i've posted about this frog previously on the kingsnake forums, but things have taken a turn for the worst.
first of all, this frog is part of a quartet of panama D. Auratus i got on sept 4th at the raleigh exotic show from under the canopy farms. the other 3 frogs besides this one are doing great, look really healthy and are growing pretty fast. but alas, this particular frog was a runt. he is very skinny and has problems correctly attacking prey (many attempts with his tongue, but most miss) he also has seizures which i at first attributed to calcium deficiency and started dusting his flies more aggresively with rec-cal. i didn't really think of SLS, but now that i look at it his front legs are extremely thin, so i'm not sure what exactly his problem has been. so skip to last night and i find him sitting in a strange position, it is feeding time so i always make sure i drop a large quantity of flies around him since he seems to have trouble. when i agitate the tank removing the lid he kinda just flops over, spreads out and goes dead. now i know this can be a defensive behavior so i remove him and closely examine with a flashlight, i see a heartbeat and muscle tremors so i assume he is having another seizure. i make sure i stand watch over him until it passes and he seems to come out of it. i replaced him in the tank and he hopped away under the mini violet. i woke up this morning to find him stretched out covered in fruit flies... he's dead i'm assuming and i remove him. however, when i flipped him over i could still see a heartbeat. i had to go to class so i put him in a small deli cup with some damp moss. i've come back from class 3 hours later and he's in the same exact stretched out position but his heart just keeps on beating and i see a twitch from his throat every now and then. my dilemma is, should i just finally euthanize him and chaulk it up to SLS or a deficiency or some other neurological trauma? or should i continue to let him sit in the deli cup heart beating, hoping he'll come out of it like he has before? (he's never been like this for more than maybe 20 mins before though.... i think i'm leaning towards putting him out of any pain he might be going through, but at the same time i've grown kinda attached to him... i think of him as the underdog and he's made it a ways so far against the odds
first of all, this frog is part of a quartet of panama D. Auratus i got on sept 4th at the raleigh exotic show from under the canopy farms. the other 3 frogs besides this one are doing great, look really healthy and are growing pretty fast. but alas, this particular frog was a runt. he is very skinny and has problems correctly attacking prey (many attempts with his tongue, but most miss) he also has seizures which i at first attributed to calcium deficiency and started dusting his flies more aggresively with rec-cal. i didn't really think of SLS, but now that i look at it his front legs are extremely thin, so i'm not sure what exactly his problem has been. so skip to last night and i find him sitting in a strange position, it is feeding time so i always make sure i drop a large quantity of flies around him since he seems to have trouble. when i agitate the tank removing the lid he kinda just flops over, spreads out and goes dead. now i know this can be a defensive behavior so i remove him and closely examine with a flashlight, i see a heartbeat and muscle tremors so i assume he is having another seizure. i make sure i stand watch over him until it passes and he seems to come out of it. i replaced him in the tank and he hopped away under the mini violet. i woke up this morning to find him stretched out covered in fruit flies... he's dead i'm assuming and i remove him. however, when i flipped him over i could still see a heartbeat. i had to go to class so i put him in a small deli cup with some damp moss. i've come back from class 3 hours later and he's in the same exact stretched out position but his heart just keeps on beating and i see a twitch from his throat every now and then. my dilemma is, should i just finally euthanize him and chaulk it up to SLS or a deficiency or some other neurological trauma? or should i continue to let him sit in the deli cup heart beating, hoping he'll come out of it like he has before? (he's never been like this for more than maybe 20 mins before though.... i think i'm leaning towards putting him out of any pain he might be going through, but at the same time i've grown kinda attached to him... i think of him as the underdog and he's made it a ways so far against the odds