworms. Mealworms are not a good frog food.

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## evangelist6589

> Thanks...unfortunately, the DNR offices were closed today. I ended up taking him home with me (had found him on the side of the road near my grandparent's place, far out in the country). He's doing better. He's more perky, and his leg is even more less swollen. Until I can take him somewhere, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, because it seems to be working! My grandparents had some mealworms for fishing, so i brought those home and put a few in his aquarium. I'm no expert on frogs(I joined here basically because i needed advice for this big guy), but do you think he'll eat the mealworms?


Thank you for your efforts. I am so angered by the many You Tube videos of idiots and cruel people abusing frogs. Perhaps I should not look up the word frog on YouTube again. Keep us posted on the outcome of the frog.

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## yug0

> Thank you for your efforts. I am so angered by the many You Tube videos of idiots and cruel people abusing frogs. Perhaps I should not look up the word frog on YouTube again. Keep us posted on the outcome of the frog.


Yup Yup! I took him to a dog/cat vet down the street, because that's the only vet around here unfortunately. They gave him some antibiotics (pill form of betadyne i believe?? not sure, it was beta-something). You're supposed to give it to him every day for ten days. I hope it's gonna help him! I've got some crickets too, how many should i give  him a day?

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## Pluke

It almost looks as if the frog lost it's skin completely on that part of it's leg.. hard to tell from the pics, it's good to hear he's getting better though. Good job.

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## Nevfalath

Can he move his leg or does it feel broken?

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## yug0

> It almost looks as if the frog lost it's skin completely on that part of it's leg.. hard to tell from the pics, it's good to hear he's getting better though. Good job.


Yes, he has. His bones and Muscle are visible... :Frown: .  Thanks!

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## yug0

> Can he move his leg or does it feel broken?


Well, he CAN move his upper leg, but his lower leg/foot drags behind him...it's incredibly swollen  :Frown:

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Well, he CAN move his upper leg, but his lower leg/foot drags behind him...it's incredibly swollen


Keep him warm, moist, and clean. Reapply the Neosporin after you clean the wound daily.

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## Faith

Bravo to you taking care of him and doing your best. Hope he pulls through!

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## yug0

Thanks for the support, guys! The feeding/medicine process is still hard. He won't eat, so I  have to pry his mouth open with my pinkie finger and put a crushed one in his mouth. He doesn't seem to mind that, but he HATES his medicine. I've been dissolving it in water and putting it in a syringe, then putting it in his mouth. He likes to spit it out...I'll bet it doesn't taste good. SO I have to hold his mouth closed, and he swallows it eventually. I know it's stressful for him, but if he wants to get better, it's what has to happen. I've only been washing his wound with water, and then adding neosporin- is there anything else i should do to it?

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Thanks for the support, guys! The feeding/medicine process is still hard. He won't eat, so I  have to pry his mouth open with my pinkie finger and put a crushed one in his mouth. He doesn't seem to mind that, but he HATES his medicine. I've been dissolving it in water and putting it in a syringe, then putting it in his mouth. He likes to spit it out...I'll bet it doesn't taste good. SO I have to hold his mouth closed, and he swallows it eventually. I know it's stressful for him, but if he wants to get better, it's what has to happen. I've only been washing his wound with water, and then adding neosporin- is there anything else i should do to it?


That's the best you can do for cleaning his wound. Maybe gently swab it with a cotton swab or cotton ball, but you can't use any cleaners or alcohol or else they'll kill him. they're extremely sensitive and absorb water and other things through the skin.

You may also want to go out and buy some UNFLAVORED PEDIALYTE and prepare a bath at a 10 to 1 ratio. So for every 10 ounces of water add 1 ounce of UNFLAVORED PEDIALYETE. it must be unflavored. Soak him in that solution for 20 minutes a day. Also the water for his bath should be de-chlorinated and Luke warm. Be sure its not too deep. Only half his height so he doesn't drown.

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## yug0

Thanks!
He's doing okay, but it's extremely extremely hard to feed him and give him medicine. He wont eat if i put crickets in his cage still, so i'm stuck with prying his mouth open, and he HATES it. He always is pushing my hand away or pushing my fingers out with his tongue and hands. Eventually, i can put the crickets in his mouth. This process alone takes like a half an hour, the little stinker just hates it. And I don't blame him. The medicine is the same way, he's like "NOPE". He gets so stressed out that his foot leaks red and turns bright red. When he's calmer, its more brown...yikes.
Is there ANY easier way to this? I just want him to be more comfortable...

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Thanks!
> He's doing okay, but it's extremely extremely hard to feed him and give him medicine. He wont eat if i put crickets in his cage still, so i'm stuck with prying his mouth open, and he HATES it. He always is pushing my hand away or pushing my fingers out with his tongue and hands. Eventually, i can put the crickets in his mouth. This process alone takes like a half an hour, the little stinker just hates it. And I don't blame him. The medicine is the same way, he's like "NOPE". He gets so stressed out that his foot leaks red and turns bright red. When he's calmer, its more brown...yikes.
> Is there ANY easier way to this? I just want him to be more comfortable...


He will have to be force Fed until he Regains his strength. You could use a plastic spoon flipped upside down to open his mouth and place the food or antibiotic in. I would try and get some night crawlers and force feed him chunks of those. They're easier for him ti eat and digest. This will be stressful no matter what. Just be patient and do your best.

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## yug0

Yessss, nightcrawlers! They are MUCH easier to handle. Around his injury, a strange color has formed...is it regenerating, or decaying? I cannot really tell. 
Here's a picture:

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## Pluke

Yeesh, that doesn't look very good. Looks like decay but I could be wrong.. Hopefully I'm wrong.

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## IrishRonin

Thanks for helping out this beautiful creature first off. I know force feeding is hard but your keeping him alive. On the newly developed color, does it smell (the wound)? Decay and infections usually smell either funky or sweet.

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## Heather

Ouch! Poor little fella. Thank you for helping him. It's sure a dandy. You are doing a great job! 

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner. I sometimes miss a few on my work days. 

Grif has given you wonderful advice! The dead tissues will darken and fall off. The neosporin will help prevent infection and keep the healthy skin soft so it can grow together. The wound is large in comparison to his size, so it will take a while to grow across. The pedialyte soaks are perfect because he will lose a lot of electrolytes through the seeping of the wound. The two number one treatments of burns are preventing infection and electrolyte replacement. 

The wound inflammation is what you are seeing along the edges. It is very likely infected but can continue to heal from the inside out if you can keep him from going septic. Infected wounds are best healed from the inside out to provide constant cleaning as they close. You are doing a great job because he hasn't gone septic, though the odds were high given the depth and size of the wound. If you had not found him when you did he would have died in about 2 days. Though his wounds are severe, you have thus far saved him  :Smile: . 

My only other recommendation is to spray and wipe down the sides and floor of the tank daily with dechlorinated water and dry with paper towels prior to putting his paper towel floor down. Mist him twice a day with the dechlor water so he stays moist, and like Grif said, keep him in a warm room at at least 75 degrees. Their bodies cannot warm up like us and the cold will slow down their metabolism and healing.

I'll try and think of anything more to add but at this time that is all that is coming to me.

Great job!!!!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Definitely follow what Heather has stated above as well. You must keep bacterial growths as low as possible to orient further infection. You're doing well keep it up.  :Smile:

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## yug0

Aaaaah thank you guys so much!! You guys are such a big help oh my gosh! It turns out that that white-ish stuff around his leg is new skin, and his wound looks like it is slowly healing up!! His leg is far less swollen too.  I'll try and get some of the unflavored pedialyte stuff tomorrow...I hope the pet store has it! I just started feeding him worms today, it seems he likes those better than crickets because he swallows them almost immediately. Still wont eat them off of tweezers, however. 
Here's a picture I took of him, he's lookin' good! (you might have to click on it to see it better, however)

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## Heather

Awe  :Smile: , he looks good  :Smile: . The pedialyte is found in the baby section of a grocery store or Walmart/Kmart.

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## evangelist6589

> Aaaaah thank you guys so much!! You guys are such a big help oh my gosh! It turns out that that white-ish stuff around his leg is new skin, and his wound looks like it is slowly healing up!! His leg is far less swollen too.  I'll try and get some of the unflavored pedialyte stuff tomorrow...I hope the pet store has it! I just started feeding him worms today, it seems he likes those better than crickets because he swallows them almost immediately. Still wont eat them off of tweezers, however. 
> Here's a picture I took of him, he's lookin' good! (you might have to click on it to see it better, however)



Thank you for taking care of him. Do you have any YouTube videos?

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## Faith

> Aaaaah thank you guys so much!! You guys are such a big help oh my gosh! It turns out that that white-ish stuff around his leg is new skin, and his wound looks like it is slowly healing up!! His leg is far less swollen too.  I'll try and get some of the unflavored pedialyte stuff tomorrow...I hope the pet store has it! I just started feeding him worms today, it seems he likes those better than crickets because he swallows them almost immediately. Still wont eat them off of tweezers, however. 
> Here's a picture I took of him, he's lookin' good! (you might have to click on it to see it better, however)


He looks great! Look at those pretty eyes <3 You are doing such an awesome thing for him, keeping y'all in my thoughts that he continues to progress well!

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## yug0

> Thank you for taking care of him. Do you have any YouTube videos?


I don't, but when i feed him tomorrow, I will make one!!

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## IrishRonin

Thanks for keeping us updated, he looks like he's doing great! Thanks agian for going out of your way to help a hurt animal, I wish more peole were like you in the world then maybe we wouldn't be losing so many species all the time.

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## yug0

Feeding an Injured Frog - YouTube

Alright, here's a video!

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evangelist6589

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## Namio

Yeah, way to go, Yugo!  I am no vet, but intuitively I would first clean his wound thoroughly, then sew the wound (with thread and needle) or glue (this may be too toxic for the frog, however) the skin back on the wound to seal it off. Then resume with antibiotics, pedialyte solution soak, and force feeding.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

There are some areas of the leg that really look bad. Anything that is turning black is very bad and is dead tissue. If the leg begins to become gangrene it would be in a state that would most likely need to be amputated. Of course only a vet can do this so fingers crossed that it doesn't become to far gone.

It does look better overall. Keep up what you're do g and try and get some more antibiotics if possible. His eyes are very clear and alert. and his skin color is good so he is slowly recovering.

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## Faith

His leg looks sooo much better in that video, you are doing an amazing job. I cringed the whole time you fed him (I don't know if I could do it so points to you for doing what's right.) Hope he continues to heal as he's been doing and starts eating on his own soon!

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## evangelist6589

> There are some areas of the leg that really look bad. Anything that is turning black is very bad and is dead tissue. If the leg begins to become gangrene it would be in a state that would most likely need to be amputated. Of course only a vet can do this so fingers crossed that it doesn't become to far gone.
> 
> It does look better overall. Keep up what you're do g and try and get some more antibiotics if possible. His eyes are very clear and alert. and his skin color is good so he is slowly recovering.


Which is great news. I hope the frog recovers. Thanks for what you are doing.

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## Heather

How is your bullfrog doing? Do you have any new photos?

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## Heather

Sorry I was away for a bit...I try and keep up but my work days are very long.

In the video the frogs overall appearance looks better. He looks perkier, likely from the electrolyte soaks. Have you used any amphibian calcium with vitamin D 3 powder on his food. He will need this. Also get an amphibian multivitamin powder such as herptivite. Lightly sprinkle the frogs food every other day with the calcium. One day a week sprinkle or gently dust with the vitamin powder. 

 I am very concerned for the leg. The blackened colors are a sign of tissue death. It should fall off. Do you feel any pulsations along the leg or foot that feel like a pulse would in your foot or wrist? Feel along your arm on the underside on the side of your thumb, just below your wrist, between the edge of your arm and your tendon where there is a slight dent, at your radial pulse. Your frog should have a pulse in his leg. It won't be as strong as yours, but should be there. I am concerned about his circulation. 

I think you should either take him to a local vet or email Dr.Frye with a photo and tell him what has happened. See what he thinks. Dr. Frye is a wonderful vet in Michigan who has helped many with their frogs. If you need his email, let me know.

You are doing a great job and have kept him alive  :Smile: . 

At this time you may have to consider that your frog might lose the lower part of his leg and foot. Please don't be upset. I am one to be completely honest. I will still guide you and help you in every way I can. I am also a nurse. There may still be a possibility of saving the leg but I would contact a vet. 

If your frog does lose his lower leg, he will be dependent on you to care for him, and at this point will be anyway. You will not be able to set him free. He will not be able to leap well, therefore you will have to provide him with food, a clean, safe, and proper home. He will not be able to flee fast enough from predators in the wild. He is a wonderful frog  :Smile: . If he pulls through he will be awesome still  :Smile: . If there comes a time you can't or no longer want him, I'm sure someone here would help you find him a home. Just a thought. I just want you to understand that he may end up losing that part of his leg and that to continue to save his life, it may be necessary. But he can still be loved  :Smile: .

Continue the soaks and continue feeding him and rinsing and wiping down his tank daily. Be sure to change his water daily. Be sure to wash your hands before and after all of his care. The goal is to keep the germs away. Apply the neosporin every day and apply enough to keep the thigh shiny to allow any possible tissues to heal in. Apply the neo to the foot too. 

Please keep us posted. We are all hoping for the best!

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## evangelist6589

> Feeding an Injured Frog - YouTube
> 
> Alright, here's a video!


How is the Frog doing?

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## yug0

Hi guys, sorry for not responding!! My internet wen't out! But, my dad went to the vet to ask what the right thing to do would be (I'm too young to drive yet, but the vet is a herpetologist so YEAH) And unfortunately, they can't save his leg or him...not even amputate it. They're going to have to put him down...

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> Hi guys, sorry for not responding!! My internet wen't out! But, my dad went to the vet to ask what the right thing to do would be (I'm too young to drive yet, but the vet is a herpetologist so YEAH) And unfortunately, they can't save his leg or him...not even amputate it. They're going to have to put him down...


Well the important thing is that you went out of your way to save the frog. No one here could ask for more than that. Thank you for trying.

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## kmichael55

So sorry to hear this. You did so much more than the majority of people would have done, thank you! You obviously have a big heart, thanks for doing the right thing!

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## Heather

I'm sorry you couldn't save him  :Frown: . You did such a great job! Maybe you could get a healthy frog? You certainly have shown you are responsible and willing to put forth the effort of caring for one. 

I give you a lot of credit for doing so much for him!!!

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## Nevfalath

Awww, that's so sad!  I'm so sorry.  The poor guy... but you did a great job and did everything you possibly could for him.  At least he won't be in pain anymore.

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## Lija

> Hi guys, sorry for not responding!! My internet wen't out! But, my dad went to the vet to ask what the right thing to do would be (I'm too young to drive yet, but the vet is a herpetologist so YEAH) And unfortunately, they can't save his leg or him...not even amputate it. They're going to have to put him down...



 I applaud you for being so caring and trying to save the living creature, it is so rare to have that quality especially in younger people ( you said you're too young to drive) you should be very proud of yourself and your parents should be extremely happy for having such a responsible daughter/son. You  did so much for him, while so many people would just walk away.  even in this forum  there are so many threads of people asking for advice, but not willing to go to the vet and making million excuses not to help their own frog.  

THANK YOU!

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## Faith

So sorry to hear that but like everyone said here, you did an amazing job with him! I think you'd be a wonderful phib owner (now or in the future.)

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## yug0

You guys are too nice...:') He's in a better place now, I'm sure he was in a lot of pain with that leg. I buried him in the forest next to the local park pond, and made him a grave marker.

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## Faith

That is adorable  & very thoughtful. He's definitely living it up now in a better place  :Smile:

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## BlueisallIneed

I haven't been on for a while and came across this post, it was an amazing thing you did. We need more people in the world like you  :Smile:  
So sorry for the loss of him, but at least he was loved

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## CamilleElise

I'm sorry to hear he didn't make it, but your dedication really shows your true nature.  Respect for amphibians is all too rare these days--many people make fun of me for taking my frogs to the vet because they view them as expendable and easily replaced.  Good job doing everything you could to help him.  Sometimes they are too far gone, and it's sad to let them go, but if you get a frog of your own in the future, I think he or she will have a great frog caretaker.   :Smile:   These little creatures are just so awesome.

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## Caspian

I know this is an old post, but I simply had to comment.

Yugo. I've never met someone as caring and compassionate as you. You never gave up, never lost hope, and wanted only the best for the frog. Even though it was a frog you just found, you cared for it as you would care for a child. You sheltered it when many others would have left it to die.

I can't think of any words to describe how much of a hero you are.

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