# Patricia on the mend, I hope



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I have a pair of tinctorius Patricia that I am frog sitting. Here is a story about the female. This is mostly to tell the tale to her owner but if anyone has any input, I'm interested in hearing it. 

They had been very active and breeding like crazy. Anyway, a little over a month ago, I found the female in the water cup. Not unusual, really, since they are breeding. However, this time she was flattening herself against the side and just didn't look right. So, I watched her. She got out of the water and started heaving. This 'thing' came out of her mouth. I've read that they don't throw up, per se, but rather invert their stomach. No stomach came out of this frog, so my thinking was that this thing she threw up had not actually gone into her stomach. She was heaving pretty deeply before it came out though. It was the size and shape of a large poo. Don't worry, I have a picture of it 

Following the expulsion of the thing, she took on a strange posture. Hunched over and a little like the posture a submissive frog takes on when confronted by a bully. I have pics of this too. I freaked out and contacted the frog's owner. He gave me the go ahead to do what I thought was best. So, I made up a simple hospital tank. 

My impression of what was going on with her was impaction. This is because she coughed some stuff up and then assumed that strange posture. It looked to me like the posture I've seen in photos of other frogs that were impacted. Also, aside from this, she did not appear to be sick. I tried to give her a few bean beetles dipped in mineral oil but she wasn't interested. So, for the past month, she has been tucked up under a leaf in her hospital tank. I have a local exotic vet that I've talked with before about PDF impaction. Vet said that there really isn't much to be done because they are so small. In a larger animal, they could go in and remove it. 

She had access to a water dish to soak but was not using it. Periodically I placed her into the water to make sure she was keeping herself hydrated. Her skin did occasionally feel too dry. Every now and then I would try to give her a few bugs but she didn't want them. Mostly I just left her alone. 

Since I had some antibiotics on hand, I went ahead and treated her prophylactically, to stave off stress induced infection. I don't know if that was right or wrong but she appeared to be in a dire situation. 

She pooped 2 times while in her hospital tank. The first one did not look like poop. It was more like a glob of something. Maybe moss? The second one did look like a small poop but appeared to be a little bloody. I did not keep these nor did I take photos. She was still not eating and had lost a good bit of weight by this point. Also she was having difficulty moving around. When she tried to move, she would topple over. 

Then, last week, I found her on top of her hut. That she was able to climb up there was very encouraging and indicated that maybe she was getting better. So, I made a recovery tank for her where she is now. I don't think she'll be ready to go back in with the male for some time. I'll send this tank with her when her owner comes to pick his frogs up in the spring. 

In her recovery tank, she found a new leaf to hide under. She'd been under there for the past week. A couple of days ago I put a slice of orange in there and a few ffs. She tried to eat but was not able to catch them. I dissolved some Repashy Calcium Plus and a little Vit A into Amphibian Ringer Solution. Then I poured it into a deli cup with some sphagnum and put her in to soak. I only did this once because I didn't want to harm her with too much but she clearly needed some help. 

Last night, after work, I checked on her and it appeared that some things in her tank had moved around. She must have been out. Then, this morning, I found her out. She was moving around. Still a little wobbly but moving around. So I fed her and she ate. She ate! 

I did not expect her to make it this far. Hoping for the best 

Here are some pics and videos:

The thing she coughed up








When first placed in hospital tank
























Videos of her eating and moving around today


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## Lukeomelas (Mar 15, 2005)

Very interesting story. Way to have the camera ready. Looks like she ingested a lot of material. Did you try pulling it apart to see what that big glob might have had in it? 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Lukeomelas said:


> Very interesting story. Way to have the camera ready. Looks like she ingested a lot of material. Did you try pulling it apart to see what that big glob might have had in it?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


No I didn't pull it apart, but, I did smoosh it. It was not hard. My guess is that what she coughed up wasn't the offending stuff but rather went in after it.

eta: I don't know for certain that she had an impaction. That's just how it seemed to me. I'm open to other ideas and would love to hear them.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I know you are all on the edges of your seats for an update!

So, after her feast from above, I decided to wait until she pooped before I fed her again. I didn't want to just pack her full of bugs if she was still impacted. No poop after a few days. So I put in a lid with mineral oil on it and dropped ffs into it. They stayed alive long enough for her to stick her tongue in the oil a few times. Then I took it out and gave her some un-oiled ffs 

A few more days passed and no poop. I was starting to worry but then, when I checked on her this morning, she was in mid-poop. Being a diligent frog sitter, I stayed until the end to ensure that everything came out ok. 

I am very happy to report a normal looking poo sitting conspicuously in the middle of her tank. 

This has been a public service poo update


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## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Kris you are by far, the best poo talker I have ever had the privilege to know. Glad the Patricia is doing well.


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## Harpo (Nov 9, 2012)

You really know your crap, Kris


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Hehehehehehe I like you guys


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## Toxic (Jul 9, 2012)

aww poor thing hope she gets well soon


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

I like a happy ending. Good Sh!t.


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