# Frog Necropsy



## jejton (Sep 3, 2006)

Does anyone know how/where I can have a frog ( or possibly other amphibians and reptiles if needed ) necropsied? I live in New York but I can ship I guess. I just lost my second RETF in two months and I am at a loss as to why. I did adopt them from someone as adults so its possible that old age was a factor but the fact that it was two in two months has me a little concerned. At this point I threw out the carcass but should it happen again I would like to find out the cause and correct it if possible as I would like to rebuild the colony and possibly breed ( I had four originally ).


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## GSXR_MURRHEE (Sep 16, 2006)

You could send them to Dr. Frye from Frye Bother's Frogs. They're in Michigan though. 
http://www.fryebrothersfrogs.com/page3.htm

Hope that helps.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

Also, if you intend to have you're next death necropsied, get some formalin now, (to preserve the specimen during transport) so you have it when you need it. Frogs decay very rapidly, and vets cant necropsy a skeleton with slime around it.


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## jejton (Sep 3, 2006)

Where do I get formalin? How much should i expect to pay for the necropsy?


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

Formalin is a little tough to get a hold of. High % ethanol would also work - but for the optimal conditions, check with the people who are doing the necropsy.

If a frog dies - to preserve it as best as possible - place it in the refrigerator (*Not the freezer* - ice crystal formation will destroy the tissue). The faster that you can get the frog to necropsy the better.

You can contact the Pathology department at the Vet School at Cornell (Ithaca, NY), Tufts (outside of Boston), or UPenn (Philly) for having necropsies performed.


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## Catfur (Oct 5, 2004)

As a note, Dr Frye will not perform frog necropsies. He will act as the consulting vet. for you to send the frogs to Northwest Zoopath (whcih requires a consulting vet or an established zoo because so many hobbyists weren't paying them), you might be able to get a local vet to act as the consulting vet if you go with Northwest, but they will have to set up an account. I don't know what Cornell and UPenn would do with a teeny tiny frog, but Northwest requires that they be preserved in formaldehyde as soon as possible after death (the sooner the better). They slice the frog up and basically perform a histopathology on all the little slices as opposed to a gross necropsy. The ones I had performed were pretty thorough. 

You can get formaldehyde from a local vet's office, I just took in a frog corpse and said, "I need a little bit of formaldehyde to preserve this guy to send off for necropsy." They gave me a giant container (well a pint) and I still haven't figured out what to do with the excess now that it's expired (I don't think you're supposed to pour it down the drain). If you are in university or work at one you can probably get formaldehyde pretty easily there.

Ideally, if you have a local exotics vet, you should speak with them in advance about a plan to get any frogs that may die on you examined, as I know they (or more likely the lab they would send the frog out to) probably all have different methodologies.


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## rozdaboff (Feb 27, 2005)

In the past, Cornell has recommended keeping the frog in ice-water in the refrigerator until it can be delivered - but ideally this is within hours of death.

Fixation conditions can limit the type of histopathology performed. 

The best plan - which isn't going to work in your current situation, is as Clayton mentioned - have a plan in place before the death of a frog.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

snip "They gave me a giant container (well a pint) and I still haven't figured out what to do with the excess now that it's expired (I don't think you're supposed to pour it down the drain). If you are in university or work at one you can probably get formaldehyde pretty easily there. "endsnip

As long as the container is still sealed it doesn't really expire... The vet you got it from will have a service that will dispose of it properly if you want to get rid of the excess.


And yes pouring it down the drain will upset the sewage plant (or your septic system if you have one...) 

Ed


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