# Short tongue syndrome



## Vinegaroonie (Jul 31, 2015)

Hello there, I hoped I would never have to post here but I guess not huh...

My male tinc appears to have short tongue syndrome. He misses flies more than he catches them and he's getting skinny. My supplements were replaced every 6 months and Im on a one month old batch right now, so I dont think my supplements are bad. How do people keep their supplements? I use calcium plus at every feeding and vitamin a plus once a month, and I keep them in the jars. Should I have partitioned them into sealed baggies? Have they gone bad? 

More importantly, what can I do to help my poor frog? Im dumping a bit of dust in the feeding station so he licks it up even when he misses, but it's not getting better.

Thanks,
Niko


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## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

Was he able to catch flies before? Your regimen sounds perfectly normal, so unless he was neglected before, I can't imagine STS being a problem. I've seen frogs eat with supplements much older than 6 months, and they never exhibited STS or related deficiency issues (not that I condone this practice). 

Don't put the supplements in baggies. The black plastic jars protect the vitamins from light/excess oxygen exposure. They should also be refrigerated.

I would put him in a quarantine bin with moist paper towel as substrate. Maybe a coco hut in the corner, but other than that, keep it simple so that he can catch food.

I would also bump Vitamin A dusting up to once every 2 weeks (or even 1.5 weeks) until he exhibits improvement.


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## Vinegaroonie (Jul 31, 2015)

Ok. Thank you! I will make a qt bin today and up the supplements. He was eating perfectly fine until recently, but a few weeks ago he was looking a little skinny but I attributed that to the female outcompeting him (she's a fat bully) so I fed him separately. Only recently have I noticed his bad aim. 


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## Vinegaroonie (Jul 31, 2015)

I only have bleached paper towels which I believe are not good for frogs. What else should I use for substrate?


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## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

I have use bleached paper towels for quarantine, and have never experienced problems. I can't think of any simpler substrate(s) for optimizing his aiming (if that happens to be the problem).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If you've been storing your supplements near the cages or in a higher humidity/warm environment then you are significantly shortening the usability of the supplements and can result in deficiencies. 

With respect to the vitamin A supplement people have minimized the frequency of use based on unfounded fears of toxicity of vitamin A (it can be toxic but so can many of the other ingredients in supplements including calcium). The use of the "straight" vitamin A supplement can range from 1-4 times a month based on the needs of the frogs and even more frequently under the monitoring of a veterinarian. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Vinegaroonie (Jul 31, 2015)

Ed said:


> If you've been storing your supplements near the cages or in a higher humidity/warm environment then you are significantly shortening the usability of the supplements and can result in deficiencies.
> 
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> 
> ...




Thank you. How often should I utilize the vitamin a plus then, for a frog with minor malnutrition? He seems better today. 


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Vinegaroonie said:


> Thank you. How often should I utilize the vitamin a plus then, for a frog with minor malnutrition? He seems better today.


If it was my frog I would try the straight vitamin A once a week for a month and then reevaluate. I would also reduce the number of flies dumped into the cage at one feeding to make sure that the frogs were targeting the dusted insects as opposed to the leftovers that have groomed most of the supplments off. 

If you've stored the vitamins in your frog room or other warm/moist area I would get new supplements even if it hasn't been six months. In general store the bulk of the supplments in the refrigerator and only take out what you'll use in a week or two to reduce the issues with the breakdown of the vitamins. 

some comments 

Ed


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