# The first probable death



## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

I am sick to my stomach as I write this. I came back from a trip dead tired having to work the next day. Woke up, quickly checked and fed my two frog tanks and went off to work. 45 minutes later my wife calls panicked that she found a frog on our carpet. Turns out I didn't put the lid back on tight because I was sleepwalking for all intents and purposes. She got the frog back in the tank and put him in the water feature. Three days later he's alive, but looks to be suffering pretty badly, His skin is discolered and his right arm looks to be useless. My questions:

Can a frog survive and have any quality of life without a functioning front arm (provided he rallys)?

Is this a sign of dehydration (a wasting away limb) or could he have been accidentally stepped on?

Lastly, what is the most humane way to euthanize him if it comes to that. I'm leaning towards orajel that I've read has been used...

Any advice would be appreciated, I can't belive I did this...Thanks.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Any pictures? There have been a few cases where frogs have recovered from the skin getting dried out, but it does take time. As for the limb they can live a long time with a bad limb in many cases.


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## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

Thanks Kyle. He seems like he is relatively active, but he isn't eating yet. I will try and get a picture up, but i haven't been able to get a good one yet and i don't want to stress him,...


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Give him time. Imagine if you were down to 10% lung capacity for a day and it took weeks to get back to normal. That's the worst analogy in the world, but the point is give it time. Time can cure many things with these guys.


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## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

Appreciate, Josh. I can't tell if he will make it or not, he's still not eating. I will try and get some pictures up if he''ll come to the light (hopefully not literally). I stll can't believe I was so F'ing dumb, but what can ya do? I will do everything I can to keep him alive, seperate tank, his own talk show, I don't care....

Can anybody tell me, is the loss of functioning in the limb due to the dehydration? I'm thinking he might have gotten stepped on (little kids)...

Thanks again.


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

Not sure if the limb problem could be related to dehydration or not, but as long as he has one good limb he should be fine, as long as he makes it through the recovery process. I would think if he were stepped on it would be obvious that the limb was broken.


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## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

Thanks for the replies. He does have a broken front arm, but I saw him eat for the first time in 4 days, and he seems like that is his biggest issue, as his color has returned. He is in a 30 gallon with 3 other tincs that are still relatively small. I'm guessing it's safe to say that he should be moved to his own tank to limit food competition etc., at least for the time being, if not forever? Also I'm guessing my error will be something he gets to live with forever? Do broken arms heal? Thanks again.[/img]


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## crashnt20 (Dec 28, 2006)

I recently adopted some "special" frogs from one of the guys on here and they are all doing great. One frog is missing an eye and another's foot is completely turn around. They both are doing great and actually are my favorite because of them being messed up. So like everyone says if he is eating just give him time. These guys are pretty tuff.


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

I have a pumilio that arrived after shipping with a broken leg.

(i must add it was absolutly nothing to do with the packing or the shipper, the packing was incredible and had it not been so good the frog would be dead and not just injured.... anyway..)

It made a pretty much full recovery, every now and again it will give him a bit of trouble but for the most part, he gets around fine.

Broken limbs can heal given time, keep him clean and fed as best as you can and a touch of calcium gluc may be good too.

Hope he pulls through,

Regards

Steve


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## Marty71 (Nov 9, 2006)

Just a late update. I could never really tell if the problems were due to the dehydration, being trampled, or a 5 foot fall from tank to ground, but two months later he is almost back to normal. It's hard to describe but his left front foot looks like it was melted, the toes are shorter and discolored. Some patches of discoloration on his back too. But he spends more time high up in the tank than the three healthier frogs, and as long as I pay a little extra attention to dropping flies near him he doesn't get cheated at mealtime.

So first off a belated thanks to everybody that offered advice.

And second, don't give up on an injured frog, like previously posted they are tough little guys/girls....


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