# Frog with Short Tongue Syndrome



## frogorf

For starters.This is completely my fault. I didn't know I was supposed to keep my rapashy vits and mins in the fridge and discard after 6 months. So my frogs have been getting the same vits and mins for a very long time. Anyways I noticed my Auratus is alittle on the skinny side. So I have been watching him for the last 2 weeks. He is eating but missing more frequently than catching and it's progressively getting worse. Like 1 out of every 10 tries. He has been separated. I just found out about the vits and mins being no good today. So I can't get any until tomorrow.
Fecals were done. Came back neg. My none herp vet is making me up some ARS tonight. Can't find a herp vet that isn't a stressful 3 hour white knuckle drive away.( Very icy hwy conditions) I have calcium gluconate...( don't know if I'm on the right track)
My problem is I know he may stop trying to eat soon. What else should I do for him? example: Should I prepare for the inevitable force feed? I found a thread on force feeding but the pictures won't load. ( I'm a visual aid kind of person.) And what should I feed him?
Also even though the rest of my guys look healthy should I be proactive and dust with the vitamin A more frequently for a while? Let's say 1x a week. Right now I feed the healthy frogs calcium and vits dusted flies every other day. ( As per usual ) Sick guy 2x's a day limited flies. I think the Vitamin A deficiency hit him first because he's the youngest. A little over a year. 
Thoughts? Suggestions? I am open to ideas. Thanks in advance.


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## goof901

Definitely get some Repashy Calcium Plus ASAP and start supplementing with that. Make sure you feed some dusted flies to the affected frog. The frog will attempt to eat the fly, and probably not catch it. However, it will get some vitamin dust on its tongue, and the issue should resolve itself. 
Mixing in some Repashy Vit A would be a good idea, although I do not know how much you should use...


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## srrrio

Definitely get Repashy Vit A Plus as well and I would feed that to the failing frog right away. Perhaps set up a fruit feeding station so you can monitor how much he is eating more closely. I would probably use the Vit A until you feel like he has eaten a regular portion of FF even if takes a few days to do it. Then switch back to the Repashy Cal Plus. 
A vet may have a suggestion for a more aggressive way to get the VIt A into the little guy. The ARS probably won't hurt, but I would hold off on the calcium g unless you find a vet that recommends it. 

You may want to feed the Vit A Plus to your other frogs 1x per week as maximum as the label suggests and eventually just dust it once per month. If it were me I would feed and dust daily for a few months (just fewer FF flies) with the Cal Plus as well, to get the fresh supplements into their systems.


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## frogface

I agree with both posts above. The good news is that it can be fixed. I was taking care of some frogs with STS. They were quite emaciated by the time they got to my house. Couldn't catch a fly. However, within a few weeks of getting good supplements, they were eating well. Soon they filled out and appeared to be very healthy frogs.

This was with the older Repashy product, Repashy ICB. With the newer ones, Repashy Calcium Plus, and Repashy Vit A, you may have faster results than I did.


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## frogorf

Ok so we are not "out of the woods yet" but he is looking better and starting to eat again. 

Thank you to everyone for your advice. I did not have to force feed. Thank goodness. 
I have separated all of my Rapashy Calcium plus into 2 week vaccum bags and stored them in the fridge. I am waiting on a 3 oz bottle of vit A to be delivered seeings how the pet store only carries the big bottles. The rest of my frogs look amazing. I really didn't see the colour change when they were headed down hill. Now they're colours are so brilliant! Already. Thanks again.


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## frogface

Great news! Thanks for the update and keep us posted


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## coryf

I too have a dart frog that appears to have short tongue syndrome. I have 3 azureus tincs and one of them is much skinner than the other 2 and misses flies more than half of the time. After doing research on STS and hypovitaminosis I immediately bought Repashy Vitamin A Plus. I cycled in the Repashy supplement into my existing vitamin supplementation cycle that consists of Repcal Calcium with Vitamin D and Repcal Herptivite. The frog showed no signs of improvement so I isolated him and increased the rate of supplementation with Repashy Vitamin A Plus. I saw very little improvement in his capture rate. He did put on some weight but that does not appear to be due to an improvement in STS but rather just not having to deal with the competition of the other 2 frogs. I'm not sure what to do now. I even contacted a local exotic vet but he was unwilling to see my frog. I'd greatly appreciate any help!


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