Frog Surrender

[Emily]

Hello everyone!

Bit of backstory here: I work at a pet store in South Dakota. A few weeks back a customer came in with an whites tree frog they wanted to surrender, stating he had issues. Namely, he was loud at night, couldn’t climb, and the owner suspected he had neurological issues. Additionally, the owner claimed he would not eat if there was substrate in the enclosure and had been using paper towels instead. We watched said frog in store for a few days after the owner gave him up and other than having issues climbing, did not note anything odd. However, we usually don’t sell these frogs in store and don’t have a ton of knowledge on them. I decided to take him home.

As of today, he is doing well. His name is Toes Bones and he has been improved tenfold. When I first brought him home he had issues using his back legs and struggled moving around. He also was extremely loud, croaking nearly non-stop from the time I brought him home through the night until the early morning. The next night I found he likes being handled then feed before lights out, and I haven’t had an excessive croaking issue since. He also shed his skin around night two (which I only happened to catch him doing) and Toes has been able to climb his enclosure ever since. He still occasionally has issues with his back legs, but usually only when he gets woken up mid-nap. The previous owner thought he was around two years old and one of our reptile guys at work thought he was enclosure to six months as he only started croaking recently. Toes currently lives in a ten gallon aqueon tank, but I plan to move him to either a 20H or 29 gallon tank soon as he no longer struggles to climb (and he’s a big boy). I think some of his troubles came from his last owner not providing humidity or just a general lack of attention.

All this to say, I’m still new amphibians. I have a small minidome providing light/mild heating for the tank and I provide a rotation of crickets and mealworms for Toes, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice for general frog keeping. I’ve heard differing humidity levels for whites, so I’ve been keeping him around 50-60% humidity. Because he likes handling so much, I was also wondering should I look into finding another whites to pair him with? I also use a terrarium liner for the enclosure with some patches of sphagnum moss because of his eating issue and feed him in a critter carrier just in case, but I was thinking of trying substrate in the upgraded space. Has anyone else had this feeding issue?

I think that’s it, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

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[Zoodulcis]

I don’t have specific substrate recommendations for you, since there are so many variables in play here. But my instincts say that you are completely on the right track, however, I would caution you to be patient and let him adjust a little longer before adding new challenges. I certainly would not add another animal to his enclosure at this point. Just keep on doing everything the way you are for at least another month. Only then should you move him to a more spacious tank, which by then he will really appreciate without being so stressed by yet another change that he stops eating. Then, after a few more weeks, re-evaluate the idea of a companion and make sure that it still seems like a good idea. It might very well be, but right now is too soon in his convalescence to be sure, which is actually what this period with you is for him. With the kind of conscientious care you are providing, he should have turned around in less than 6 months. He will live a long time with the right kind of husbandry, which includes careful observation of his habits so that you will know if things take a turn for the worst at any point. Since the previous owner sounds like a *******, thinking his pet was 2 years old when he was actually much younger, it is likely that this frog has had many owners already in his short life. Besides being patient, and keeping the substrate change on the back burner for a while, it might be prudent to take a fecal sample to a vet to make sure that a parasite load acquired from his previously poor care may be adding to some of his coordination problems.

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