I have a froglet that is lagging behind its siblings in development. It has consistently demonstrated poor fly strikes for 4 months but it does catch it's share. It's belly is usually plump after a feeding but it is growing more slowly. Periodically I notice its throat is swollen while on some days it seems fine. Not sure if it swells up after feeding.
Here is a picture of the swollen throat:
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Here's a healthy clutch mate:
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Side by side:
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These are 4 months or so OOW. This is the first unhealthy froglet out of 12 at this age or older and I have about 16 healthy looking younger froglets. I put in extra flies so its well fed but I am surprised it has made it this far. Should this froglet be culled? Not trying to sound harsh just want honest opinions on proper action.
I try not to cull anything. I would try hard to raise it up and note / document what's going on with it. You can also give it some extra calcium via drops - search for the thread here and again, take note of the progress. All of this (non culling) is valuable insight and experience that makes you a better frogger and able to pass on information and experience to others.
You can also GIFT the animal to someone -for them to enjoy. The only thing that should not happen with it, is inclusion into a breeding programe.
Thanks Phil. I'll keep him around in a grow out viv and see how it goes. I have been rooting for him - as long as he's not uncomfortable or struggling I am ok with that. I'll keep a photo log going
Let me amend my 'no cull' statement. Obviously SLS and other serious problems, suffering ect - then yes, by all means euthanize.
But cases like this, where there is feeding and decent weight on the animal is different.
Yeah. I feel for this froglet. It's a little sad watching it strike three times at the same fly until it finally gets it while its siblings are pounding away. But I give it credit - just keeps after it until it gets its fill. I was worried about this distended throat rather than it being a runt.
Give a small amount of Calcium gluconate - highly diluted. Topical - on it's back.
Calcium Gluconate Calcium Gluconate is a mineral supplement. It is the form of calcium most widely used in the treatment of hypocalcemia. Calcium Gluconate contains 9.3% calcium. It is also used to counteract an overdose of magnesium sulfate, excess magnesium sulfate can cause respiratory depression, for which calcium Guconate would be the antidote. Use in the tropical frog hobby to counteract seizures, mainly in WC pumilio or frogs that have poor diets with low calcium levels.
This product can be purchased on eBay (be careful of freshness) as well as local "Agriculture stores" - for horses and farm animals.
Be aware of the sealed liquid bottle and try to obtain a product that is LESS than a year old. It's moderately expensive for it's size and comes in larger 6-8 oz bottles.
It also needs to be WATERED DOWN / diluted to @ 10%. And can be applied as a soak or dropped on the animal dorsally.
As always..I'm not a Vet and the above advice is not medical advice
The frog could have an on-going infection causing the throat area to swell up and go back down at times.
It also sounds as if it has STS , which is not changeable/curable.
The head looks very out of proportion with the rest of it's body. This is very evident in the pic with the two together.
None of these symptoms really point me towards thinking it's a calcium issue. Lack of vitamin A is one STS cause.
It's not uncommon for a frog that's 'not right' to have multiple health issues at once.
What to do with frogs which are obviously far from the health of their siblings is a personal choice. But giving them away really makes me cringe. There have been more than a few instances when frogs which "will never be placed in a breeding situation" ...get placed in breeding situations.
A fecal should give some insight into it's health pertaining to a possible infection. So that may be cleared up.
But the STS will continue to haunt the frog and it's confirmation and general body structure will most likely also never be right. In most cases when all husbandry has been the same, and all variables have been the same for all siblings and past, present and future froglets are taken care of in a very similar manner...it's a genetically inferior frog. Barring the possible infection, nothing to really 'fix'.
There's just the personal choice on how to proceed.