Frog Healthcare

Red Eyed Tree Frogs are a very tolerant species and there should be little concern for health related problems whilst in captivity, provided you keep an excellent environment and offer a well balanced diet. However it is still possible for disease, illness or injuries to occur. Listed below are some ailments that can occur, if any of the problems persist it is advised that you visit your vet immediately.

Oodinium

The signs of this disease are very small white dots on the skin of the Red Eyed Tree Frog. You should be careful when diagnosing this as red eyes will often have small white specks due to their skin colour. An easy way to make certain that it is oodinium is to remove your frog from its current housing and place it in a separate container of shallow water and some chamomile, whilst this is happening you should thoroughly clean the whole of the frog’s tank to ensure they are living in a healthy, clean environment. If the problem persists after this you should see you veterinary surgeon immediately.

Red-Leg Disease

If you have noticed that your Red Eyed Frog has become lazy, with little energy, plus the belly and inner thighs have become distinctly red this usually means the onset of red-leg disease for your frog. This is one of the biggest diseases for frogs in a captive environment and is usually caused by Aeromonas bacteria. The best form of fighting this disease is prevention by keeping the animals housing clean and feeding your frogs correctly. However if your frog has contracted the disease it is best to separate the red eye frog from its current home and re-house it in a ultra clean container. You can also help the frog by bathing it in water and sulfamethiazine if the marks persist after this treatment you should see your vet straight away.

Metabolic Bone Disease:

The signs of metabolic bone disease involve the limbs of the red eye frog becoming distorted and twisted. This is due to the fact that the tree frog has received a lack of calcium in its diet and in order to gain the calcium needed the red eye tree frog will start to use the calcium in its bones. In order to help prevent metabolic bone disease you should add calcium / vitamin powder to the live food two or three times a week. If your red eye tree frog has contracted the disease I would advise you to visit your vet immediately in order to discover if your red eye frog can be cured.
For More Information On Calcium and Red Eye Frog Feeding Click Here.

Physical Injuries

Injuries to the skin and body of your frog such as scratches, cuts, sores and abrasions can be typical types of captive red eye frog injuries. The usual reasons behind this are that they have fallen, or an item within the terrarium has injured them by their rubbing against it. To prevent these types of injuries make sure that all of the items within your frogs housing are secure and also look out for any sharp objects that could potentially cause harm to your red eye tree frog.

Quarantine

It is advised that if you are bringing a new Red Eyed Tree Frog into your existing vivarium or housing you should keep the new frog separate and monitor its behaviour to discover if it has any problems. A two week period should be a reasonable minimum time before housing your red eye frog in with the rest of your frogs. Any frogs that look unwell or act strangely during this period should be kept in isolation until the problem has been cured.