# Help! Tree frog has mouth problem!!



## drgnfly (Jun 20, 2009)

"My son caught a tree frog several months ago, maybe a year, she was TINY when he brought her home, smaller than my pinky nail! We set her up in a tank and have been feeding her crickets, meal worms, wax worms, and my son catches her bugs from outside. Everything seemed fine until about a week ago I noticed she does not seem to be eating so well. She used to attack her food as soon as we dropped it in the tank, but now I am not sure she is eating all. Then tonight while I was watching her to see if she would eat I noticed what look like teeeny spider mites crawling across her! How can I get rid of these parasites? I have done some internet searching and cant seem to find similar problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!" 
This was my first email to Dr. Frye, and he gave me a pretty good answer,about testing the feces, then I replied to him with.... 
"So I took the frog out of her home and into a fresh clean little holding tank. But while I was moving her I noticed there is something definitely going on with her mouth. It appears to be swollen in the upper jaw right at the tip causing her mouth not to close properly, and she will NOT eat anything. I went to the store this morning and got fresh crickets and wax worms, two of her favorites. The swollen part does not appear infected, it is the same color as the rest of her mouth but it is not gross looking. I will try to attach a photo. She also is not totally lethargic, she seems to kind of just hang in the same spot in the tank, but when I pick her up she tries to escape and is "hoppy". 
BTW, I have NEVER dusted her food, until now. I always feed her a variety of insects and was told by two different places that the variety would be good enough. 
Would shedding cause this? Do they normally not eat during this time? AAARRRGGGHH who knew frogs could be so much trouble!!!!!" 

His answer was "NO"! Not very helpful. I am very worried about our little girl... can anyone help with this? She is about a year old,we never handle her, this is the first time to take pics. She has always been very fat and happy. Please anyone I don't want her to suffer. I live in a small town and there are no experts here!







This is not her tongue, it starts on the upper rim of the upper lip.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

No it is not due to shedding. The actual diagnosis is probably going to require a x-ray to confim whether or not the frog has MBD. A short term without supplements can be tolerated but a lengthy period like a year cannot. The frog will need to be evaluated as to whether or not it will ever be able to feed unassisted as deformation of the jaw and tongue bones may prohibit the frog from capturing it's own food. You may need to discuss euthanasia with the vet if there is significant enough bone deformation and fracturing.

Ed


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