# Sick Cobalt! Bacteria, cyst, worms ...?



## dendrorani (Jan 30, 2009)

Hi,

This is what looks to be my sick female cobalt. At first she had this lump developping on her stomach. Then it started growing and slowly streched her skin. Today, i noticed that her skin ripped and exposed the wound. 

I don't know if it is a bacteria, a cyst etc. I would need some advice on that if anybody has seen this to do something right now. Maybe i could apply polysporin right now to make sure it doesnt infect if it hasn't yet.

In the mean time will contact Dr Fry and see what he has to say.

I would be really sad if she died. She is my nice colored big mama! 
The only thing that conforts me is that she is still eating very well and active so she might be able to fight whatever is there.

Thanks for any help.

Rani


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## jknight (Jun 25, 2009)

first contact dr frye.. 

second how wet is your substrate or soil? if it is " soaked" that is a no no .. "cysts" can be caused by an overly wet viv.

Isolate her in another viv, and i would up thesupplementation .


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## dendrorani (Jan 30, 2009)

The substrate is not soaked it is on a false bottom therefore it is just humid. As for supplementation, they get gut loaded pinhead criquets, fruit flies and bean weevils. They are dusted everyday with calcium and once a month with vitamin.

I contacted Dr Frye and am still waiting for his reply.

thanks 

Anybody got an idea what it could be?


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## jknight (Jun 25, 2009)

dusted everyday with calcium in my opinion isnt the best idea.. I had the same thing happen to my cit. and the results were not good.. I caught it way late .. it looks like your cobalt is in good shape.. all I can say is keep her in her on viv and just leave her alone. The stress of a worried owner trying to handle and look at the bump can be just as bad as the bump its self. There are other threads of illnesses like this with better results then mine. Good luck!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i had soem azurues develop the same thing a few years ago, i applied some neosporin to the area and it receded in like 2 days and today they show no signg of it.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

I have what looks like the same thing on my Azureus`s back also.
It doesn`t appear to be bothering him at all.

John


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## dendrorani (Jan 30, 2009)

Hi all. 
I just got dr fryes advice on this. He said it is probably a bacterial or fungal infection. He told me to treat it with baytrill.
The only thing is here in Canada it is not easy to obtain it but fortunately my dogs vet was willing to give me some! 

I am still not confortable to treat my frog for two reasons: 
first, she is healthy and doing great and like many of you said, the infected frog seemed to be okay with it.
Second baytrill is a very cocentrated syrup and thus i do not have enough information on how much i should dilute it!

Any info on this will be greatly apreciated!

Thanks again for sharing!

Rani


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

You could email Frye and he could fax a prescription over to your vet.


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## jknight (Jun 25, 2009)

How is she doing?


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## dendrorani (Jan 30, 2009)

Like I said i went to the vet and got the baytril.

BUT I didn't use it as overnight, her wound recided. Now the lump is getting smaller but the color and pattern haven't appeared yet on the lump.

She is probably fighting the bacteria. 

So this could actually be a lesson for people who dealt with the same thing.
The way I see it is that when the frog is healthy (eating well, not hiding) they will get rid of their infection. If you have a frog that is not active nor eating then you should probably use the antibiotics.

So I hope it could help people that might encounter the same problem.

Rani


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## Jeffey_Kasparek (Jan 21, 2005)

*"The way I see it is that when the frog is healthy (eating well, not hiding) they will get rid of their infection. If you have a frog that is not active nor eating then you should probably use the antibiotics.

So I hope it could help people that might encounter the same problem."*

I do not mean to imply that I am forthcoming on a personal attack or believe that your thoughts are without their merit (it is very easy to kill frogs with kindness and concern), though I do wish to add a word of caution and concern. While amphibians certainly carry pathogens and parasites in the wild, I'd suggest that the concentrations of them or frequency of exposure or reintroduction to be much less naturally than it is inside a vivarium (specifically referring to any that the animal may have to begin with), just think of the various microniches available to them versus the limited space and monotony of most enclosures. So there is still the risk of reaccumulation due to immune system suppression (e.g., from stress), as the animal may be holding the infection at a mitigated level. Furthermore, there are other pathogens and parasites - though most notibly from my limited knowledge I refer only here to those that are viral - that are actually temperature sensitive with respect to the extent of virulence or affect and may incur "healthy states" that are asymptomatic fluctuating until death occurrs gradually over the course of sixty days. _See _Rojas, S; Richards, K; Jancovich, JK; Davidson EW. (2005) Influence of temperature on Ranavirus infection in larval salamanders _Ambystoma tigrinum_. DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS Vol. 63: 95–100. Some parasitic nematodes like those from the genus _Strongyloidea_ have three stages of development just for larvae in addition to a free living stage (those specific to cats I understand have a nine generation life span in a free living/dormant state), and are reported having entered the host through skin contact [_See_ SH Abadie (1963). The life cycle of Strongyloides ratti. The Journal of Parasitology Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 241-248], so even if the frog "got better" but the bedding was never changed, it could become re-infected despite a brief recovery.

In short, unless there's a clear diagnosis of the parasite/pathogen as the causal agent (and the nominal requirement for antibiotics) or confirmation that the animal is "healthy" I'd be hesitant to simply forego any treatments altogether. Additionally, though I am likely incorrect on this, but isn't Baytril capable of being applied topically - a considerably less stressful procedure? Just some thoughts to consider.

Anyhow take care and I'm glad to hear that your frog is doing better.

Sincerely,
Jeff


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff is really Ed in disguise


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## dendrorani (Jan 30, 2009)

Thank you Jeffey but my point was not to debate wheter she would catch back the disease or not with the reference you gave. It wasn't kindness and if it were i would have gave her the antibiotics! In any case a healthy individual in the animal kingdom has great chances of fighting a disease. That was my opinion on the subject as i have plenty of experiences with other animals having cared and bred them. In fact dart frogs are very hardy species if you compare them to other amphibians! 

Thanks anyways for the information stated in the book!


ps:- she was already recovering before i got the meds!
- baytril is an antibiotic and as for humans, you developp some resistance using it therefore if she was healing by herself why administer the med? That looks more like a panicking mother with her child!

Using them or not? It s only a question of opinion right? Killing an sls froglet or not?... 

Having said all this, it was just my opinion.

Rani


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