Ulcers on frogs - help!

[Snufflz]

Hello everyone,

I would be grateful for any advice you could give me about injured/poorly frogs.

I have an old, rather stagnant pond (made from a sunk cast iron bath with a liner) which has a lot of resident frogs. I also have a large new pond, created in May which frogs started moving into after about a week.

On Saturday I noticed that one of the frogs in the new pond had pink patches on his legs and when I got a closer look I realised that his skin seems to have been eaten away exposing the muscle underneath. Another one seems to have small ulcerated patches on his back.

The other frogs I have seen in the new pond look to be fit and healthy.

Then, last night, I saw two frogs in the old pond also with what appeared to be ulcers on their backs. The ulcers were white and spherical.

I have been onto Froglife and read up about Ranavirus although the pictures of frogs with that show red patches where the disease has struck. Neither of the frogs in the new pond have red patches, just very sore looking ulcers/missing skin.

Can anyone help please and is there anything I can do for them?

Many thanks.

Elaine.

[Kayleigh]

Hi from one Elaine to another..

I think you need to fill this form in from froglife as it sounds like your frogs have red leg a viral disease please fill this form in.

Froglife - latest news

More info on the disease..
Froglife - information on ranavirus

Elaine..

[Snufflz]

Hi Elaine,

Many thanks for your reply.

Because I wasn't sure, I filled the form in on Saturday just to be on the safe side.

It breaks my heart to see the little chaps suffering knowing there's nothing I can do about it.

I really have been hoping it was something else.

Regards.

Elaine.

[Kayleigh]

Its not good news is it..

I am lucky it is not in my garden its awful seeing suffering like you said and cant do anything to help them.

[captaincarot]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Hi from one Elaine to another..

I think you need to fill this form in from froglife as it sounds like your frogs have red leg a viral disease please fill this form in.

Froglife - latest news

More info on the disease..
Froglife - information on ranavirus

Elaine..

if it's ulcers showing through the skin then it's not red leg.

red leg manifests as a reddening of the groin and down the insides of the legs, this is where the blood vessels have burst under the skin.
you can treat them for it but it requires veterinary care and treatment with antibiotics.
and for small frogs such as rana temoraria it's damned hard to do with any level of success.
redleg is most often brought on by housig in unsanitary conditions.

i once lost a scahiophryne madagascariensis to red leg due to a defect in the design of one of my housing. it showed no outward signs other than gerenal sluggishness for a day or so, then displayed the classic red leg symptoms and was dead within 6 hours.

the 2 causes that i can think of for something that you describe are being attacked or the result of a fungal infection causing necrosis of the tissues

[Snufflz]

Thank you for that.

I've kept the old rather stagnant pond because I didn't want to disturb the baby frogs in their until they had moved out.

Do you think it might be a good idea to get that old pond out as soon as possible and encourage them into the new one?

If it's not ranavirus, could the old water be causing the problem?

Regards.

[captaincarot]

sorry think i lead you to a misunderstanding
ranavirus and red leg are 2 different things, as they have ulcers it could possibly be ranavirus, but it is most definitely not red leg.

the old stagnant pond won't cause ranavirus but may cause redleg if it ws really bad.
but from what you've said it's definitely not red leg, so wouldn't worry about your pond.

it's definitely not something you've done unless you've been spraying fertilisers or insecticides about.

so the possible causes are. bite marks from being attacked probably by birds.
fungal infections, some can cause red sores, others such as chyttrid don't cause sores but do make the frog turn slightly grey then die.
or ranavirus thinking about it we have just had a very hot spell and ranavirus becomes more virulent when it's hot so it could quite possibly be ranavirus.

appologies for being a frog geek

[Snufflz]

No fertilisers or pesticides. I'm trying to make the best wildlife friendly garden I can.

Apologies, I thought red-leg was another name for ranavirus.

A frog geek is exactly what I need right now. They really are the most marvellous little creatures and it's awful to think of them suffering.

[captaincarot]

Originally Posted by Snufflz

No fertilisers or pesticides. I'm trying to make the best wildlife friendly garden I can.

Apologies, I thought red-leg was another name for ranavirus.

A frog geek is exactly what I need right now. They really are the most marvellous little creatures and it's awful to think of them suffering.

you won't get any argument from me on this i currently have 7 different species in my living room as pets.
i love frogs

[Kayleigh]

If they are frogs you have and not tadpoles I would change the water or get rid of it as the young frogs will find the new pond as they are breathing air.
make sure you add lots of oxygenators as this will keep the water clean in future..

see what froglife comes back with if you emailed them and please keep us updated..