# Skin damage from frog dehydration



## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Apologies to all if this is the incorrect forum for this question. I pondered whether it should go into the Disease Forum but my question isn't about frog sickness per se.

Anyway, most worst PDF nightmare, well almost the worst was realized Friday. My fiance calls me at work and tells me she found one of our Citronella tincs (name of Lightning, cagemate is Thunder :wink: ) hopping across the dining room floor. Fortunately, a blur of yellow hopping across a neutral color carpet is hard to miss :lol: Seems the little bugger managed to squeeze through a crack at the top of the terrarium. My guess is that he was out of the terarrium less than 2 hours tops. She said its skin looked wrinkled, with some "bubbles" and a bit gray in places. She had placed Lightning back in the terrarium and I told her to start misting it every 15 minutes. Also there is a small pool of water in the terrarium that he soaked in for part of the time. 

Monitoring it through the evening and all day today, here are my observations. Lightning is alert, with good posture, moving around well, eating normally. However, upon close observation, one can observe some whitish patches where I suppose the skin was damaged as a result of dehydration. I've attached a picture where I hope viewers can see the lighter patches - apparently this was where my fiance noticed the grayish skin when she discovered Lightning outside his terrarium.

Assuming that the whitish skin is damaged, is it normal to expect that with time it will slough off and be replaced with healthy skin? Should I be worried about a chance of infection? Any other thoughts? Many thanks in advance. 

Elmo


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2005)

*similar story*

how ironic. My citronella tinc had the exact same experience, except for that I think I got to him much later. He was lethargic, tangled in a ball of and hair and dust. His eyes were clouded over. I threw him back into the tank with the thought that he would most likely perish and I even considered euthanizing him because he seemed so miserable. Two days later, he was completely back to normal, eating normally, eyes unclouded. Now that you mention it, I have noticed some greyish patches which are probably dehydration damage. Fortunately, it has been a month since the incident and he has exhibited no change in behavior. 

Hope this helps some!

Ken


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

*Thanks*

Ken,

Thanks for sharing your experience. So far, our wayward Tinc seems to be doing fine but it helps to know that someone had a similar experience with a good outcome. Hope your frog stays healthy.

Elmo


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

I had one escape, and the frogs skin got dry, she was out for about two hours and had the same white areas and after her next shed they were gone. As long as he is eating and moving around I would say he will be fine.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

*Thanks*

Thanks Jacob  I was a bit surprised to not get more responses but upon further reflection I suspect that froggers either rescue their PDFs right after escape or find them when there is no hope  Good to hear from others that our little guy is not likely to suffer long term harm.

Elmo


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## Dunner97074 (Sep 19, 2004)

I'd change the names from Lightning and Thunder to Lewis and Clark! Good luck and I hope he makes a full recovery.
Mike


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2005)

The D. auratus that were used in an olfactory study and whose skin dried from the air passing over them never recovered their color. When I first saw them, it was about three years after the test was done. I suppose it would depend to the extent of the drying etc, and which color cells were affected.
j


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

*Update*

The same frog three days after the great escape. The skin damage appears to be more pronounced (see photo). However, Lightning is still acting normally. I'm not certain but it would appear that the damaged skin is peeling in places. We shall see how matters proceed.

Elmo


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## geckguy (Mar 8, 2004)

That never happened to my frog. Maybe you shold send a pic to Dr. Frye.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Just an idea, but to me it looks like it is healing...


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Thanks Kyle,

I don't have enough experience with this sort of injury to frogs to judge but I hope that it is a sign of healing. The little fellow seems healthy enough. If he pulls through, he'll take a special place in the collection.

Elmo


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Its just a guess but from your first pick to that one it looks better.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

*Update*

Just a quick update one week after our Citronella escaped. The damaged skin definitely looks like it is trying to peel off...somewhat nasty looking but Lightning is acting very normally. It will be interesting to see whether there is any permanent damage to its color. But as I told my fiance, better a bit of damage than a dead Lightning  

Elmo


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Latest pics from our wayward Citronella Tinc. I've included a pic of Lightning and Thunder together. When we got them, they were both the same size but clearly Lightning's escape and near death experience has impacted its growth. However, both frogs are eating well and we don't see any sign of unhealthy competition (in fact they are usually found in each other's company). I've been told by several froggers that successful rescues post terrarium escape are fairly uncommon so I thought pics of the recovery phase might be interesting/useful to some.

Elmo


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## amphibianfreak (Jul 21, 2004)

Glad to see it's doing well for you. I had the same thing happen with an escaped fire belly newt a few months ago. The skin healed and it is just fine.


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